Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, Dec 10, 2022 at 11:30am (Innie pick).
Members in attendance: Trev, Innie, Wayne, and DK. Angela was unfortunately unable to make it
Special guests: Chris and Lucy
Stand-Up burger is a vegan burger shop in a little strip mall mall off of Sepulveda in Culver City. It’s next to the infamous Blaze Pizza that LeBron James famously never showed up to right before joining the lakers.
For the curious https://la.eater.com/2018/7/10/17556808/blaze-pizza-free-lebron-basketball-mob-crowd-line-news
If you’re a fan of Veggie Grill then this might be the place for you. Stand-Up burger is the sister restaurant of Veggie Grill.
I . Ordering
Trev – BBQ Bacon $13.75 and fries
Wayne – The Stand-Up $14 (if a place has a burger with it’s name in it, there’s a 99% I’m going to get it) and fries
DK – The O.G. w/ bacon $10.25 +$2.75 and loaded tots
Innie – The O.G. $10.25
Chris – Save-The-Animal-Style Fires $6.25
Lucy – edamame and blueberries hand prepared by her personal chef
II. Burgers
I realized getting a bbq burger is not the right choice when the patty is from impossible burger. A great bbq burger relies on the meat to be front and center and to be delicious. Although there’s been many strides in the meatless burger patties, I can say we’re not quite there yet with real beef. Thus, the bbq burger suffered and I mostly tasted the flaws of a vegan burger instead of the strengths
For those that didn’t order the BBQ Bacon Burger (which is everyone else) the reviews were more mixed.
“Meatier than I was expecting” -Wayne
“Texture is not the same, not meaty” – Innie
“Tastes like a chicken sandwich” – DK
Angela had her burger later in the day so it was cold and not fresh. She found it was really good especially since it was eaten so late. The chick pea patty was excellent like a really good falafel in the best way. But it didn’t taste like a burger but a really good sandwich.
Onions were caramelized but not soft enough. It would come out in strands which is annoying. Pretty good sauces and the gluten free bun was amazing.
DK said his burger tasted kind of different… then halfway through he realized it tasted like a chicken sandwich… then it was pretty good.
The bacon was described as crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside however reality was chewy all around. If I were making fake chicharonnes then this would be it. Definitely was not worth $2.75 extra.
We all agreed the buns were good, sweet, good chew. It was the best part according to DK.
III. Sides
Fries – Yukon golds “golden fries” thick cut fluffy salty crispy.
Tots – fell short. They weren’t the crispy barrels that I like. Cheese was good, bacon bits just “okay” “chewy”. Crispy is preferred.
IV. Miscellaneous
They opened in June of 2022 and it felt pretty quiet and empty inside. Perhaps that was due to the fact that there’s a World Cup Semifinal game on TV at the time. Although I’m not sure how much overlap there is over vegan burger enthusiasts and futbol fans. There was plenty of seating inside and it was eerily quiet. Some background music would have gone a lone way.
Sticky sticky floors like a “cheap college bar.” I just realized why some bars put saw dust on the floors.
Madelyn did EVERYTHING. Huge kudos to Madelyn, it looked it was a one woman shop. She took our orders and was very patient about my food restrictions for Angela. She did all the cooking and packaging.
NO KIDS MEALS
V. Value
Trev – 2.9 – $10.50
Innie – 2.7 – $9
Wayne – 3.6 – $9
DK – 2.2 – $11.50
Angela – 4.1 – $16 *based on enjoyment not burgerness
VI. Verdict
The value is “OKAY.” Basically if you want a burger that either tastes like a really good something else (chicken sandwich or falafel sandwich) you can’t miss going here. They’re in the uncanny valley of vegan burgers. Everything is there in terms of quality ingredients but the execution is just a bit off enough to tickle our spidey senses that something’s not right. But I will give them credit for moving the needle on more meat alternative burger joints. It’s all in the name of progress.