Next Level Burger in San Francisco

Dining at home, it is the new thing, the new normal, the new food blogging trend, the new whatever. Then again, anyone who has read my posts over the years, knows me and the SO were no strangers to just being lazy and ordering in. These days, while I still do the random order in schtick, sometimes it is nice to get outside the apartment on a weekend. Order ahead take out is a great way to have a reason to head out (with face mask) and enjoy a brisk stroll—which still counts as exercise people. Of course, if I’m gonna walk somewhere to pick up food and expect it to still be hot and fresh, it does need to be relatively close to accomplish. Seems the online delivery portals and phone apps now offer “localized” suggestions and options to skip the delivery and get it yourself. Which, from a pocketbook stand point helps as there is no surcharge or service fee.

After a stroll through some options I started to feel a hankering for something quintessentially all-American like say a burger! But this is San Francisco and burgers are a dime a dozen in this town, and Lord knows I’ve reviewed many of them over the years. Why not go completely off the rails (for me) and get one of them new fangled vegetarian/vegan things. While there were a handful of choices with the Beyond Burger, I decided to pick a spot that was a little closer to home, literally, as I could just walk over and pick it up, which brought me to Next Level Burger and their completely vegan offerings. And I do mean—completely vegan. Though they prefer to refer to themselves as “plant based” instead of vegan since many of us might recoil at that term. Or I should say, those not from the Bay Area where it is a ubiquitous way of life.

Located in the basement of the Potrero Hill Whole Foods, it is one of eight locations they have in Whole Foods in a few states. Seems they want to be a new fast food option but their rollout is slow and methodical, which I’m guessing is working for them—at least the cities they’ve chosen.

For a vegan burger joint, they gotta lot of options. It took me some time peruse through it all and figure out what I wanted. I even considered one of their vegan hot dogs because they made it looks so good in the pics, but I’ve actually had those before and to say I’m no fan is a BIG understatement. It is a texture thing, which we all know I have. But, you know, burger is in their name so stick with got me here and the ultimately the All-American burger called out to me. (More like whispered, plus I was spending too much time making a decision and I could hear the SO’s voice somewhere in the back of my head going—PICK SOMETHING!) And ping! Order placed. Ready in 15-20 minutes which is about how long it will take to pop over and get. Then voila! It was ready to go when I arrived, even with my fast walking and off I set back home to see if I will be pleasantly surprised or if I’m gonna have to hit the grocery store for some dessert to mask my utter disappointment. No pressure.

Well, it looks pretty. It is a “beef style patty” (their words) with organic tempeh “bacon,” your choice of “cheeses” (yes, many quote marks here) and I went with pepper jack, lettuce tomato, “organic” (again!) dill pickles and also another choice of sauces (I went with their house thing because so many choices!) on a toasted multigrain bun. Okay, I’m exhausted even from all that ‘splaining, like I was at the time I ordered—but there it is.

While some of their burgers are made from mushrooms, quinoa and other stuff, the “beef style patty” is made by Beyond Beef and is more a mixture of pea, wheat, soy and other plant proteins and vegetables. Take a look at the pick below.

**side view of the All-American burger**

I mean, it sort of looks like meat, but it reminds me more looks wise of a sausage patty as opposed to a burger patty, which is usually thicker and heartier? Though, if you are comparing it to other fast food burger patties, this yeah, it is thin and small like them. It is fried and when you bite into it, texture wise, it is sort of like meat, though for me, it was only a brief flirtation of meat like. A couple more bites and it became soft and lost any sturdy texture it initially maintained. But, the lettuce was crispy and fresh like the tomato and the pickles added some crunch and tang too. The special house sauce is a variation on McD’s special sauce, which itself is really just a spicy 1000 Island dressing with more relish. Here there is no relish and seems they used a vegan mayo and in all honesty, can’t say it really added all that much. Neither did the soy pepper jack cheese. I am not a fan of “not cheese” but had small hopes getting the pepper jack would add some spicy to mask the “not cheesiness” but alas, no.

Then there is the tempeh bacon—something listed on the menu as being housemade. I have had this over the years and I really wanna like it, but, alas, no. (yes that phrase works here too) It isn’t even that it is made of soybeans, but more that is just doesn’t even look like bacon. Sure, they try to put in striations to look like fat/red meat, flecks of black pepper and maybe even a little smoke flavor, but, alas, no. (yep, still works!)

It is not that all this stuff together tastes bad or anything, but to say it is a plant based substitute for a burger, just kind of falls flat. It is more like a vegetable centric sandwich, which is kind of what it really is. Particularly when the texture and crunch you get is all coming from the lettuce—and the pickle. Maybe if it was spicier or had some kind of kick behind it, but, alas, no (okay, last one, I swear). Maybe a side of fries will help.

Yes, they’ve got fries and you again have a choice! (ugh) You can get them either deep fried or baked and since I was on the “healthy” kick, let’s go baked! And well, they do have less calories that way, but the carbs don’t change. There were two sizes and above is the small, which really is small. And you can see where they were baked and in quite a few instances, overbacked. That is why the tips on many of them were black. A nice way of saying they wuz’ burnt people. I was severely underwhelmed.

Pricing here also isn’t necessarily on the budget friendly side of things. A burger alone will set you back about $12 and the small(!) fry will add another $5. Thems like sit down restaurant prices. If I am going to spend that kind of cash I guess I want to have more taste and heft to at least make me feel like I am getting my money’s worth. And if you are dubious to start with like me about plant based food substitutes then it all adds up to me probably not trying this place again. Guess it is time to track down some kind of dessert—just not from Whole Foods.

I think as far as vegan burgers, and spots like this go, it really is a taste and lifestyle thing. If you live solely by the plant based diet, your are most likely gonna enjoy Next Level Burger, maybe not the cost, but the food isn’t gonna insult your vegan vibes as they have leaned into it heavily and they do have a following, so take that for whatever you want. Will this keep me from trying fake burgers like Impossible Foods? No, I’m still down to at least see what it is like. But for Next Level Burger and anything else on their menu, alas, no. (HA! Slipped another one in there!)