Big Delicious Planet Canteen

Chicago, United States

3.9

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 312-455-1019
Website:
www.bigdeliciousplanet.com
Address:
412 N Wolcott Ave, Chicago, IL, 60622
b/t Kinzie St & Hubbard St
Near West Side, West Town
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.5 miMadison & United Center 1900 W
0.5 miAshland
0.7 miWestern Avenue
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
No
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Chicago) 19:36 Friday, 29 November 2024

Business hours

Monday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Big Delicious Planet’s beautiful Canteen is a casual café in the front of our West Town catering kitchen. We have a rotating daily menu with 3 daily hot specials (meat/​fish/​veg), 2 soups, 3 different paninis, and prepared salads and sandwiches. Daily specials posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (bdpcanteen).

Big Delicious Planet Catering, Canteen & Urban Farm is a 4 Star Certified Green Restaurant, the first caterer in the nation to earn this status, and have been named «Greenest Caterer in the Country» by the Green Restaurant Association.

Our Urban Farm, located next to our building, has 50 raised beds where we’re organically growing over 105 varieties of 37 crops.

BDP caterers corporate breakfasts/​lunches/​receptions, film and photo shoots, weddings, bar/​bat mitzvahs and other private events.

We do not allow food or beverages from the home or other establishments at our inside or outside tables. Thank you for your courtesy.

History

Established in 1994.

Big Delicious Planet’s very first event was catering backstage for Aerosmith at the newly opened United Center in 1994, and BDP continues to cater to hundreds of bands a year. BDP caters film & photo shoots, corporate breakfasts and lunches, private events. In 2011 BDP opened a café/​carry-​out called the Canteen. In 2012 an organic garden was planted.

Meet the Business Owner

Heidi C.

Business Owner

Owner of Big Delicious Planet Catering & Canteen.

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Nearby

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20 reviews of Big Delicious Planet Canteen

