Sundrip, a Black and family-owned vegan eatery, is the newest addition to the row of food and drink options located right below Campus North Residential Commons. The cafe opened in early September, replacing the Southspace art gallery.
Sundrip was first founded under the name Uncooked in Fulton Market in 2020 by Chief Vision Officer Jeremy Jones, his mother and Chief Executive Officer Carole Jones, and his wife and Chief Operating Officer Kaitlyn Jones. The family decided to expand their business to Hyde Park after a regular customer, whose husband works for the University, introduced them to the spot on campus.
The new name and rebrand debuted in January this year. “The thinking was to make the brand a little bit more approachable, less hardcore, to demystify the idea that people had about raw veganism,” Jeremy said. “We just want the vibe to be fun and joyful.”
The path to the creation of Sundrip started over 13 years ago. Jeremy and Carole got into plant-based eating specifically for the idea of “food as medicine” after losing Carole’s husband to colon cancer. In 2009, Carole co-founded Chicago Raw, a vegan, plant-based cafe in River North and was joined by Jeremy there. In 2020, they had the opportunity to start a family business together along with Jeremy’s wife Kaitlyn and were able to find success amidst the pandemic.
Everything sold at Sundrip is whole food, plant-based, gluten-free, vegan, and prepared fresh daily, according to Sundrip’s website. “The first thing you’ll notice with our food is when you replace all of the empty calories with things that are micronutrient rich, you’ll feel fuller on less,” Jones said. “There isn’t that five o’clock hangover after eating something big.”
One of their goals for the Hyde Park location is to help make healthy food options more accessible to college students. “We want to remove all the barriers between you and making that healthy [food] choice. So if you eat something from us that is quick, convenient, and tastes really good, it’s a moot point if it’s healthy and makes those choices extremely easy, and that’s really what we’re going for,” Jones said.
The owners also recognize that college students are known to try to save on money, so in an effort to alleviate this, Sundrip is offering a 20 percent discount for UChicago students and working on adding a Maroon Dollar option in the near future. Sundrip also offers a yearly membership as part of their that includes a 25 percent discount on all items, and they are currently running a promotion that gives UChicago students and faculty a 50 percent discount on the annual membership fee.
The owners hope to destigmatize the stereotypes associated with healthy restaurants by not only making their products taste good but also making their space bright and inviting. The interior of Sundrip features an orange and yellow color scheme complete with a grab-and-go fridge stocked with colorful juices and acai bowls, hanging egg chairs, and a large flower wall with a neon sign that reads “let your soul shine.”
“We wanted to create a space that was fun and more representative of the people that come in. ‘Let your soul shine’ really is an invitation to bring your whole self and just smile for no reason,’” Jeremy said.
Jeremy hopes that this restaurant space can serve as a place for the community to host events, free of charge. “I think we have a unique opportunity, especially given where we are on campus, to bridge the greater community of Hyde Park and Woodlawn with the student body,” Jones said.
Jeremy hopes to make the Hyde Park cafe a tight-knit community with many regular customers, similar to their Fulton Market location. “The reason why folks come back is because we have a standard of excellence of how we treat them. It’s about the relationship more than the transaction,” Jeremy said. “I think it’s also embedded in the brand of not trying to sledgehammer you over your head with who we are but trying to create a mirror for who you are.”
Sundrip also places great emphasis on practicing and promoting sustainability. After learning that compostable packaging is only industrially compostable and not recyclable, they transitioned to reusable packaging made from recycled bottles. Most of their menu items use noodles made from kelp, which grows in water and is the only vegetable that sequesters carbon at a massive scale. The use of kelp means that Sundrip is carbon neutral from the start. Their smoothies are also all blended in-cup, which not only ensures uniformity but also helps eliminate waste. They also cross-utilize items in their produce section, which means that there is less spoilage.
As part of their efforts to encourage sustainable living, Sundrip also partnered with local Hyde Park artists and photographers to create pieces for the space that match the colorful aesthetic but also portray issues of global warming and our responsibility to the environment.
Jeremy’s go-to meal at Sundrip is the sesame noodle or chipotle noodle salad with a 33-ounce “green vitality” smoothie with an immunity power shot in it, which he has almost every morning for breakfast. The menu also includes a wide variety of other drinks and quick eats, including smoothies, acai bowls, juice cleanse kits, pastries, salads, and Asian-fusion style noodles. The owners are working on expanding this menu to include more meal options such as paninis for the coming winter.
When asked why people should try Sundrip, Jeremy said: “It’s just damn good food, and that’s good with a capital G.”
