It’s not easy to find a veggie burger in a Tampa Bay restaurant. By veggie burger, I mean a burger made with plant-based ingredients, not including fake meats. I was looking for a burger substitute without methylcellulose or potassium lactate or cultured dextrose. Besides, I did a showdown between Impossible and Beyond burgers in March ’24.
After some deep-dive research, including actual phone calls, we came up with two: J. Alexander’s in Tampa and Craft Kafe in St. Pete. They presented quite a contrast.
J. ALEXANDER’S
The restaurant, part of a chain with 42 locations, has been a fixture at Dale Mabry and Cypress since 1997. An apt description of J. Alexander’s is “upscale casual American.”
We arrived at 6 on a Monday and were seated in a booth amid a large dining room that was relatively dark thanks to its brown color scheme. The place was doing solid business for a summer Monday. Our server, Jenny, was friendly and efficient.
J. Alexander’s emphasizes steaks, so I was interested to see how it would take a patty made from beets, oats, carrots, brown rice and black beans and transform it into a Veggie Burger ($16). I got Chilled Orzo & Wild Rice as a side.
In the low light of the restaurant, it looked for all the world like a hamburger platter with a strange side dish. The patty had a legit sear. When I took a bite, it looked medium-rare in the middle. Pretty impressive. The slice of Monterey Jack disqualified it as vegan, which didn’t really matter.
Taste and Texture
Other than the outer char, this veggie burger did not try to imitate beef-burger flavor, which makes it tricky to describe. I caught a vaguely meaty taste, which was pleasant enough. The burger lacked the pebbly texture of ground beef, which only makes sense. The ingredients integrated well, none of them dominating. Not surprisingly, the burger started to fall apart, which prompted me to go with a fork.
The side dish tasted agreeably unusual, with the wild rice’s coarse texture playing well with the smooth orzo.
CRAFT KAFE
I stopped in at this location at 66th Street and Central Ave. (the other is downtown) at noon on a Saturday after a two-hour pickleball session. I thought I smelled okay. No one wrinkled their nose or moved away. The substantial lunch crowd ranged from the young-and-beautiful to the old-and-infirm. Craft Kafe’s light-and-airy interior factored in touches both rustic and quirky.
When I eat lunch alone, it’s nearly always at home, but I was perfectly comfortable here. I ordered (at the counter) Ed’s Vegan Burger ($13) with a side order of fried potatoes ($2.25).
Appearance
This version could hardly be mistaken for a conventional burger. The large patty bulged out from a tidy whole-wheat bun and was showing cracks even as it reached the table. The potatoes? A hearty plate of old-fashioned home fries.
Taste and Texture
And the Winner of the Veggie Burger Brouhaha Is …
Craft Kafe.
A tough call. The contestants were so different, from how they approached their veggie burgers to the restaurant ambience.
Did I like these veggie burgers? Um … yeah, but I can’t say that I’d order either one again.
Ultimately, I preferred Craft Kafe’s straightforward side dish of comfort-food taters and just dug the vibe there a bit more.
The counter person at Craft Kafe, Camilla, complimented my Prince T-shirt, which didn’t hurt their case.
