• 3
• I tried Astroburger

I had read about this place on happycow, and came her for lunch once. Here's my Astroburger review. It's quite a sight from the outside. A burger joint with a huge blue star sign sticking straight up in the air 2 stories high. You can miss it. On Melrose Ave just east of Larchmont Blvd but not in the trendy shopping area. Astroburger's attempt to provide an alternative to meat burgers is noteworthy and deserves praise, but the food is ultimately conventional American burger joint kind of food. The vegetarian offerings are prominently displayed on the menu and on signs by the order counter. On the day I went, the special-of-the-day were both veggie based. The vegetarian items are plenty with several ones marked as vegan. The primarily feature is the Gardenburger brand patty. I ordered the flame grilled gardenburger (marked vegan) with a side of french fries. The fries were piping hot and tasty. The burger, however, was blah. I'm used to making fancy veggie burgers at home or eating them at pure veg establishments, so to get a brown TVP patty (textured soy/vegetable protein) gave me a blah feeling. TVP is not so easy to digest, either. However, to give credit, the patty had a decent savory flavor. Vegan mayonaise is available for extra 70 cents. If you don't order that, then your burger will come dry: wheat buns, iceburg lettuce, tomato slice, TVP patty. The food is cheap and fast. The interior has a old school diner feel. There's even a drive-thru! And you can get a fresh squeeze apple or orange juice. So not too bad.