Vegan
American
Organic
Raw
Fast food
Juice bar
Take-out
Bakery
Gluten-free

Vegan comfort food in a casual, fast food setting with garden patio and featuring the world's first all-vegan drive thru. The kitchen makes the sauces in-house, and menu offers choices like hand-cut fries, sandwiches and wraps, different kinds of burger patties plus shakes, fountain drinks, and daily desserts. Uses 100% non-gmo ingredients. Location is across from Balboa Park. Est. since 2004 (originally as Kung Food then Nature's Express). Open Mon-Sun 11:00am-8:00pm.


Venue map for Evolution Fast Food
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251 Reviews

First Review by divine_health

BanezaM

Points +568

Vegan
17 Feb 2024

Tasty Burgers and Fries

We were craving burgers and fries and decided to give delivery from Evolution Kitchen a try. It was delicious! We had the Smash Burger and the Fuego with the beefy patty option. Definitely will return to try again! Highly recommend for a fast food craving.

serena98

Points +1184

Vegan
25 Jan 2024

Love love love

Immaculate flavor for everything. Milkshake, cake, burger and loaded fries all slapped. Cool murals inside and outside of the establishment as well. Overall wonderful experience

VeganLion777

Points +212

Vegan
18 Jan 2024

Best Vegan Burgers in San Diego🤘🤘🙏

So fresh and delicious with Cabbage wrap alternative to bread!

Pros: Vegan, Delicious , Fresh

Reasie

Points +130

Vegan
06 Jan 2024

So-so

Amazing french fries - unfortunately my family did not care for the house-made ketchup, so even those went mostly uneaten.

The beefy burger has an Alpha brand patty which tasted fine but was super thin. They were generous with toppings/condiments. Again, the ketchup left my son’s burger uneaten. It tastes very heavy on…apple cider vinegar??

The chocolate chip cookie was chewy and delicious. The NY Chocolate was okay - a bit of a let down considering how good it looked. It was very nice and creamy, but sort of strangely tangy - not in a good way.

The staff was friendly and helpful. The outdoor dining space was lovely.

Might come back if I lived in the area. Curious to try the chk’n sandwiches and the cheese sauce on the fries.

I would pack my own ketchup! lol…

Pros: The fries, The dining room, Large menu

Cons: Did I mention the weird ketchup?, Scrawny burger patty

JasonManias

Points +1341

Vegan
31 Dec 2023

Stupidly good

Amazing mix of junk and healthy food. My fav was the chicken bacon Swiss sandwich, used to be my go to at Arby’s and this one really hit the spot. The chickpea salad tempeh wrap was outstanding as well. They even have a drive thru!

Alakazam

Points +45

Vegan
22 Dec 2023

Generous portions and fresh food

I have been here many times in the past and just remembered it existed. I recently had the grilled vegetable burrito and it was fresh and packed with high-quality vegetables. I shared it with my girlfriend, and we both agreed it was more than enough for us. We also tried the yerba mate, which we found a bit gross. In spite of the gross tea, I will definitely be back for the food.

As an aside, the inside of the restaurant is a bit cramped and kind of strange due to the primitive drive-thru set-up, but the back side is secluded and great for a group of friends or a quiet date. This is a much better option than Plant Power, which is pretty hit-and-miss for me.

junkfoodvegan

Points +143

Vegan
12 Nov 2023

Great fast food with some healthy options

I loved the burritos and the bacon ranch fries and the pumpkin shake. Delicious food, prices reasonable for the area, and the food came fast. Would definitely visit again.

Pros: Great food, Prices reasonable, Very fast

Cons: No seating

avokari

Points +150

Vegan
07 Oct 2023

Great fast food

I really enjoyed my burger here, and the tacos were good as well. It's great to see more casual vegan food being offered. Very good experience!

Pros: Tasty burger, Convenient, Big portions

lovebeachesandturtles

Points +72

Vegan
01 Oct 2023

Loved it

First time here today, and I went twice! Got the mushroom Swiss burger both times. For lunch I had the black bean patty and for dinner I did the tempeh patty. They were both great. I’m not a local, but it’s good to know when I’m back in the area this is one I can count on repeating.

Pros: Tastes good, Pricing was right

FabricioPassos17

Points +46

Vegan
26 Aug 2023

Perfeito!

Fase food rápido, lanches e acompanhamentos maravilhosos. Milk shakes surreais.

Pros: Lanches

Cons: Nada

Kaseyfrench

Points +336

Vegan
25 Aug 2023

Cali burrito!

Only place I’ve found that offers a vegan California burrito. Love it.

CinnamonGoil

Points +110

Vegan
19 Aug 2023

Delicious!!!

Absolutely delicious! Plan to return by the end of our vacation

Pros: Burger bun, Soft serve ice cream, Shoestring fries

lilylil!

Points +82

Vegan
31 Jul 2023

yum!

quick, tasty food! we tried four types of hamburger and the mozzarella and pesto one was my favorite : the mozzarella was reaally good and felt like real one! the prices are good, especially compared to the (also vegan) restaurant donna jean that is placed next to this fast food!
they have a space where you can sit and eat, and it was cute, but not really clean : okay to eat a burger!

