American
Delivery
Gluten-free
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Has vegan french toast, tofu scramble, vegan cakes, vegan shakes and coffees, vegan pancakes, veggie burgers, and more. Request no cheese/mayo on the veggie burger. Relocated from 3408 N Clark St. NOTE: ask if fried items are fried in separate oil from meats or not. Open Mon-Thu 10:00am-10:00pm, Fri 10:00am-11:00pm, Sat 8:00am-11:00pm, Sun 8:00am-10:00pm.


Venue map for Pick Me Up Cafe
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58 Reviews

First Review by xsixshotx

shebazzle

Points +425

Vegan
17 Mar 2024

Good vibe, vegan friendly diner

Hadn’t been to the new location but PMU was a post event staple for us back at the old location back when we were young enough to go out. :-)

Met a non-veg friend here for lunch. As I’ve been having pancake cravings, ordered the vegan pecan pancakes. Pretty sure I got 204 pancakes weighing in at 38lbs.

Craving addressed, and pancakes were a little dense but i enjoyed very much. And was super full. Took some leftovers home as well. Bonus.

Not too full to share an order of fried pickles with my friend. Fried pickles and pecan pancakes. Pretty sure I’m not pregnant, but miracles do happen?

Was going to order coffee but noticed no free refills. Diner fail. I’d rather have unlimited “diner”’coffee with my pancakes than one cup o’ good joe. But went americano. It was a solid B.

Friend got some sort of eggplant sandwich. Looked messy but big and tasty. Not sure it it was veganizable but the menu is pretty good on that front.

Pros: Pancakez , Portions, Vibe, seating good, booths with character

Cons: Coffee refills cost $

Jsabins

Points +195

Vegan
30 Jan 2024

Great food and atmosphere

I got the vegan Benedict and it was really good. It’s nice to have a vegan breakfast place with good portions. Lots of vegan dessert, lunch, and breakfast options to choose from. Was visiting from out of town but will definitely be back if I’m ever in the area again.

Pros: Atmosphere , Lots of options, Portion size

sconroy

Points +256

Vegan
04 Nov 2023

Awesome vegan hash

Definitely get the santa fe scramble!

lordofthestrings86

Points +596

Vegan
02 Apr 2023

PMU

A bit of a long wait for not the best pancakes. The best part is the warm berry compote. Bring your appetite if you want to finish it. The stack of 5 are pretty big too.

Pros: Lots of vegan options , Large portions

Cons: Long wait time after ordering , Extra charge for vegan

ChristyBorovoy

Points +50

Vegan
01 Mar 2023

Perfect compromise!

They are very aware of their vegan customers and sensitive to our sensibilities, but if you still have people along who wont eat vegan, this is a great place to eat! They have booze and ice cream! They serve t'ease!

Pros: lots of options, tasty, parking in front

Cons: serves meat

jadaruss

Points +1525

Vegan
03 Oct 2022

Good matcha latte

Lots of vegan options with okay quality. The matcha latte was good tho!

NoFussVegan

Points +339

Vegan
08 Jul 2022

American, and not in a good way…

We had three different dishes for an evening meal. I’ll put this short and sweet: boring, bland, greasy and below average food in huge portions. They couldn’t even get the fries right.
Left slightly nauseous and with a bad first impression of the stereotype of American food.
Two stars only because of the staff.

Lomky

Points +621

Vegan
17 Jun 2022

Exceptional

The best vegan french toast I've ever had. Paired with a delicious root beer float with vegan vanilla ice cream. Extremely friendly service. I regret not having room for the pie!

Pros: Plenty of vegan options, Huge portions, Vegan desserts

philipadrian

Points +104

Vegan
25 May 2022

A Chicago Landmark

I’ve never been disappointed in Pick Me Up. I’ve lived in Chicago for nearly 15 years and although their in a new spot, the value and quality of time, food, and ambiance still give the feel good times. Not to mention the incredibly delicious food with MANY vegan and veg options. They’re also very amenable to customizing things for you. One of my all time faves.

Nieve

Points +3853

Vegan
19 Dec 2021

Alright brunch spot

We stopped in for brunch and I wasn't overly impressed but the food was fine. Tried the vegan benedict, the chocolate chip pancakes, and a matcha latte. The pancakes were the nicest thing I tried, I'd recommend them, the benedict was a bit mediocre. There were a decent number of vegetarian options but only a few vegan options. If you have to go out with meat eaters it would be a good cafe. Everything veggie is clearly labeled which is nice.

JuliannaK

Points +65

Vegetarian
04 Oct 2021

Great food

Have had a few different dishes from the menu and have enjoyed all of them. Menu is clearly marked and they have a lot of both vegetarian and vegan options to choose from!

BiblioBeruthiel

Points +81

Vegan
05 Jul 2021

A Great Option for Mixed Dietary Needs

I went here with a friend who is a meat eater. It was such a great option for us because I often end up eating the one vegan option on a menu or she ends up needing to eat vegan if we go out to eat. I had the vegan cheese fries and the vegan benedict. Both were delicious - one of the best vegan cheese sauces I've had before. Also got a piece of Raspberry Lemon cake to go which was a little on the thicker/drier end but delicious.

Pros: Good for mixed dietary needs, easy parking, very friendly staff

Cons: Not fully vegan/vegetarian

gwennam

Points +469

Vegan
12 Jun 2021

Vegan Pancakes and French Toast!

