The Best Veggie Burger in NYC
An ongoing quest to locate the ultimate non-meat burger in the five boroughs.
The day after Energy Kitchen, I checked out Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen on 8th Avenue at 41st Street. After reading the list of toppings (baby arugula, tomato, red onion, and “Schnipper Sauce”) I figured that even if the burger itself didn’t qualify as a contender for best veggie burger, the rest would stand on its own as delicious.
Schnipper’s looks like some kind of minimalist version of a Johnny Rockets, all red, white, and blue neon, but slightly less obnoxious for its steel girders and location in the New York Times building.
I really should have taken a picture of the bag that the burger came in— it was just as over-designed and beautiful as the retro-futuristic joint itself, but I threw it away before I thought of it (you can see a bit of it to the left in the picture below). The box the burger came in was shockingly plain and not just in comparison to the pretty pretty bag.
Yup. NOTHING on the box. Plain white cardboard. Inside, plain foil wrapper just like the one at Energy Kitchen. I added mustard and ketchup to the burger, in addition to the toppings that were included. The Schnipper’s sauce turned out to be a mild but tasty horseradishy light mayo and the arugula was crisp and fresh, but the burger itself was strangely neutral in flavor. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when people describe food as flavorless, but this truly was as close to textured water as I’ve ever eaten. Not recommended at all, especially not at a whopping eight bucks.
Burger Taste: 0
Burger Texture: 2
Bread: 4
Cheese: N/A
Toppings: 7
Presentation: 10
Value: 1
Overall: 4
Price: $7.99
Type(s): soy based
I started the quest on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at Energy Kitchen (47th street between 9th and 10th Avenues). My friend Kevin, who has asked to be taken along on this journey, had stopped by my office right as I was about to go out for lunch to discuss some of his upcoming projects (Kevin works for me as a theatre curator), so it seemed as good a time as any to inaugurate the quest.
The day before, the city had been blanketed with snow, and it was crisp, cold, and sunny as we walked over to Energy Kitchen. The restaurant looked like something out of a near future dystopian film trying to make a comment on fast food and the deterioration of individuality in contemporary society— you know, the kind of place that sells nutrient enriched flavor capsules instead of real food or that employs a Cornucopia 3-D food printer instead of a chef. The menu, however, is comprised of organic, grass fed, humanitarian everything (and there are plenty of options for those who prefer animals on their buns), so I was looking forward to my meal.
I ordered a veggie burger with cheddar. They have low-fat mozzarella and American cheese, as well, but I find low-fat cheese morally reprehensible; I’m just faithfully reporting the options for those who have no such qualms.
As we sat down to wait for the burger, I confessed to Kevin my concern that I’d instantly find the burger that compares with or even bests the 10 at National Mechanics. What if I’d deified this burger, only to discover that what they’d created in the beautiful former bank building was no rare feat at all? This whole tumblr would have been created only to sit empty!
When it was ready, about ten minutes later (a good sign— no microwave!), it arrived wrapped in shiny silver foil, taller than it was wide. The counter person asked if I wanted mustard, ketchup, or hot sauce— I hadn’t planned on tampering with the native preperation, but hot sauce struck my fancy and I said yes. He reached under the counter and then splashed my tray with four packets of [hot sauce name]. Ok… Hot sauce isn’t house made. I can live with that.
Unwrapping the burger, I was greeted with a very attractive grill mark on the top of a nice, deep brown bun. I took a bite… It was good, satisfying, I’d even say tasty, but any concerns I had about this quest ending on the first mission were dismissed. If a Morningstar Griller’s Prime burger is a 1 and the hallowed National Mechanics burger is a touchstone 10, this was a 4. Of course, at a 4, it was by far the best veggie burger I’d ever eaten at a restaurant in NYC.
The stand out part of this burger was the bun, and I say this as someone who isn’t a bread fanatic and generally considers it an after thought. It was nice and toasty from the grill, and had a nice, earthy whole grain flavor. The burger itself was soft, not quite mushy, but the toothlessness of it made the experience progressively less pleasant. The only variation in the otherwise uniform texture was a not infrequent bite of whole edamame.
The cheese wasn’t the sharpest or tastiest cheddar I’d ever had, but it had good stretch to it. The lettuce, tomato, and shredded carrots that topped it added a nice dimension, but it definitely needed the packet of hot sauce I added after the first few bites.
The breakdown:
Burger Taste: 5
Burger Texture: 2
Bread: 7
Cheese: 3
Toppings: 3
Presentation: 4
Value: 6
Overall: 4
Price: $6.59
Type(s): veggie based, soy based
The search for the perfect NYC veggie burger started, strangely enough, in another city entirely. I was visiting some friends in the City of Brotherly Love and they took me to a place called National Mechanics in Old City where I was introduced to the Greatest Veggie Burger in the Known Universe. Now, being a non-native New Yorker, I tend to take issue with anyone saying that the Greatest Anything in the Known Universe exists outside of these fine five boroughs, but at the time I was giddy and excited to be with my friends, so I happily ordered the burger.
There was only one problem. As far as I know, they were right. It was the Greatest Veggie Burger in the Known Universe, at least in my known universe. On a subsequent trip to Philadelphia with my mother, I dragged her to National Mechanics, as well, and tried it a second time, expecting (hoping?) to be disappointed. But alas, it was still the delicious, juicy without being soggy combination of julienned vegetables, mushrooms, and some kind of grain (bulgur? quinoa?) held together with a single, perfectly elastic slice of cheddar.
I’ve avoided veggie burgers ever since, like I did ice cream for 4 years after I went to Italy— because nothing could compare, right? But the thing is, I don’t go to Philly enough that I can satisfy that lingering and ever-present desire for a fantastic veggie burger by just waiting until the next time I hop a Bolt Bus. It’s time to take matters into my hands, to face potential disappointment and heart break, and find a veggie burger in NYC that will match, nay, RIVAL the deliciousness of the National Mechanics veggie burger.
I will document the journey here with pictures and descriptions and stories, so that you may know, as I know, once and for all, where to procure the greatest veggie burger in the greatest city in the world.
But if you’re ever in Philadelphia, do stop by National Mechanics and have theirs. Even if I do find one better, I’ll always love theirs for starting me on this journey.
