Spring Street Natural

Spring Street Natural has become one of my go-to spots in Soho. It has a lot of healthy, vegetarian options (as well as options for your omnivore friends), and it’s a huge restaurant so it’s rarely too crowded. You can almost always get a table – yes, even at brunch on the weekends!



I had eaten here a few times before I finally tried the veggie burger – the menu said it was made in-house, and I was intrigued by the fact that it had almonds in it! The waiter told me that it would be completely vegan if I ordered it without the cheese (which I did) – but by default it comes topped with cheddar.



The burger arrived topped with lettuce, tomato, and had a Dijon mayo (presumably not vegan, but double-check) served on the side. I tried a bit of the Dijon mayo on my burger, and although I’m not a big mustard fan, it added a nice note of flavor to the whole burger, since without the cheese there wasn't much in the way of toppings.



The toasted sesame bun was soft and very fresh – I should add that Spring Street Natural always puts a small bread basket on the table at the beginning of the meal, and I’ve enjoyed every bit of bread I’ve eaten from this establishment. I probably ate some bread even before my burger arrived, if I recall correctly. I can't help it, I see a basket of bread slices and I just have to try them all!



The patty itself was definitely house-made, and as you can see, packed full of veggies and grains. It was quite mushy, and although you can’t necessarily tell from the photos, lacked that nice crispy outside that I prefer on my burgers. Unfortunately, it was also a bit bland too. I was hoping for a stronger, more exciting flavor! I really didn't taste the almonds either.

It wasn’t a bad burger, indeed it was quite hearty and filling and I couldn’t finish the whole thing (probably because of all that bread I ate at the start of the meal). But it just wasn't as good as I was expecting. Which is too bad, because some of the other vegetarian options on the menu here are really quite excellent!

The sweet potato fries (included with the burger), however, were delicious!

Cost: $12.00
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3       Bun: 4      Toppings: 3

Spring Street Natural
62 Spring Street
between Mulberry & Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
212.966.0290

YumVeggieBurger review #156

White Castle

Full Disclaimer:
White Castle contacted me and sent me info and coupons for their new veggie sliders.
But since I was out of town for most of December and then spent all of January apartment-hunting, packing, and moving into a new apartment, I did not get a chance to use the coupons before they expired. So I paid for the sliders I am reviewing here, and although I am grateful to White Castle for taking an interest in my little blog and offering me the opportunity to try their new menu items, the fact that they sent me a free apron and t-shirt won’t affect the honesty of my review (although the apron is quite useful in the kitchen – thank you, White Castle!).



This was my first time setting foot in a White Castle restaurant – although of course I had seen Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (did you know that they supposedly made veggie sliders just for one of the actors to eat during the filming of that movie? Kind of crazy that it took another TEN years to get veggie sliders on the real menu for the rest of us civilians!)



Walking into the restaurant, I noticed signs on each table advertising the new veggie sliders – which seemed like a good omen! But when I stepped up to the register to place my order, the cashier said “We don’t have any more veggie sliders”.

Disappointing, but maybe it was a good thing if the veggie sliders were so popular they were selling out? Hopefully that would show White Castle executives that having a veggie option was a smart move! So I asked the cashier when they would have the sliders back in stock so I could return to try them.

To my surprise, she said they did have them in stock, but “No one is cooking them, so it would take about 10 minutes”. Confused, I tried to clarify: “So, if I wait ten minutes, can I order them?” The cashier seemed shocked that anyone would want to wait 10 minutes, but agreed to take my order, and called back into the kitchen for someone to start cooking veggie sliders.

I was baffled – so they did have the sliders, they just couldn’t be bothered to prepare them for their customers? White Castle had told me that they were training their employees to cook the veggie patties separately from hamburger patties, even using different-colored spatula to keep them separate! But I hadn't anticipated that this would mean it would be such an ordeal to order them. Oh well… at least they would be freshly-cooked!

