• 2
• vegan hipsters who hunt and eat dairy sometimes

Just moved to GR from Chicago. My man and I were excited to hear about the Bartertown Diner (it is an all veg restaurant in Grand Rapids, for peets sake!). One of the first things I noticed were the antlers hanging from a chandelier. This was perplexing but I didn't want to let it distract from the overall dining experience because I so wanted this place to be awesome. Our server's [edit by staff] attitude matched the ironic atmosphere to a T. She complained about how busy the place was and then she walked away before we finished ordering, which I hate. Then I noticed the cups-Ball jar things with horns as handles. Okay...Now...why would a vegetarian restaurant decorate with dead animal parts? We discussed this as we waited for our food and came to the conclusion that is is cool for hipsters do use antlers and horns and such in their decor and this was not an ethically veg place. Please let the food be good. The food (what we did get a chance to order) was mediocre. Its was something that I could have cooked in less time and it was definitely not worth $9. I ordered the Reuben which was pretty bland and I couldn't help making the comparison to The Chicago Diner's Radical Reuben, which is awesome. The Bartertown Diner's whole sch-peel is that they source their produce locally, which I couldn't care less about (Have you read "Just Food"?). Of course, they draw quite the crowd of yuppies. Overall, we left this place missing Chicago and the myriad of vegan food choices there. However, I do recommend Grand Rapids' Stella's Lounge for vegan food without the 'tude.