Veggie Grill at the Irvine Spectrum

Got to try out the new Veggie Grill at the Irvine Spectrum (on the back side near the Barnes & Noble) yesterday before its grand opening to the public tomorrow, November 21st. This is their third location after the one in El Segundo and the one on the UCI campus. In my review of their UCI location I said, "I guess The Veggie Grill has as an unstated goal the mission to show carnivorous humans that you can make pretty good meals without meat and without a 'health food' stigma" but last night I found out from both their founders that this is their explicit, stated goal. In the words of one of them, "We want to take the punishment out of eating healthy," and I believe they have wildly succeeded.

I don't know that I'll ever convert to full-fledged vegetarianism but the carne asada sandwich I had last night ("Grilled veggie-steak, marinated in Mexican spices, with southwestern spiced vegan mayo, red onion, lettuce, tomato on a wheat roll.") was so good and authentic tasting that I felt like a straight-up carnivore, but without having to deal with fat and grease.

I was met there by Judy the Foodie, who thoroughly enjoyed her Chop-Chop Chef Salad, "Chopped romaine, tempeh, veggie-steak, chillin' chickin, green onion, roasted corn salsa with a chipotle ranch dressing:"

It's healthy, it tastes good, and is reasonably priced with the most expensive item on their menu being only $9.50. I'll be back, especially since I was told they were planning on adding more Mexican items to the menu.

• Official Site
• Judy's Review at The Astute Recorder
• Dan's Review at Eat in OC
• Review at Griffin Eats OC