Every so often, the carnivore in me craves a big ol’ tasty burger with a side of fries. Unfortunately, the whole ground-up-dead-cow thing isn’t as appealing as it once was, so I turn to veggie burgers as a solid alternative. Now, us veg-heads know that when we order our veggie burgers it’s always a big, embarrassingly healthy ordeal. Salad replaces fries, hummus instead of cheese, pita over a potato bun… can’t a girl get a respectable cheeseburger around here?! The answer, happily, is yes - at Lucky’s Famous Burgers in Hell’s Kitchen.

This “fast food” burger joint, positioned between 8th and 9th aves on 52nd, is a perfectly unpretentious spot that serves up made-to-order, honest food. Their menu lists the usual beef and turkey burgers, but it’s the savvy $6 Veggie Cheddar burger that caught my eye. Topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and served on a Martin’s potato roll, this is as close to normalcy as a vegetarian can get. My beef-eating boyfriend and I also split a side of crispy fries, which we dipped in their mysterious and very tasty “Lucky Sauce” (99% sure it’s barbeque sauce and mayo)... 

Though the veggie patties aren’t made on premise, Lucky’s purchases them from a small, eco-friendly provider in New York called Little Green. It’s nice to know they’re keeping things local and lowering gas emissions. The patties are pretty big, too, with tons of rice, corn and presumably wheat gluten. 

After a torturous 8 minutes, my cheddar veggie burger was on the counter and ready to go. It was neatly wrapped in aluminum foil and smelled heavenly… and with one big bite, I became very, very happy. The patty was fresh and, to my surprise, not at all bland. It had a nice, smoky flavor with chunks of vegetables and grains- I didn’t even care that it couldn’t hold together very well. I loved the perfectly melted sharp cheddar and crisp pickles, a nice contrast to the sweet, hearty potato bun. 

Thanks, Lucky’s Famous Burgers. On behalf of all vegetarians, I’d like to thank you for helping us become less estranged from our carnivorous friends. We can once again contribute with dignity to the age-old American pastime of shamelessly devouring fast-food burgers at cheap prices. Only this time, the ingredients are fresh and the sources are local.