Take a little more transit and eat a little less meat — two things you can do to reduce your environmental impact. In this installment of Meatless Mondays with Metro, we visit SO-CAL Burgers Chill & Grill, a tiny joint in East L.A. that isn’t known for being vegetarian but has veggie burgers worth writing home about. The place features some very car-oriented decor, although I won’t hold that against them. 🙂
While the majority of their menu is a haven for meat-eaters, SO-CAL Burgers does have a veggie burger, and they will substitute any of their specialty burgers with a veggie patty for $.50 extra. The veggie patty is not faux-meat, by which I mean you can taste the grain-y bean-and-corn-ness. But it’s firmly packed and holds together well, even when smothered in grilled mushrooms — there’s nothing I hate more than a soggy veggie patty that falls apart on first bite. The veggie patty is also pretty filling, so I recommend ordering the burger as a lettuce wrap.
Veggie burger aside, what absolutely should not be passed on is SO-CAL Burgers’ guacamole fries. The fries are lightly seasoned and are an excellent vehicle for transporting the smooth, house-made guacamole into your mouth.
To get to SO-CAL Burgers, take the Gold Line to East L.A. Civic Center Station, or Metro Bus 258 to Mednik/3rd. If the weather is nice, get your food to go and walk over to Belvedere Park Lake for a picnic. The park is about a five minute walk away. There’s also a nice parklet right in front of SO-CAL Burgers where you can enjoy your meal.
The parklet right outside of SO-CAL Burgers
Have other recommendations for vegan/veggie restaurants? Let me know in the comments!
Categories: Go Metro