The Dan Ryan is about to see a lot less traffic, especially in the form of those hybrid-driving vegans jetting to 75th Street for a dose of barbecue seitan and soy mac and cheese at stalwart Soul Vegetarian. Luetrice Curtis has over 30 years of experience working at Soul Veg, its sibling restaurant in Jerusalem and a similar restaurant she ran in Ghana, West Africa. She’s putting her know-how of vegan soul food to the test by opening up Life Vegan in Evanston.

Her husband L.D. Curtis, the restaurant’s manager, says that they are currently open, but "going slow to gage what the community wants and needs." During this soft opening time, diners can expect a menu very similar to Soul Veg, with the signature barbecue "twist" sandwich, potatoes with mushroom gravy, greens, split pea soup and cornbread. The Curtises are also giving breakfast a shot with a bright-eyed opening time of 6am and a menu that includes tofu scramble, a take on French toast, vegan pancakes and seitan sausage. A BYOB license is in the works, as is a specials menu of vegan Indian dishes that the couple are concocting with help from family friends who are natives of India.

As with Soul Vegetarian, the backbone of the restaurant is the owners’ African Hebrew Israelite religion, but L.D. says not to expect proselytizing. "We believe in the lion and the lamb scripture," he says. "And our hope is that gradually, and through our work here, man will go away from the need to consume meat."

Life Vegan (1601 Simpson St, Evanston, 847-869-6379). 6am–9pm daily; closed for shabbat at 3pm Fridays to reopen on Saturdays at 6pm.