But I was troubled that the cashier had not given me this information when I first asked to order the sliders. She had simply said “we don’t have any more veggie sliders”. If I had not been persistent and asked a follow up question, I would have left the restaurant assuming they were out of stock. In fact, I had seen a customer in front of me leave after hearing something he wanted was out of stock – I had missed the beginning of his conversation with the cashier, but now I would be willing to bet he’d tried to order the veggie sliders too, and been turned away!

About ten twenty minutes later, my sliders were finally ready:



They were tiny, and kind of cute – each in its own little cardboard case.

I had ordered three, so I could try each of the three flavors of sauce that are offered with the veggie sliders. First up was the “Sweet Thai” sauce:



The patties are all Dr. Praeger’s vegan veggie burgers – a mix of carrots, zucchini peas, spinach, and broccoli. I haven’t been too impressed by Dr. Praeger’s burgers in the past, but I have to say, maybe it was the 20 minute wait, but these did not seem too bad. They were a bit mushy, but they were warm and held together well! The Sweet Thai sauce is the only one of the three flavors that is vegan. It was a nice sweet-sour flavor, very mild compared to some sweet Thai sauces I’ve tried.

I wished there were some peppers or greens with the patty, but I guess the whole deal with White Castle’s sliders is that they’re rather minimalist?

Next up, Honey Mustard:



This sauce contains eggs, but no dairy. I’m not a big mustard fan, but I actually kind of liked it (I guess because it was more sweet than mustard). It seemed like there was a smaller portion of it than there had been of the Sweet Thai sauce, but I was glad the mustard flavor wasn’t too overwhelming.

Third, Ranch Dressing:



This sauce, containing both eggs and milk, was my least favorite. Maybe someone who really likes Ranch would appreciate it, but I did not care for it. Still, I was hungry, and the sliders are tiny, so I ate the whole thing. The bun was soft and fresh, nothing exciting, but it served its purpose well. The sliders are so small, even three was not terribly filling - perhaps because I missed having real toppings (sauce is not really enough of a topping for me! Even if two of the three sauces weren't bad). But it's kind of nice that they sell them individually, so if you just wanted a small bite you could just stop in and order one on its own! Or twenty, if you were really hungry...



This White Castle location, near the Port Authority, is hardly a place I’d be in a hurry to return to (it was quite possibly one of the dirtiest restaurants I’ve ever eaten in). But if you are nearby, hungry, and low on cash – or your intoxicated omnivore friends drag you with them on a quest for sliders – at least there is now a vegetarian option here. And I am totally in support of every restaurant, even fast food chains, having those options for their customers!

But all of White Castle’s corporate promotion and advertising of the new veggie sliders seems to be at odds with the staff’s attitude towards them. I should add that it was well into lunchtime (1:30pm) when I arrived. If they didn’t have anyone cooking veggie sliders by then, would they have ever gotten around to cooking them that day, if I had not insisted on ordering them? And does this happen every day?

How is White Castle supposed to evaluate if there is enough demand to keep these on the menu if they are turning away customers who try to order them???

I hope this is just an issue at this one White Castle location – has anyone tried to order the sliders at a White Castle outside of NYC? Or have you been to the NYC one and had better luck than I did?

Cost: $0.99 per slider
Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3       Bun: 3      Toppings: 1

White Castle
525 8th Avenue
between 36th & 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
212.736.4746
additional locations in NYC and around the U.S., check website for addresses

YumVeggieBurger review #155

Venice Ale House

Okay, this is the last belated veggie burger review from my trip to Los Angeles last December – I’ve got some great NYC veggie burger reviews to post soon, for those who are sick of seeing the lovely warm-weather California photos and want a local veggie burger here in NYC to warm you up on a cold snowy day (like today…)



Venice Ale House was just down the street from the hotel we stayed at in Venice Beach, and with its outdoor seating looking out onto the beach, we couldn’t resist stopping here for brunch one afternoon. I had already seen a few vegan items on the menu before I spotted the veggie burger, but once I saw that it was called “The Mother Trucker Veggie Burger” I laughed and knew I had to try it!



