Lunch (Culver City, CA)

With the gross-out-gobble-up-the-greasy-world undercurrent to food culture, I’m amazed when people are weirded out by my food choices. I don’t mean weird food, but apparently weird combinations. So while people think 100×100 burgers, miles of pastrami and tuna melts are perfectly normal, nothing makes a cashier pause, do a double take and say “that’s the weirdest sandwich I’ve ever heard of” like ordering a design-your-own Veggie Burger slathered in peanut butter.

Do you think it’s weird? I don’t.

People seem stuck on the word “burger.” They assume a veggie burger must be dressed like a its beef namesake. But veggie “patties” are nothing like a beef burger; nor does the brown rice and oat based Gardenburger, served at Lunch, want to be. So why treat it as such?

I approach my Veggie Burger like a salad and the Americanized Thai Salad is one of my favorites. Crisp vegetables smothered in sweet peanut sauce. That is what’s on my mind when I order a Veggie Burger at Lunch. Topped with some combo of avocado, sprouts, carrots and/or cucumbers and Swiss cheese (although the cheese is rather superfluous), dressed in a slathering of peanut butter and fig jam ($9.95). I know fig jam is just as odd (and also cause side eye from the kitchen) but I sweat it’s a sweetly fresh and crunchy meal.

Each sandwich comes with a side, all of which are ‘meh’ except for the Apple Vinegar Slaw. Crisp and tart, this lightly dressed side is also delicious inside your sandwich!