Pros: 100% vegan , delicious hamburgers, quick

Cons: not suuper friendly staff (but not rude) , place to sit isn’t that clean

MysticMerman

Points +83

Vegan
13 Jul 2023

A Holy Space

This location has been a vegan or veggie business for at least 40 years! Evolution has been there for at least a decade keeping the grounds holy! Ha ha! Evolution is owned by the same people that own Plant Power. It's nice that they haven't changed it. It offers unique items you can't get at Plant Power. Highly recommended!

Pros: 100% vegan, A lot of options, Fries are air cooked, not fried

Cons: Closes too early on the weekends.

DonaldMcAninch

Points +617

Vegetarian
13 May 2023

Straightforward and yummy

We got a couple different burgers using the tempeh patties and were very satisfied. The toppings were not as original or innovative as some places, but everything tasted great.

marieroberts

Points +1427

Vegan
01 Apr 2023

We were excited to try but…

The food was ok but nothing to phone home about.
I had the evo burger and my husband had a chicken sandwich. We just weren’t in love with the flavours, but of course we’re happy to find a 100% vegan restaurant. Next time we’re in the area we want to try the plant based restaurant right beside it that we somehow missed.

Pros: All vegan, Comfort food when you’re in the mood

Cons: Service mediocre , Ketchup doesn’t taste good

Spaceprincess1997

Points +72

Vegan
13 Mar 2023

good and quick!

My bf and I’s fav fast food vegan place so far! Evolution has really good burritos, tacos, and burgers. It was convenient and pretty quick for a bite to eat. Whenever we visit San Diego, we go to Evolution!

MelaniaRyś

Points +71

Vegan
12 Mar 2023

Nothing special

I visited this place because it had the best opinions in San Diego and I was disappointed to be honest. The staff was nice but the burger was only ok, nothing special. And the dining room was hard to find, it was behind a corridor with a sing “no trespassing” so I found it after seeing other people going there and after I already ate my burger on a bench outside.

Pros: Vegan

Cons: No beer

HoldenKopman

Points +24

Vegan
21 Feb 2023

Great food and experience!

Drove from Carlsbad to this place and it did not disappoint! Though they were not picking up the phone, the customer service was very accommodating! For the food I got the California burrito which had some of the best cashew cheese I have ever had, though it was a little heavy on the vegan carne. Something else extremely notable was that though their restaurant is labeled fast food, the food actually had the opposite effect of fast food and did not make me feel sick as many other vegan restaurants have in the past. They have a great outdoor patio and even though the heaters were not working at the time it was a very enjoyable experience! Next time we are in San Diego area we will be back!! Definitely recommend 👍

Pros: Customer Service, Beautiful outdoor Patio, Food!

Cons: Phone service

CamilaGalvez

Points +1335

Vegan
21 Dec 2022

Drive tru!!

El primer drive tru! Tiene muchas opciones para todos los gustos y la kombucha On tap esta deliciosa!

NicoleParks

Points +1416

Vegan
15 Dec 2022

yum!

really good food and so many options! i got the buffalo chickn fries and a strawberry shake. pricey for fast food but expected for downtown sd. cool art on the walls on the back patio!

Updated from previous review on 2022-12-15

MizzB

Points +3727

Vegan
12 Dec 2022

Vegan dining deliciousness

Very tasty food, good sized portions, very affordable prices

Pros: 100% Vegan, Friendly knowledgeable personnel , Conveniently located, drive thru take out, dine in

Cons: Heavy traffic in busy area

alannahneedham

Points +370

Vegan
04 Nov 2022

Good food

Good food. Friendly service.

·X·

Points +17394

Vegan
26 Oct 2022

Evolution FF

Looks like my review from 10 years ago disappeared…it was passive 😉. In general, I love EFF. It’s one of the OG vegan fast food places in the area. I’ve always enjoyed the burgers. Definitely a top place in my opinion.

Updated from previous review on 2011-04-15

skymyers

Points +52

Vegan
27 Sep 2022

So good for what it is

This is, by far, the best vegan fast food I’ve had. My girlfriend and I come here all the time and have loved everything except for the vegan bacon, which simply did not seem like bacon at all for us. The shakes are great too. The menu is also a bit cheaper than comparable vegan food in the area. It’s sister restaurant, Donna Jean, which is connected, is also a must try for dine in.

Pros: Affordable, Quick , Tasty

Cons: Some options better than others

cupcake222

Points +98

Vegan
17 Aug 2022

Outstanding!

The pesto chkn sandwich and the strawberry shake were A plus!

Chkn was definitely the best I’ve had!

Updated from previous review on 2022-08-17

MariaLupitaFigueroa

Points +50

Vegan
11 Aug 2022

Meh

I was super excited as I’ve only ever heard good things, but I was not impressed. I got the chili cheese fries and I hated them, the buffalo chicken sandwich was okay, I ordered the blueberry cheesecake I believe, but I never got it, so yeah…




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