Yes, that’s a huge sprig of rosemary sticking out of a really deliciously tasty bun (soft and sweet, studded with sesame seeds).



The patty could stand to be a little less mushy – the texture ended up feeling like a thick paste in my mouth – but the flavor was excellent! In particular, I enjoyed the spicy kick that hits you after the first bite! The standard toppings the burger came with were lettuce, tomato, raw red onion (ehh, I think I’ve expressed my dislike of raw onion on burgers before) and chipotle aioli (although the staff said the burger was vegan, I’m guessing they were not thinking about the aioli). Because I was on vacation, I splurged and spent an extra dollar for avocado as well.

Mushiness of the patty aside, taste-wise, this was one of the better burgers I had on this trip! And the roasted potatoes it was served with were quite enjoyable as well. I wish we could have stayed longer, because I would have been glad to come back and try one of the vegan breakfast scrambles on the menu too.


Sunset over Venice Beach

Cost: $11.00 (plus $1.00 extra for avocado)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 4       Bun: 5      Toppings: 4

Venice Ale House
2 Rose Avenue
Venice, CA 90291
310.314.8253

YumVeggieBurger review #153

Neptune's Net

Wow, January was a busy month! I moved into a new apartment, and am still unpacking… which explains why I have still not finished posting all of my veggie burger reviews from my trip to Los Angeles back in December!

So here’s another California veggie burger review:

One of the best parts of our L.A. vacation was driving up the coast for beach days in Malibu.



One evening, after watching a beautiful sunset, we realized we were starving, and the closest place was a seafood restaurant called Neptune’s Net. Hopeful that I would find something there that I could eat, we ventured inside.



Lo and behold, one of the few vegetarian items on the menu was a “garden burger”!
They could not tell me if it was vegan or not, so I’d err on the side of caution and assume it’s only vegetarian, as many pre-made patties unfortunately are (and some of the yelp reviews sound pretty certain that it’s not vegan).



It was pretty simple, just some shredded iceburg lettuce, a pale tomato slice, and a generous serving of mayo, all on a very standard, squishy, fast-food-esque bun studded with sesame seeds on top.



The patty itself wasn’t bad. A rather standard “garden burger”, it was fried well, and maybe I was just hungry, but it even tasted pretty decent for a pre-made patty! It was more of a vegetable mash than faux-meat texture. I was trying to figure out if it was a brand I had tried before, but couldn’t quite place it.

Overall, not a great veggie burger – but after a day on the beach, if you’re a starving vegetarian and just need something in your stomach, at least Neptune’s Net offers that!

Cost: $8.45
Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3       Bun: 2      Toppings: 1

Neptune’s Net
42505 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA
310.457.3095

YumVeggieBurger review #152

Poe's Public House

The morning after Thanksgiving, my boyfriend and I ventured out of our hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia to find a place serving breakfast (well, really brunch by the time we woke up, but it was a Friday). As one might expect, most of the local restaurants were closed for the holidays. But we found a pub (yet another new establishment that has opened since the last time I visited) that was open and serving food, and that sounded good enough to us!



Yup, Poe’s Public House is named after that Poe – Edgar Allen himself. There was a lot of tacky signage referencing the poet, and particularly celebrating the fact that he dropped out of the University of Virginia (this pub is right across the street from the university). So you can pretty well imagine that when students aren’t away for the holidays, this pub is frequented by heavy-drinking frat boys more than studious poets.

There were not a lot of vegetarian choices on the menu – but I got excited when I saw that they had a veggie burger made with a No Bull veggie patty!



Served on a brioche roll (not the best brioche I’ve ever had, but it was okay for a pub) the burger was topped with fresh lettuce, tomato, and Sriracha mayo. The mayo gave a nice kick of spice to what was otherwise a pretty standard pairing of bun and toppings.



But patty itself was delicious, as expected!