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL
I really wanted to love this place because I love the concept. The space is really cool, and the gardens outside are AWESOME. I wish I could rate those separately, because they deserve 5 stars. And I love that the place is very eco-​consious, oh and that it’s located in an area totally devoid of lunch options. So yeah, love the premise. The food just didn’t deliver. My group ordered almost everything on the menu that day, and only one dish stood out as very good, and that was the lamb curry. The paninis were all pretty bland, without anything beyond exactly what they sound like. My tuna panini was literally just tuna salad on a large amount of bread. No tomato, or lettuce, or fun sauce or anything interesting. And the soup of the day, mulligatawny, was outright bland and not good. We also shared a brownie that was so cold and hard you almost couldn’t cut through it with a fork. I will give credit to the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie though — that was the star of the show! I might give it one more try since I’m so predisposed to like this place, but the specials would have to sound really enticing that day.
Place rating: 1
Chicago, IL
I appreciate BPD starting to offer up larger sizes of coffee in the morning, but what I don’t appreciate is them pretending to serve Intelligentcia brand coffee when it’s clearly not. It’s almost as if they pour a different brand of crappier coffee into Intelligentcia bags and «disguise» it. I may be onto something here…
Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL
Went for the tacos. Bland tacos, bowl of mediocre carrot soup and a coffee was around $ 19. I can walk there, so I was excited to go. The urban farming hook doesn’t do much for me since local and organic can mean a lot of things that are not what you think. You have to read what these terms actually define in the food world. Anyway, for the taste not worth the price. I will go to another neighborhood spot. It might be for you, not for me.
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
My eyes have been following this truck and I kept telling myself that I will need to try this place out on a day that I get to work from home, and finally it happened! I worked from home and picked up the tuna melt and the chicken tortilla soup. I have to admit that I doctored it up to add vegetables and hot sauce because that’s just how I roll. I could have been starving so it was really good as was the soup. Good recommendation by the girl that made my sandwich on the soup. I like knowing that there’s this great spot I can grab lunch from now right near where I live. Prices are reasonable.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
A short walk from my office, I find myself checking the BDP Instagram page regularly for their lunch specials. Their paninis are always great (that ham & swiss tho…), the soups are fantastic (not overloaded with high amounts of sodium… v important!), and the hot meals are usually creative & flavorful. It’s pricey, but you get a lot for what you pay for. The staff has always been friendly and they’ll answer any questions you have about that day’s specials.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Best Mash Potatoes of my life! Salmon was pretty good too.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Fresh delicious sandwiches, and sweets to die for. Love the chocolate mousse. Simple clean modern seating, and great personable staff. Definitely going to be a regular
Place rating: 3
Forest Park, IL
There aren’t lots of lunch choices in the Kinzie corridor, so this is a welcome addition. Unfortunately we arrived (shortly after one) just as they sold their last order of the panini of the day we’d hoped to order. We settled for sandwiches from the cold case. They were fine – similar to what you’d get at Panera – but not fabulous. We also each had soup. Nice (my chicken noodle had a good sprinkling of fresh herbs) but underseasoned. We didn’t take anything from the bakery case, but the choices, especially the key lime pie, looked delicious. Another time I might also try the toast with housemade butter and jam.
In season, they grow lots of vegetables right next door. That would be fun to see. In the meantime, they’re very conscientious about reducing waste. We spent some time reading the detailed signs about what goes into compost and what into recycling.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Loved the Friday Fish fry! I hope they will have that again during Lent.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Love this place! Tuesday was the first time I went in because of great recommendations from friends, and I will definitely be going again! The menu changes daily (I now follow them on Instagram and Facebook too to keep up with the excitement, and especially love the chalkboard designs) and offers great selection. I tried the pulled pork sammie with mac and cheese and was NOT disappointed! Michael was awesome and delivered exceptional customer service, and I appreciate the recommendation he gave me for my delicious food choice! I can’t wait to try this place again, what a refreshing option with the ever-​changing food scene in Chicago.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Tucked away in a quiet, creative portion of West Town, Big Delicious Planet’s Canteen is truly a little oasis.
Breakfast specials are from 7AM — 11AM: a fresh bagel bar with veggie and lox toppings as well as two breakfast sandwiches (meat/​no meat). Lunch specials change every day (everything is made fresh using local ingredients) and is served cafeteria style. Full espresso bar and delicious Intellgensia coffee — you can’t beat it!
Check out BDP’s urban garden right next to the building where they harvest produce used in the food they serve. There’s also honeybee hives — super cool!
Place rating: 4
Granger, IN
Fresh, healthy, tasty, menu is always different – what’s not to love?
I have been here three times, and the first time I just got an entrée (which comes with one or two side dishes), and I thought it was pretty good. The next two times, I got a dessert too – a Rosemary caramel brownie and an m&m blondie. While the blondie was good, the brownie was to die for! I have never tasted flavored caramel before, but it was like a taste of heaven in my mouth. It was rich and filling, and I would love to have one of those again… but the menu changes daily, so I don’t know if I ever will. :(
The garden in the back provides a nice ambiance if you want to eat outside. Their parking lot is a little random (I always feel like I’m blocking somebody in, so I pretty much get my food and go), but I have always found a spot. You would never know this place was here from the street. Give it a try – you’ll probably like it!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Was scooting around mad house on Madison and hit my bookmarks. This place came up. Won’t find it unless you are heading there. In the middle of the industrial area. Great food… great lunch food and the women at the front was super nice and friendly. Didn’t get her name but great service and food. I went at 2 so it was empty but was told it was packed around lunch time. Cool garden outside
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Freshest, most delish, local, organic, on-​site garden, clean eats, friendly staff. Wish I lived right next door so I could eat here every day!
Place rating: 1
Chicago, IL
Is there a negative star?
When I think hipster dufus RIPOFF I think BDP
If you love $ 4 coffee that taste like sweaty gym socks this is your spot
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Wonderful new surprise (for us anyway), hidden south of Grand, on Wolcott. Healthy guilt free delicious soups and salads, great paninis, Intelligencia coffee, and to die for bake goods…
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
Great food, great service.
Always fun options for lunch.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Scrumptious!
Place rating: 3
Toledo, OH
Really have to say I appreciate the welcoming staff. Super nice.
Every day they have different specials, which in some ways makes it feel like you’re going to a different restaurant each time. Predictably tasty, and they always seem to have healthy veggie & vegan items in addition to meat and sometimes fish. The fish dishes I’ve had have in fact been quite nice.
In addition to the daily specials, they have grab and go sandwiches and salads.
I’ve liked everything I’ve tried, but do have one complaint. They seem to have some strange issues with keeping things up to temp. While delicious, I’ve ordered a few hot dishes that were served room temp or ½ cold ½ warm. Not a huge issue as everything has always been thoroughly cooked, but it’s a little disappointing to expect hot and get not hot.
That’s all! Great place! I really like it, and glad it’s so close to the office!
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
Fist bump, chest bump, high five, and an ass slap to Unilocal on this one! You’d never know that BDP existed if it weren’t for the internet. Hidden among all the warehouses on the Near West Side this place puts together a pretty healthy lunch or coffee option if you’re over this way.
Mostly known for their catering but the canteen menu has featured lunch options each day, good coffee, and pre-​made salads and sandwiches. Perfect for the busy bee who’s always doing breakfast or lunch on the fly.
It’s pretty easy to park and I’m guessing almost never super busy. It’s a little pricey but you’re paying for fresh made farm to table food that will make you feel justified in spending a little extra scratch.