Winner of the 2013 and 2014 Eat24 Top Rated restaurant award, in addition to the Lakeview East Healthy Choices Award, Bountiful Eatery, 3312 N. Broadway, is a gluten-free choice for fresh, healthy eating.
The décor is clean and modern, and it's easily a great place to chat or do work on your laptop. Healthy magazines are strewn about to peruse as are books on cooking, yoga, and finance, in addition to LGBT trivia games and gluten-free snacks, sauces, chips, and baking mixes for purchase.
Owner Ed O'Brien was born and raised in Chicago, with detours through New York and L.A. Prior to opening Bountiful Eatery, O'Brien worked for Panera for five years as the regional trainer for the Chicago market. However, as both a stockholder and an employee, he wasn't pleased with the company's direction and wanted to get out of corporate life.
Using credit card points, O'Brien subscribed to "Money," "Fortune," and "Forbes," researching how to start his own "fast-casual" restaurant and, gaining advice from other small business owners and various neighborhood chambers, Bountiful Eatery opened in July of 2012. "The food offered has a high nutritional index at a great price point ( $10 and below ) and we're 'fast-casual,' which ensures easy access for everybody," said O'Brien.
O'Brien himself suffers from gluten intolerance, and was diagnosed before eating gluten-free was a trend. "Although we're totally gluten-free, you can be gluten-free without necessarily being healthy. We're trying to appeal to people who are really health conscious." Aware that a lot of fast food chains throw the words "healthy" and "nutritious" around quite easily, O'Brien is very particular about ensuring healthier options are considered as substitutions for other ingredients, like use kale or spinach instead of lettuce. But, he does realize that Chicagoans like to eat healthy and end on a sweet note, so the restaurant offers gluten-free cupcakes and bars made specially for the restaurant by Swirlz.
The menu includes pita or lettuce wraps, salads, soups, grilled selections, brown rice or quinoa bowls, breakfast items ( served daily until 2 pm ), and a kids menu. The bison pita burger—1/3 lb. grass-fed bison seasoned with onions and spices, topped with spinach, tomatoes, and a zesty yogurt spread—won a Golden Grub award from GrubHub this year and is the most popular item, though Huffington Post ( and vegans ) rave about the black bean burger.
The portabella kale salad, both simple and hearty, features generous portions of mushrooms over kale, topped with red onions, almonds, dried golden raisins and a side of balsamic dressing. Bountiful Eatery's three-salad sampler is also a hit: a chickpea salad, a black bean salad, and a quinoa mixture similar to tabouleh on a bed of spinach. It's an assortment of tastes all in one meal: spicy, citrusy, and minty for those whose palate can't decide.
The soups are thick and rich, such as the three-meat chili, made with bison, turkey and chicken. For partiers in the area, Bountiful Eatery has a Hangover smoothie with orange juice, banana, kale, pineapple and vitamin C; for those coming from the gym, Muscle Builder concoctions are available with various ingredients and soy or whey proteins. There are also build your own options on the menu with optional supplements and fresh veggies juices. For Thanksgiving, Bountiful Eatery offered a cornbread stuffing and the veggie tray is frequently ordered for the holidays.
The restaurant's clientele includes a lot of moms of kids with allergy issues, health conscious consumers, and vegans, in addition to those with Celiac disease. Fitness Formula Club, UFC Gym, and Core Power Yoga bring Bountiful Eatery a lot of business, as well: "I have a real belief that to be healthy is about everything. … It's the food, it's the exercise, it's your mental state. We offer a 20-percent discount when you show your gym ID—it doesn't matter which gym," said O'Brien.
A healthy eating speaker and a self-professed gym fanatic with a theatrical background, O'Brien believes in mindset shifts and reassessments to promote health from the inside out. His next speaking engagement will be a "New Year, New You" event in January with Tracey Brinkman, DN from the Higher Brain Living Center and Karampal Kaur from Sat Nam Yoga. The restaurant holds events like wine-tastings and book signings, and hosts meet-ups of various affiliations. Community-wise, Bountiful Eatery sponsors a volleyball team, participates in Dining Out For Life, and caters events for organizations such as Unity Church in Rogers Park. The restaurant does a lot of corporate catering box lunches, though the bulk of O'Brien's business is delivery—the restaurant delivers as far north as Devon, as far south as Congress Parkway, and as far west as Western. O'Brien originally started out with closer boundaries, but expanded due to customer demand. Customers can also order through Grub Hub or DoorDash.
Through the first of next year, Bountiful Eatery is running a gift card special: Buy a $50 gift card and get $10 free. In terms of future plans for his business and brand, O'Brien will be writing a book, rebooting his blog and working on a South Loop expansion, since the restaurant does a lot of work with the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.
Visit Bountiful Eatery's website ( bountifuleatery.com ) or follow its social-media pages for further information on discounts and menu items.