Recognizing the strong flavor of sundried tomatoes in it, I realized it was the Sundried Tomato varity of No Bull Burgers – which is actually one of the vegan patties, even though some of their burgers contain eggs. But our waiter could not tell me whether the bun the patty was served on was vegan or not (and obviously the mayo was not), and there’s no guarantee that they always use the sundried tomato variety since the menu made no mention of it (they could switch it up with the Original flavor), so vegans should proceed with caution. But Charlottesville vegetarians, I kind of envy you for living in a place where No Bull burgers are on the menu at your local restaurants! (can we get some up here in NY?)

Once again, I was distracted by my burger and forgot to take a photo of the pub itself. Oops! I promise I will be more diligent about documenting each restaurant I visit on my upcoming trip to Los Angeles!

Cost: $10.00
(fries included) Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 5       Bun: 3      Toppings: 3

Poe’s Public House
1517 University Ave
Charlottesville, VA 22903
434.984.4653

YumVeggieBurger review #148

Blue Mountain Brewery

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I spent the holiday weekend down in Virginia visiting my parents. On the day after Thanksgiving, we took a drive through the mountains and stopped at the Blue Mountain Brewery for dinner (and drinks, obviously). Either we were still full from Thanksgiving dinner, or the portions there were really large – but we ended up with more food than we could eat!

Including, much to my surprise… a veggie burger! (I ate about ¾ of this and I was too full to finish it!)


Note the flight of beers in the background!

I was very happy to see that the patty was a house-made black bean patty. Unfortunately, it was quite heavy on the beans, so even though I could see some bits of peppers and onions in it, it felt like I was just eating a bunch of beans mashed together and fried a bit on the outside. Note: the patty contains cheese, so it is not suitable for vegans!



The avocado, lettuce, and tomato were nice and fresh (I love avocado on a burger – especially when you don’t have to pay extra for it!) and the chipotle sauce was a slight kick of spice but it seemed like they were keeping it pretty mild to appeal to customers who might not like spicy things (same for the patty, which had some seasoning but I would have liked to taste more!). I requested my burger without cheese, but it does come with cheese if you order straight off the menu.

And the organic 7-grain bun was soft and fresh as well (from a local bakery), nice and tasty, and a good size to accommodate the patty and toppings. They do have gluten free buns available upon request, which was a nice touch to see.



The burger came with a choice of side – I got the potato salad, as if I hadn’t eaten enough potatoes at Thanksgiving the night before… ha!

I realize I can’t expect a 5-star burger from a place that is focusing its energy on beer, of course. And while I’d rank this one as “average” it was still far better than a generic frozen veggie patty, and it was the perfect food to fill my stomach while I drank a couple pints of cider (I’m not a beer drinker – so I left the flights to my parents and my boyfriend, but Blue Mountain Brewery serves Bold Rock cider which is an awesome local Virginia cider that I wish I could buy in NY!).

I didn’t know I would be reviewing a burger here until we sat down and looked at the menu, so I did not get a photo of the outside of the brewery – and by the time we left it was dark. But here’s a photo of the view at one of the scenic overlooks we stopped at on the way to the brewery:



And you’ll have to trust my word that the view from the brewery itself is just as gorgeous. Go at sunset, get a seat by a window (or outside, in warmer weather!).

Cost: $9.50
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 2       Bun: 4      Toppings: 4

Blue Mountain Brewery
9519 Critzers Shop Road
Afton, VA 22920
540.456.0820

YumVeggieBurger review #147

Mugs Alehouse

I was meeting a friend for after-work drinks last month, and he suggested Mugs Alehouse as a good, low-key, not too crowded or too hipster-y spot in Williamsburg. I was skeptical, as it looked like the kind of generic sports bar that I usually avoid… And when my friend told me they had a veggie burger on the menu, I expected the kind of gross, bland, frozen veggie burger afterthought that most sports bars include on their menu.

But I was pleasantly surprised!



The veggie burger on the menu here is a homemade patty! Quinoa was the prominent ingredient, but there was also corn and some other bits of veggies mixed in with it. It was far better than I normally expect from a bar! More like a quinoa patty (I've had them served on their own like that at other restaurants) than a hearty burger patty, but still tasty.



