Superiority Burger, East Village

I first heard about the Superiority Burger through meat loving food bloggers. To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention because I assumed they were raving about some rich meaty burger, and I’ve gone meatless long enough that the thought of meat sometimes makes my stomach feel a little uneasy.

Anyway, I soon learned that this new burger joint that everyone was fussing about is vegetarian, sometimes accidentally vegan (that’s how they put it), and headed by Del Posto’s former pastry chef. When I stopped by to pick up a couple burgers to go, I thought something seemed vaguely familiar about the location. Lo and behold, it’s the home of the original small Dirt Candy! This tiny location has a history of delicious meatless eats.

Superiority is open for dinner only, and there was already a line at 5:45pm on a Monday evening. Get your food to go as there aren’t many seats in there. I have no idea how some customers managed to squeeze themselves and their backpack into those tiny seats with swivel tables. Help yourself to free Superiority water while you wait. When you place your order, they’ll automatically ask you if you want it vegetarian or vegan.

My order consisted of the Superiority Burger ($6), Sloppy Dave ($7), and Burnt Broccoli Salad ($4). Interestingly enough, they don’t have any fries on the menu, but rotating selection of salad/veggie specials. The broccoli had an addictive burnty flavor and nice heat from the red chiles. There was a little eggplant in there, and John gobbled it up without any complaints. Shocker!

The $6 namesake burger is topped with muenster cheese, ice berg, tomatoes, and dill pickles. On my next visit, I’ll have to ask for the vegan version for comparison. The patty appears to be a mixture of quinoa, beans, and nuts. Great texture, very meaty for a meatless patty.

Overall, the burger is smaller than I expected, really more of a fast food style slider. Is it intended to be a meatless version of White Castle? I have no idea as I’ve never had White Castle before. Either way, it gets a thumbs up from me, and I could easily eat two of these.

The Sloppy Dave is their meatless take on the classic Joe. Tofu crumbles in a tomato ragu with crispy frizzled onions and a sesame bun. Hello Dave, where have you been all my life?! Delicious and messy. If I didn’t get this to go, I have a feeling I would embarrass myself eating it in public. What a mess, but messy in all the right ways — it definitely lives up to its name.

Bonus: The Sloppy Dave is much more generous in in portion size. Also, I’m pretty sure you could feed this to an omnivore, and they’d have no idea there’s zero meat in there.

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