Philly cheese steaks, Italian melts and burgers aren't unusual to find on the menu of a fast-food restaurant or diner in Chicago. In fact, they are downright ubiquitous. But what's unusual about the offerings at Chicago's second Veggie Bite location is that these items—and all the items on the menu—are vegetarian.

A recent Saturday night visit found the brightly colored restaurant packed with diners. The bright blue-and-orange interior highlights the casual nature of Veggie Bite. People order at the counter, and when food is ready, a cashier shouts out an announcement for a given order number. The BBQ nuggets appetizer arrived sizzling hot, with a perfectly sweet-tangy BBQ sauce accompaniment. The fajita wrap comes stuffed with veggie meat (some sort of texturized vegetable protein), tomatoes and lettuce and a strange sort of curry sauce. A Philly cheese steak tasted similar to the fajitas, which was more surprising than disappointing, as both were delicious. They just didn't taste like their meat-filled namesakes. For dessert, skip the overly sweet milkshakes (made entirely of soy) and try the homemade cookies, available in either chocolate chip or chocolate chip coconut flavors.

Unlike vegetarian restaurants like Karyn's or Chicago Diner, Veggie Bite is cheap. After all, it's fast food, so individual items all hover around $5, with the priciest items (including the gyro and meatball sub) topping out at just over six bucks. While it might not be the healthiest food to eat—it doesn’t matter what's inside, deep-fried is still deep-fried—it's cheap, tasty and available in minutes. On Milwaukee Avenue, that's not a bad deal, whether you're a vegetarian or not.

Centerstage Reviewer: Laura Oppenheimer