Topped with arugula, tomato slices, and pickled red onions (my favorite!), as well as herbed mayo and an avocado spread beneath the patty, I was quite satisfied with my meal. The brioche bun was better than the kind of bun I would have expected too – a nice soft, sweet bread, grilled to a light toast.



I inquired about the ingredients, and was told that the patty contains eggs, and they were not sure about the bun (so if you are vegetarian but can’t/don’t eat dairy, I would err on the side of caution since many buns not made in-house contain milk or butter, unless the restaurant specifically states that they are vegan).

Cost: $10.00 (comes with a side of fries)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3       Bun: 3      Toppings: 4

Mugs Alehouse
125 Bedford Avenue
on the corner of North 10th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.486.8232

YumVeggieBurger review #145

Café Ghia

It’s hard not to like a café that plays music like Eagles of Death Metal and has a photo of Laura Palmer on the wall behind a bar. But I liked Café Ghia even more when I saw that they had a vegan veggie burger on their menu!



Topped with tomato, sprouts, and pickles, this was a fresh and healthy lunch indeed. It came with some vegan mayo served on the side – but the mayo had such an amazing, tangy, spicy flavor that I slathered it on the soft, sesame-seed-encrusted bun.



The patty was a hearty mix of beans and vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, plus possibly more that I did not identify). It was very flavorful and well-seasoned with a spice that seemed familiar but I could not quite identify it. Fried to a light crisp on the outside, the patty was still moist and mush in the middle. Yum!



I don’t find myself out in Bushwick often (in fact, this is my first veggie burger review from that neighborhood!), but I was in the neighborhood for work, and I’m glad I had the chance to try this delicious burger while I was here. It’s a bit pricy for lunch at $13 (side salad included) but that’s not unheard of in New York – even in Brooklyn, these days!



Cost: $13.00
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 4       Bun: 4      Toppings: 4

Café Ghia
24 Irving Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11237
718.821.8806

YumVeggieBurger review #144

Coney Island

A couple weekends ago, my friend Michelle and I took a trip to Coney Island for one last hurrah before we accepted the sad truth that summer is over.



It was a really grey, hazy day in the morning. But we enjoyed being able to walk along the boardwalk and explore the amusement park area without huge crowds.



Not wanting to subsist only on cotton candy and deep-fried oreos (as delicious as those indulgences are), we were pleasantly surprised to find one of the fast-food vendors serving veggie burgers along with the usual plethora of meat options.



The menu indicated that the veggie burgers were Dr. Praegers veggie patties, but did not specify which flavor (looking at the Dr. Praegers website, it appears that some flavors are vegan while others are not). The cook did not know if the bun was vegan either.



Although my expectations for this burger were pretty low to begin with (finding good vegetarian food at Coney Island was something I remembered not being easy in the past), it was still a disappointing sight to see, even as hungry as Michelle and I were. The bun was too small for the patty, and really crumbly (stale?), and made the whole thing hard to eat. That sad piece of iceberg lettuce you can see peeking out behind the burger was just as depressing as it looks. The tomato was just “okay”.

And the patty itself was rather bland. I’ve never been a fan of Dr. Praegers, and this patty did not change my mind (although it looks like they have some new flavors that I haven’t seen before, so maybe I need to give them a second chance). Even with a generous squirt of ketchup, my burger was pretty boring. As fuel to keep us going for an afternoon of amusement park rides, it worked – but it was not a particularly enjoyable meal.

While it’s of course heartening to see that at least one food vendor at Coney Island offers a vegetarian option beyond cheese pizza (even the taco stand we found didn’t have a veggie option!), it’s disappointing that there aren’t more of these options (and better quality ones). Part of the wonder of Coney Island is how most of it feels stuck in the past – but it would be nice if the food at least would keep up with modern dietary needs so that vegetarian and vegan visitors don’t have to worry about what they will find to eat.

