The Brooklyn Battle of the Almighty Thin Veggie Burgers
December 10, 2017
I’ll be straightforward here. New York City’s vegan burger game has evolved incredibly since I endeavored to find The Best. But I’m at a point where I need to start a ‘best of the best’ bracket. It is such a shame to bid some burgers farewell, while less amazing burgers advance. I know ‘them’s the rules’ of a tournament, but…. these two burgers were so fantastic, I wanted to advance them both.
Baron’s vs. Dram Shop
Thin Rules
Baron’s is a beautiful bar and dining space in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. And they have an amazing housemade vegan burger made with beans and mushroom. Mushroom is my favorite component to a veggie burger patty. This one is topped with sprouts, tomato and Romesco sauce. Trade the green salad for some of their delicious fries and you have got yourself a fantastic meal. 
The patty is the star. And it made me realize that I have a new favorite characteristic of an amazing veggie burger: thinness. Yes, thinness. With thinness, you lose the mush factor oozing out of the sides and you get coveted crispy texture. Well, yes, that makes perfect sense. With veggie burgers, less can be more!
Up close and personal. Baron’s is a hot contender… but…
The Dram Shop is a bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn. My gal CP told me about the burger during my first battle and I was excited to try. I was blown away–completely. How can this amazing veggie burger exist in this random bar?!
As it turns out, The Dram Shop’s burgers have a long history… decades long, rooted in Texas. This veggie burger would have to live up to the reputation of the the bar’s animal burgers, I suppose. I appreciate the care this burger was created with. It is pretty much perfect in my view: from the thin, crisp square patty, traditional fixings, and seeded bun. It’s like the burger of my dreams. 
I have to reiterate the point on the perfect fixings. Iceberg lettuce, pickles, and mustard raise a burger’s game tenfold. These fixings alone can make a sucky patty sing. But this is no sucky patty. It is also, on its own, enough to slay burgers right to the finals. That is my early prediction at least. 