Veggie Grill - Pasadena — Restaurant in Pasadena

Haven't had Veggie Grill since my UCI days, so my friends and I were quite excited to reminisce on our college days over some good food. I had no idea that Veggie Grill had opened up in Pasadena - and for quite some time!

Parking is really easy with the conveniently free 90 minute lots behind the numerous restaurants on Lake Ave.

Order at the front of the restaurant (fast food style), find a seat with the number placard given to you, and they'll serve you your food when it's ready. Drinks/water, utensils, and sauces are all self-serve.

So everything at Veggie Grill is vegetarian. I was looking at the menu and feeling confused when I read the words chicken. Now I know that's just fake chicken meat. I ordered the Santa Fe Crispy Chicken ($9.75) and changed the fries to the popular sweet potato fries. I liked that we can customize the burger to our liking - I asked for the avocado on the side to give to my friends since I'm allergic. The burger was not too bad - came with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and spicy mayo. Went together well, but honestly I'd rather pay $10 for a burger with real meat. I guess vegetarian fast food just isn't my thing. The fried chicken patty was cooked well and was pretty juicy, and I can see why people really enjoy coming here. I think if I ever had to eat here, I would order this again.

My friends and I had ordered our own sweet potato fries as substituted for the regular French fries. That was a bad move considering the fact that the portion of fries was pretty tiny when we could have ordered a whole order of sweet potato fries to share (AND keep regular fries with our burger for no additional cost). But the fries were fried well and had good sweet potato taste. I liked the aioli sauce that came with the fries, too.

I think another fried tried the tacos while another friend tried a different burger. They all enjoyed their meals and thought it relatively satisfying.

tl;dr - Not a bad place to visit if you want to get vegetarian food. Don't think it's my thing, but I wouldn't mind coming back to try other items - prices are on the pricier side, but don't forget to download their app to get rewards and...

Edit!!: Veggie Grill reached out to me immediately and very graciously. I love company's that adapt and this just added to my newly assumptive belief that I will be returning quite often. Because I don't know the specifics enough to accurately relay the new changes,I will just say,there will be some changes and all are safely included,when getting food to go and special needs crowd. Awesome, Veggie Grill,way to go!! My career was in food industry and I would've said,I earned those 2 stars back,if I was them! So 2 🌟 back. I'm Happy and will be full.

Original Post-This was my 1st time eating food from here and it was not a let down. It all was Delicious! The broccolini,fabulous. The loaded yamsvwere out of this world with flavor and the size was perfect. 2 of us shared everything. The fries were still crispy when we made it home. The cookies,I'll stop by and always just get a cookie. The nachos don't feel like fast food and I've made vegan nachos at home,until now. Unless veggies grill is closed because the cheese and everything was on point. The reason for 2 stars taken away is,you have to wait on the street right next to all their maskless loud talking diners. It's like playing covid frogger,because everyone comes out,whipping their mask off as fast as they can,standing right next to you,on the street. And, we parked in the back,in the handicapp parking spot,because my elderly mother,needs to be as close as possible. Then we walk up to door and it says,go through front door around the block. No sitting area for certain customers. Delicious food,awesome service,very friendly,order was perfect.... just the long walk around the block to stand in a covid...

While I am known for my hatred of vegetables, I can appreciate them from time to them. Especially when they are as well cooked and assembled as they are here at Veggie Grill! The food here is pretty good despite being vegan ;)

There is a large shared parking lot in the back which is free for two hours. Location is easy to access, interior is pretty big and there is plenty of seating inside. We used the restroom as well (you need the code: 12345) and it has two stalls for patrons to use.

I got the following: -- B.T.L.A.: Smokey Tempeh bacon, sliced tomatoes, avocado, cilantro pesto tossed arugula, aioli mayo, grilled sourdough They offer their sandwiches on a wheat bun, on a spinach wrap, or bread-free Kale Style. This already comes on grilled sourdough, however, so I didn't need to make a choice. You can get their sandwiches with Yukon Gold fries, coleslaw, or a cup of seasonal soup. I chose the coleslaw. The sandwich was delicious and the coleslaw was quite refreshing. I liked this choice. -- Portobello Fries The slices of mushroom were too big for me. Not enough "fried" to balance the mushroom taste/texture... my friend JC shared this with me and we agreed we wouldn't get it again

Overall I enjoyed my meal here and recommend this place for healthy food on Lake in Pasadena. 3.5 stars...