Cost: $5 (looked like it was marked down for the end-of-season, and they didn’t charge us the extra 50cents the menu threatened for the lettuce and tomato!)
Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 2       Bun: 1      Toppings: 1

Coney Island
Brooklyn, NY 11224
the food stand where we found these veggie burgers was behind the sideshow, before Luna Park.



Luckily, the rest of our day at Coney Island was not ruined by the disappointing burger! The sun came out in the afternoon, we had a great time, and stayed until the park closed after dark.
If you haven't been to Coney Island before - you should definitely go next summer! Just bring a bagged lunch with you.



YumVeggieBurger review #143

Sugo’s Beach Buns & Bites at Long Beach's Shoregasboard

Last weekend we took the Long Island Railroad out to Long Beach for a day of relaxation on the beach. The water was freezing cold, so I didn’t swim for more than a few minutes, but just lying on the sand by the ocean was lovely.



It had been a couple years since I was last at Long Beach; I don’t go there as often as I go to Rockaway Beach, so I had no idea what food options would await us. Luckily, we found Shoregasboard - a parking lot of food trucks right off of the boardwalk. And luckily, I found a veggie burger:



At first I was disappointed to see that Sugo’s Beach Buns & Bites did not have a vegetarian taco option (what the heck?), but I was mollified to see a veggie burger listed on the menu along with all their meat-burgers and hotdogs. The friendly food truck’s staff informed me that the patty was vegan, but the bun was not (and the burger comes with cheese by default, so ask for it without if you don’t eat dairy!).



After several hours out in the hot sun, I was starving, so I dug right into this burger – even though it had slices of Portobello mushrooms on top, and I’m normally not a mushroom fan (Portobello can occasionally be the exception to this rule for me, though). The patty was decent, it was obviously some brand of frozen burger patty, with large chunks of vegetables (including a lot of carrots, most notably). The flavor was pretty mild, nothing spectacular.



The arugula and Portobello slices gave the burger a little bit more substance and flavor, but it still felt small and flat, and for $8 I would have liked a bit more in the way of toppings! There was some kind of slightly spicy sauce as well – although there wasn’t enough of it to keep the whole burger from tasting a bit dry (I suppose normally the cheese helps with that, if you order it with the cheese). The bun was just average.

It wasn’t the most amazing burger (or the most filling – I was still hungry after!) I’ve ever eaten, but I was grateful that there was a vegetarian option available. I do seem to find veggie burgers wherever I go… I wasn’t even planning on reviewing one this day, but as soon as I saw it on the menu, I knew what my next blog post would be!

Cost: $8.00
Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 2       Bun: 3      Toppings: 2

Sugo’s Beach Buns & Bites
parked at Shoregasboard at Long Beach
Riverside Blvd at the boardwalk
Long Beach, NY 11561

YumVeggieBurger review #138

Williams & Bailey

I stopped in at Williams & Bailey by chance one Saturday afternoon, because they seemed to be one of the few places in Williamsburg that didn’t have a line out the door for brunch. Seeing that they had a veggie burger on their menu sealed the deal.



The vegan veggie burger is offered on both the brunch and dinner menus – one of the few vegetarian or vegan offerings here, but it’s a good one.



The patty is made of brown rice, black beans, oatmeal, beets, and herbs. Rice seemed to be the primary ingredient, or at least the one I noticed the most while eating it. It was almost more like a rice patty than a veggie patty, and was fried lightly on both sides. Although it did not hold together too well, and fell apart quite a bit as I ate it, it tasted great. The flavor was really unique, I could not put my finger on what spice or seasoning it was, but it was exceptionally delicious.



The toppings could have been a bit more creative – simple lettuce, tomato, and white onion (does anyone actually enjoy raw white onion? I sure don’t). But the bun was wonderful – sweet, light, and just slightly toasted. My favorite kind of bun.



As I ate at the bar, I stared at the impressive whiskey selection. This would be a good place to return for an evening drink. As long as you don’t mind the hipstery decorations:



Cost: $9.00
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 4       Bun: 5      Toppings: 2

Williams & Bailey
507 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.782.3500

YumVeggieBurger review #136