When I first started my Mile High Vegan Eats page, the very point of it was to only review “regular” restaurants that happened to have awesome vegan options. My reasoning was that 99% of vegans have friends/family/dates who aren’t plant-based, so restaurants that cater to everyone are often the best choice. This is why I never included Denver’s most two famous vegan/vegetarian restaurants (and also because everyone already knows about them anyway). And I still stand by this.
But! I have decided to make an exception for Meta Burger for two reasons. One – they’re a small all-vegan start-up and I want to support them, and two – they’re freaking delicious and I would hate for anyone to miss out on eating there. SO HERE WE GO!
Meta Burger (located in the plaza at Parker Rd & Mississippi in SE Denver) serves up “plant-based American classics”, meaning burgers, fries, hot dogs, and shakes. And they do it deliciously! Despite the fact that they’re really close to home, I don’t get there as often as I’d like- although they did start delivery via GrubHub and Postmates recently and I’ve ordered <ahem> twice…. They also have special items quite often, which I’ve seen on their ‘gram. Here’s their menu, and here are some of my favorites:
First up, the Meta Bites: Breaded baked potato bites with bacon and chives, served with nacho cheese. Tons of savory flavor packed into this little guys, and the nacho cheese has just a tiny bit of heat which really adds to it.
This is 100% my favorite burger (currently, at least), the Texan Burger, which has chopped bbq, cole slaw, pickles, bbq sauce, and ranch. OMG it’s so messy and delicious. The burgers themselves are really good, but I lovelovelove having all that messiness piled on top too!
This is the Supernova Burger, which has habanero ham, cheese, pickled jalapenos, lettuce, pickled red onions, and tomato. I ordered it with the jalapenos on the side because I’m a baby, but that habanero ham still brings the heat. And I am a huge fan of pickled onions, so I loved it.
Chili Cheese Fries! Waffle fries SMOTHERED in homemade chili and nacho cheese. Not to spicy, just the right amount of messy!
Sadly, this burger isn’t on their menu anymore, but as you can see it was the Mac n’ Cheeseburger with thick ol’ sliced of avocado. YUM!
My other favorite burger that I don’t seem to have a picture of is the Island Burger, which comes with grilled pineapple, mahalo cream cheese, teriyaki, bacon, pickled red onions and lettuce. As you can imagine, it’s a little sweet but not overly so. I’ve also had the Chili Cheese Dog with is covered in homemade chili, nacho cheese, and onions and is amazing – even delivered!
Meta had a few hiccups when they first opened (my poor Mom was so excited for her Island Burger and it was missing half the ingredients!), but I think they’ve ironed them out. If you’re planning to dine in, be prepared for a very simple environment. It’s not uncomfortable, but it’s pretty minimalist. Not the sort of place you’d go for a long leisurely lunch but hey- you’re there for the food right? I also wish they served beer because what goes better with a burger than beer!?
Those are VERY minor complaints though. The food here is fantastic and all-vegan and I think all us locals should support them.
Want more Denver-area restaurant reviews? Check out my Mile High Vegan Eats page!
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