CHIGuide

11 Great Healthy Lunch Options

Healthy lunch options to help you get through the week.
11 Great Healthy Lunch Options image

photo credit: Christina Slaton

There’s nothing we’d love more than to eat a giant deep dish pizza or burrito every day for lunch. But that would create two very bad problems. One, eating deep dish pizza and burritos every day can’t be good for your health. Two, we’d probably end up napping at our desk all afternoon. And that’s why it’s important to have some healthy lunch options to keep your mind sharp and your body bathing suit ready. Or at least something-other-than-sweatpants ready.

Luckily, you can still eat great tasting food if you go the healthy route. There are excellent salads and sandwiches all over Chicago, that are almost as enjoyable as pizza for lunch. Here’s where to find them.

Check out the rest of our Guide To Being A Little Healthier.

The Spots

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Farmer's Fridge

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Farmer’s fridge isn’t actually a restaurant, or even a fast casual take out spot. It’s a vending machine. For salad. These vending machines serve fresh and healthy salads in plastic, recyclable mason jars. Welcome to Martha Stewart’s future. There are a handful around the Loop, West Loop, and River North, so find the closest one to you. Not into vending machine salads? One: try one because it’ll change your mind. And two: check out their stand in Revival Food Hall where you can get things like soup and avocado toast too. We’re sure avocado toast will be served in a vending machine one of these days too.


Bakery/Cafe

Loop

$$$$Perfect For:Cheap EatsKeeping It Kind Of HealthyLunchQuick EatsSerious Take-Out Operation

There are a lot of little salad chains around town, but a lot of them are also bad. Not Be Leaf. It might not have the Hollywood star appeal of Sweetgreen, but it’s a great option if you want a basic, healthy salad for a reasonable price. Try the falafel-osophy if you want something a little different with sweet potato falafel, feta, dates, and tabbouleh.


If loving the poke craze makes you a follower, then consider us the first cult members willing to drink the Kool Aid. Aloha Poke was the first poke shop to reach Chicago and we adamantly stand by the fact that it’s the best. It might cost a little bit more than a sandwich, but you’ll get your money’s worth with an abundance of fresh tuna, salmon, and veggies for lunch. Make it a salad over a rice bowl because health and all.


Are you badly in need of a juice cleanse? Hit Belli’s, the local Pilsen shop that’s part of Thalia Hall. But more than just fresh juices, Belli’s has actual food like acai bowls, oatmeal and fruit bowls, salads, and different styles of avocado toast to feed you every day. Skip Whole Foods, go here instead.


Speaking of Sweetgreen, it finally made its way to Chicago and it’s only going to keep spreading out more around here. These days it’s basically the gold standard for fast casual salad chains, and there’s a reason why. The store itself smells like a fresh vegetable delivery, and the ability to customize your own salad for around $12 is tough to beat. This is what healthy food is supposed to taste like and cost.


The name should be a dead giveaway that you’re getting some sort of healthy seafood situation for lunch. The menu is a choose-your-own-adventure where you can pick a type of fish like shrimp, salmon, or whitefish, and get it any form your want, whether in a salad, sandwich, or “power box” with quinoa, wild rice, and spinach. It’s your brown bag lunch just like mom used to make, but better. Sorry, mom.


We all have that neighborhood cafe and grocery store from childhood. The place you would go to grab a salad or sandwich but also get sucked into spending entirely too much money on little speciality items, most likely desserts, that you didn’t really need. That’s Goddess & The Grocer, and with a couple locations these days, there’s probably one near you. It’s easy, it’s reasonably priced, and there are plenty of healthy options to eat quickly or grab on-the-go. Just be careful of those desserts.


Harvest Juicery wants to be a part of your daily life. You can go and get a cold pressed juice or smoothie along with five different styles of avocado toast. There’s also a number of other things like oatmeal or pitaya bowls that are guaranteed to leave you feeling a little healthier for the day. If you’re like us and crave more breakfast type foods for lunch, then Harvest Juicery is a smart move. Your co-workers will be jealous of your healthy willpower.


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Suggested Reading

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The Best Restaurants In Lincoln Park

Our list of all the best restaurants in Lincoln Park.

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Mediterranean style street food, plus some of the best fries in town.

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Sweetgreen in River North is the gold standard of salad chains. The food is fresh, cheap, and customizable.

Aloha Poke Co. image

A poke bowl stand that's great for a quick meal inside the French Market.

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