Austin USENET
Guide to Vegetarian Burgers

Email your vegetarian burger experiences/critiques. Also wanted: opinions of frozen store-bought burgers, tempeh, and mixes.

Send corrections, updates, reviews, etc.. to [email protected]. Austin area WWW and Gopher sites are welcome to post this list for public access purposes.

A vegetarian burger is any non-animal stuff (except maybe egg) shaped like a hamburger and served like a hamburger (but ain’t a hamburger). The burger patties are usually composed of some combination of tofu, soybeans, brown rice and other grains.

Note: Prices vary widely according to toppings. Some of the listed burgers include cheese and other toppings that the others don’t. Adding avocado or cheese to a burger can increase the price by 75 cents in some cases. Some of the pricier burgers include a side dish or chips.

Restaurant                     Burger(s)           Price      
--------------------------------------------------------
Acorn Cafe                    Sunshine Burger      $5.65
Common Market                 Veggie Burger        $3.99
Crown & Anchor Pub            Veggie Burger        $2.50
Dog & Duck Pub                Veggie Burger        $3.95
Eastside Cafe                 Garden Burger        $4.30
Gaylord's Hamburgers          Veggie Burger        $2.69
Good Eats                     Garden Burger        $4.95
Hudson's Grill                Garden Burger        $4.89
Huts Hamburgers               Nature's Burger      $3.95
Hyde Park Bar and Grill       Garden Burger        $4.50
Kerbey Lane Cafe              Veggie Burger        $4.95
Mad Dog & Beans               Garden Burger        $3.10
Magnolia Cafe                 Garden Burger        $4.95  
Martin Brothers Cafe      
(Guadalupe location)          Tempeh Burger        $4.50                     
                              Veggie  Burger       $4.95
Mother's Cafe                 Bueno Burger         $3.75
Mr. Natural                   Veggie Burger        $2.75
Omelettry North               Garden Burger        $4.65
Senor O'Brien's               Garden Burger        $4.95
Ski Shores                    Veggie Burger        $5.75
Texas Student Union        
(The Grill)                   Garden Burger        $2.69
Waterloo Ice House            Veggie Burger        $3.95
Wheatsville deli              Garden Burger        $3.95
Whole Foods cafe
Broadie Oaks                  Tempeh Burger        $4.50
Whole Foods cafe
Crossroads                    Nature Burger        $3.95
                              Tempeh Burger        $3.95

Contributors

Bill Douglass ([email protected])

Lynne Randoll ([email protected])

Rob Robinson ([email protected])

Tor Neilands ([email protected])

Donald Tsang ([email protected])

Vince Layton ([email protected])

Kay Nettle ([email protected])

Steve Chauvin ([email protected])

Cyberspace Buddha ([email protected])

Janet Christian ([email protected])

Priscilla/James Ebert ([email protected])

Jay Margolis ([email protected])

Restaurant Reviews

Just this weekend we stopped at Hudson’s Grill. I didn’t see much on the menu for a vegetarian. When the waitress came up, I commented to her that I was having a hard time finding something to order (other than French fries or onion rings). She said they had a veggie burger, which was listed on those little table-top tent cards, but was not in the menu. I ordered it and must say it was quite good. It was made just like their regular burger (onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, etc.).

Hyde Park Grill’s Garden Burger is the best I’ve had. Order it with mushrooms or basil pesto. Mmmm.

Grocery Store Reviews

Over time we have tried ‘most every ‘veggie burger’ available and the following two merit strong consideration:

a.) BOCA BURGER – pre-baked, four flavors, minimal preparation time, (as each burger is individually wrapped) optimal packaging for storage. Obtained at Whole Foods Markets and maybe other places.

b.) Green Giant’s Harvest Burger – originally developed by ADM (Archer Danial Midlands corp.) comes in four flavors, requires slightly more prep. time, widely distributed – Alberston’s, H.E.B., etc., packaging leaves a bit to be desired.

Either of the above can be prepared in various ways including grilling. Interesting side note: On a recent trip to the top of Mt. Rainier,Washington it was a delightful surprise to find the Harvest Burger as the special-of-the-day at the snack bar. Quite tasty at 10,000+ feet!