Next Level Veggie Grill Hawthorne — Restaurant in Portland

UPDATE 11/30/23:

Next Level Burger has been incredibly kind in responding and resolving the issue. I've ordered here countless times over the last year and haven't had this issue when ordering though DoorDash.

Ubereats has refused to refund me and ghosted me. I will be making sure to mention how they've dealt with this through the BBB.

It's uncertain whether the rocks I found were from the restaurant or Ubereats.

But I would highly recommend going through DoorDash for any delivery service.

I've ordered here so many times and never have had a safety issue before. The food is amazing and definitely supported my vegan journey.

I will be sure to leave them a nice on Doordash because I got such wonderful service from there so many times. This was the first and last time I will be ordering NLB from Ubereats.

I highly recommend NOT ordering from Ubereats but highly DO RECOMMEND Next Level Burger. They care about the customers experience and want to make things right if there any issues.

Thanks to the team again for helping me try to get a refund from Ubereats and for sending a gift card that I will definitely be using+

I've ordered from here countless times and today there were tiny rocks in my burger. I am wondering what happened, maybe my delivery driver dropped my burgers? I'm not sure but this could have hurt my teeth or worse. I really think they need to wrap their burgers better and check the quality of safety when making food. This was one of my favorite places to eat and I'm very disappointed and worried about how rocks got...

The place: Reminds me of a Qdoba or Chipotle. It’s counter order, table delivered. At this location, if you’re paying with a card you can order on a giant digital screen or choose to talk to a human. There’s some bar style seating facing either a wall or out the front windows and a couple four tops. There’s also a big community style table in the middle of the shop.

The location: In a corner with a couple other businesses. Shares a parking lot, but we had no problem finding parking.

The food: Spousifer and I split a signature burger and a large order of sweet potato fries then we each got our own shakes (blackberry for him, peanut butter cup for me). Double fried sweet potato fries are a revelation—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and so delightful. Half a signature burger was enough for me to get the flavorful burger and fresh toppings into my system. This was my first ever vegan shake, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell except for the slightly floral taste to the coconut milk. This food was exactly what I needed after a long plane trip.

The service: The novelty of ordering on shiny technology won me over, but the human service was a delight. When we shared we were splitting a burger, they graciously cut our burger in half. They also checked in on us and I wasn’t kidding when I assured them our meal was “a dream come true.”

Next time: I need to try to vegan brat situation. I saw them on the menu, I was tempted, but I didn’t think I could finish one. Next...

For my most recent visit to Next Level Burger, I tried their Beyond Cluckin' Good Burger, which is featured for only $6, during Portland Mercury's Burger Week 2021. It is one of relatively few completely vegan offerings, this year. UPDATE: According to their Instagram, they will be continuing to offer this sandwich, for a month (or while supplies last).

It was my first time trying Beyond Chicken Tenders, which were amazing. I genuinely couldn't tell that they weren't chicken! Excellent flavor and texture (the texture is a sponge, akin to, say, McDonald's chicken nuggets, as an example, and different from most jackfruit vegan chicken wings). The Beyond Cluckin' Good Burger features organic French fries, tempeh bacon, vegan nacho cheese, organic lettuce, organic tomato and vegan chipotle mayo.

After nine other Burger Week burgers, a vegan fried chicken sandwich was a welcome oasis, and was definitely one of the top sandwiches, thus far. If you want to convince your omnivore friends that plant-based foods can taste good, bring them here!

In my experiences, the staff at the Hawthorne Next Level Burger have always been friendly, helpful and professional. I will definitely be back to try more Beyond Chicken and Beyond Burger menu items.

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