Here I am again, back in Chicago against my will (kinda), but at least I always have somewhere new to eat.
LOCATION: 33 S WABASH AVE, Chicago, IL 60603
Goddess and the Baker is marketed as this veggie friendly, healthy cafe and bakery which just happens to be by a few other veggie friendly, healthy eateries. Tons of competition but that doesn't keep it from being super packed with a line to the door. Still it moves pretty quickly so that's a plus and if there are this many people it must be good right? Well that's the logic I like to go with anyways.
I came with a friend who wanted to check this place out and by the time we got to the front of the line decided that take out was the way to go since there were very few seats left open. I ordered the Garden Goddess Wrap which comes with hummus, avocado, beets, cucumber, carrot, tomato, arugula, and the 'goddess dressing' and also a side of fruit (or chips). It took a little bit of time until my order was ready and that time consisted of me trying to move around so that I was close enough to the take away counter yet not in someone's way. Spoilers if you've never been, there's no where that puts you out of the way. Still after 5-10 minutes my name was called (even though they never asked for it?) and we were on our way to look for a place to eat. A few tables had opened up but apparently we were up for an adventure so we walked around.
A couple blocks later we ended up on a bench in the Maggie Daley Park (right next to Millennium) digging in. I was a little nervous because my wrap looked a little messy to eat on a bench but that's never stopped me before.
As beautifully colored as this wrap is, I can say I was a little disappointed. I love beets and just because of the way they're shaved you can barely taste them. Everything sort of melded into the bland blob of veggies. I took one bite and immediately thought 'it needs more flavor' a little bit of salt or citrus juice honestly would've done wonders for this wrap and I was so excited that I bought a lemonade to try and wash some of the blandness around to resemble flavor. The hummus itself stood out seeing as it was the only thing that had a unique flavor to it at the ends of the wrap and as much as I love veggies, I couldn't even finish this little $10 wrap because it was so boring.
The food here looks pretty good but in comparing quantity to price I was for sure hesitant to pay $10+ for smaller sandwiches with fewer ingredients and I'm completely deterred now that I know the flavor is completely lacking. I'm sure I could find an equally sized $10 sandwich with at least a little more kick to it. I was also disappointed in my little 5oz size of fruit but I guess that's to be expected. 'Fresh fruit' cups are always a hit or miss (mostly a miss in my opinion.)
In the end, would not go back. As incredible as the esthetic is and as nice and the food sounds, it was a total flavor disappointment.