Love the menu options here. It’s true, great vegan hangover food. Menu is very clearly labeled and the staff are helpful and accommodating. The vegan French toast was so delicious. Can’t wait to come back and try the shakes. Affordable and tasty!

Updated from previous review on 2020-10-04

swankberto

Points +62

Vegan
15 May 2021

Jack of all trades

Not as charming as the old location. Still one of the best places to go for groups w mixed dietary concerns. Service is hit or miss. Your coffee will get cold. Play it safe and always ask for clarification on v/vg menu items.

destwho

Points +26

Vegan
01 Dec 2020

Good food, Misleading menu

The veggie burger I had here was phenomenal, BUT it was labeled “vegan” on the menu when it really wasn’t. They put non vegan cheese/mayo on it. Beware if you’re avoiding these things, just ask to remove these ingredients off the burger when you order.

Pros: Lots of veg options , Good food

Cons: Not as upbeat as original location

valeriammm

Points +39

Vegan
22 Jul 2020

Delicious!

Super fast delivery and generous portions! I had the Santa Fe vegan scramble. Im already looking forward to ordering take out again, their menu had a variety of vegan options from breakfast, pizza, sandwiches, desserts and more

Pros: THE OPTIONS, Fast delivery, Friendly

Cons: Cost

mharris06

Points +644

Vegan
05 Jul 2020

THE BEST VEGAN HUNGOVER FOOD

It just hit the spot so good. Such an awesome environment and happy workers. The food was miraculous. 10/10!

Spyrolights5

Points +76

Vegan
07 May 2020

Good Vegan Nachos

This place is really cute and they have nice vegan options. The pizza grinder was not very good, but the nachos and chili were.

Pros: Nice options for everyone, Cute

mookiana

Points +72

Vegan
07 Mar 2020

Great service, delicious food

Our server was very friendly and accommodating. The menu had many vegan and vegetarian options, clearly marked. My vegetarian friend and I ordered vegan cheeze fries to share with chili on the side. I also had a St Germain cocktail and asked the server for a vegan meal recommendation, which was the vegan benedict (breakfast all day...). I don't recall the name of the dish, but she also said there was a dish with vegan chorizo that was popular, but too spicy for her. For our entire order, she was super helpful and asked to be clear which items should be vegan and which should not. When the drink I originally ordered was not available (Lavender Collins), she offered to have it made with a different syrup, and my friend was able to get a custom milkshake.

All the food was so. Good. The cheeze fries were enjoyed by both myself and my nonvegan friend, and the vegan benedict was a sprawling open-faced feast of tofu, vegetables, mushrooms, and home fries with vegan hollandaise. The St Germain I ordered semi-randomly after hearing they were out of lavender syrup, but it was a delicious sweet/sour fizzy experience, and I can report that they do not water down the drinks here. ;)

Just to note: at the time I wrote this review, they were preparing to change locations.

stezeiger

Points +106

Vegetarian
08 Feb 2020

Amazing variety

Great variety of vegan options and service was so good. Very nice to go when they aren't going to busy :-)

Pros: Lots of vegan options, Cute atmosphere, Great service

Cons: Small restaurant

KeithChavers

Points +46

Vegan
10 Nov 2019

Horrible customer service

We waited 30 minutes to be seated. When we were finally seated, it took 30 minutes just to get 3 pancakes. They had told us that they put our scramble order in, but when they brought our pancakes out they did not bring the scramble because apparently they forgot to put the order in. They then went back and made a scramble, but we had already told our waiter not to worry about it and to bring our receipt for the pancakes. They still went and made a scramble and delivered it to us, but we told them we didn’t want it and asked that they remove it off of our ticket. The manager then came out with the ticket after it had been adjusted (price), and we paid and left.

Cons: Horrible customer service , Long wait time

hell0angela

Points +377

Vegan
29 Oct 2019

Awesome late night hangout

I’ve been coming here for years and love this place. Very chill atmosphere with great coffee and vegan junk food

Pros: Open late , Vegan options

StephanieMeyer

Points +1501

Vegan
05 Oct 2019

👍🏻

Big fan of the pizzadilla and the place is really cute and cozy

bmarti06

Points +152

Vegan
26 Jul 2019

AMAZING!!

I cannot recommend this place highly enough! We stopped here on our way out of town to get a good lunch, and we couldn’t have picked a better place. Everything tasted delicious, the portion sizes are incredible. The food was between 10 and 15 dollars, and you got SO MUCH for that amount. We had enough to take home for another meal. Get the pancakes. They’re amazing. I also had the Vegan Benedict. They were also to die for. If I lived here, I’d be here all the time.

Pros: Lots of options, Huge portions , Fun environment

Cons: Weird, sewage smell

RebeccaJania

Points +15

Vegetarian
16 Apr 2019

Deceptive hours

I tried to stop and pick up an order to go, as they are the only veg restaurant in the area open so late. The website indicates they close at 2am, but when I went inside to order they indicated that the kitchen closes at 130am. If you choose to have the kitchen close before closing, that's understandable. It should, however, be clearly marked as such on your website. Poor management on important details.

Ali_v

Points +223

Vegan
30 Mar 2019

Best vegan chili I’ve ever had.

I was not that hungry when I came here for dinner so I went with the $6 bowl of chili & bread... and it’s unbelievable. Must eat.

I will definitely come back to try the other vegan menu items.

peteycards

Points +1746

Vegan
28 Feb 2019

vegan options

I've liked Pick Me Up for many more years than I've been vegan. Food is good, staff is knowledgable about veganism.




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