Where's The Beef?

Five Must-Try Dallas Veggie Burgers That Are Just As Good As The Real Thing.

Everyone's all aboard the “Dallas is a great burger city!” train lately. Yes, us included.

We get it. Seems like there's a new gourmet burger bar opening up every other week in this town. And that's great news for all the meat-eatin' types among us.

But, hey, what about us cool and obviously superior vegetarians/vegans who live around Dallas? Where does that leave us?

Well, in a pretty solid spot, too, actually. Most of the big burger places around town offer vegetarian and vegan options at this point — just as you'd expect. Also to be expected? Some of these options are better than others.

That in mind, let's take a look at some of our favorite veggie burgers from around Dallas.

Liberty Burger's Woodstock. While most of the burgers on this list take the black bean route, Liberty Burger's Woodstock offering stands out because it' got a patty full of chickpeas, grains and seeds, each of which combine to give the burger some great texture. This one goes perfect with Liberty Burger's selection of local craft beers, too.

Grub Burger Bar's Ghost Burger. If Ron Swanson is to be believed, we veggies are a bunch of sissies and wimps. Well, OK. But what about Grub Burger's Ghost Burger then? Though it's labelled as a regular burger on the menu, you can ask them to sub a black bean patty, and, honestly, it's basically still the same thing because this burger's all about the fixins. It's got pepper jack cheese, ghost chili sauce, grilled jalapeños, lettuce and tomato, and eating it is literally one of the most painful things ever. But it hurts so good! Wanna hurt even more? Ask for the ghost chili sauce concentrate for an even hotter burger.

Anvil Pub's Veggie Burger. Somewhat surprisingly, this Deep Ellum mainstay is a bit of a vegan oasis amidst the neighborhood's many bars, restaurants and music venues. Their veggie burger is pretty no-frills, I concede. But it's a hearty dish featuring a seasoned black bean patty, Swiss cheese, fresh avocado slices and pesto ranch. It can be customized with vegan cheese if you want, too. No mater how you slice it, it's freaking delicious — and a great way to soak up all that booze for the ride back home.

Spiral Diner & Bakery's Spiral Burger. What kind of list would this be if we didn't include the vegan restaurant of Dallas? Spiral has a great many dishes on its menu, but it's the “Bacon” “Ranch” “Cheeseburger” is the most flavorful and deliciously messy. Per the menu, it features “lots of ranch dressing, homemade bacon, cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, pickles, tomato on a toasted bun” with your choice of one three patties — the classic soy patty (my favorite with this burger), the cashew quinoa patty or a portobello mushroom patty.

Lakewood Landing's Veggie Burger. This dive is known for many things — late-night corn dogs, a badass jukebox, the perfectly dive-y atmosphere — so the veggie burger doesn't often get the shine it deserves. But it should! It's quite possibly the only vegetarian-friendly burger on the face of the planet that's greasy enough to pass for the real thing and tasty enough to please even the most staunch carnivore.