The Lively Kitchen

Oh no she didn’t…
Oh yes I did.

Pretty sure I’m going to be kicked out of the vegetarian club for posting about a burger restaurant, but rest assured no animals died in the writing of this post.  Nor did I eat any.

If you live in North Central San Antonio, you can’t miss BigZ Burger Joint.  It’s a barn-shaped restaurant that always has cars lining up the access road in a make-shift overflow parking lot, at any time of day.  I kid you not, we drove by this past Saturday at 3pm and the parking lot and access road were full.  At 3pm.  What meal do you eat exactly at 3pm?  Lunch-er?

I’ve eaten their burgers in my non-veg days and they are tasty.  I’ve been happy to discover, though, that their veggie burgers are really tasty too.  Look:

I love their Big Veggie Burger, which is a grilled, marinated portabella mushroom served with beer braised onions, avocados and house-made mayo on a whole wheat bun.  The normal burger veggie toppings are served on the side.  It’s extremely messy and you must eat it quickly before the mushroom and onion juices turn the bun into mush, but it’s a happy frantic eating experience.

They have delicious fries, both regular and sweet potato and the house-made chips are dangerously addicting, as is the homemade chipoltle mayo for dipping.  Hello calories!

I hear the shakes are good too, but I generally prefer to eat my calories instead of drinking them.  Unless it’s a margarita.  Plus, I’m usually beyond stuffed after the veggie burger and fries to even consider dessert.

Beyond the tasty food, BigZ has another huge selling point:

A big (FENCEDIN!!) astro-turfed lawn where the buffalos and kids roam free.  Or maybe just the kids.  On nice nights (or nice 3pm afternoons on Saturday), it’s wonderful to sit and enjoy your meal or beverage while the kids run wild.  People often bring soccer balls, so if you are sitting outside you have to stay alert for stray foul balls flying at your head.  Just a warning.  :)

Any BigZ fans out there?

One of the restaurants we frequent the most in San Antonio is Alamo Cafe.  It’s a bit of a San Antonio institution and, after one bite of their freshly made flour tortillas, you’ll know why.  They melt in you mouth with all their no-nutritional value glory.  San Antonio is a town that knows it’s tortillas, so the fact that a restaurant is known for having addictive tortilla says something.  I have a theory that they sprinkle crack into them, but I haven’t been able to prove it yet.

We tend to go after church on Sundays and whenever we have company in town.  They’ve got a decent size menu, but we always order the same thing:

• 1 order (single ) of vegetable fajitas with the borracho beans
• side of lettuce (for the husband)
• side of refried beans (for the kids)
• plenty of salsa and tortillas
• sometimes I get a Twister – frozen sangria and margarita swirled together

We find the single order of fajitas to be enough, but there is the option to get a double order.  The plate comes to your table with still sizzling onions, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and carrots.  You get a side of rice, beans, pico and guacamole.

My kids make their own bean burritos with the refried beans and tortillas and my daughter fights me for the broccoli from the fajita platter.  My son tries to eat his body weight in tortillas.  That’s his hand below….

Posting these pictures during a gluten-free, corn-free, tomato- free cleanse is causing me to drool on my keyboard.

Any Alamo Cafe fans?

Also in the Vegetarian Dining in San Antonio Series, Freebird’s World Burrito

Also titled “Letting someone else cook and do the dishes.” Or “this mama is spent and unless you want cereal for dinner, we need to get in the car.”

I am a vegetarian. My husband and kids are not. They eat a lot of vegetarian foods and meals, but they do eat meat on occasion. Thus, when we eat out, we don’t generally head to a solely vegetarian restaurant. Plus, we live in San Antonio, TX, which isn’t exactly known for being a mecca of vegan/vegetarian restaurants (I think we only have 2). Want good Tex-Mex, margaritas or barbecue? San Antonio’s got you covered. Vegetarian dining, though, requires a little more menu finagling.

I’m starting a new series on vegetarian dishes I like at the restaurants here in San Antonio that we tend to frequent. Nothing too revolutionary, but a chance to showcase some of my favorite eats around town.

First on the list is Freebirds World Burrito.

I first experienced Freebirds as a college freshman at Texas A&M. Even though I wasn’t a vegetarian at the time, I always ordered the Monster Veggie (Monster being a large size), as it was the same price as a regular sized version with meat. True I was more motivated by frugality than animal welfare, but I’d like to think it was foreshadowing.

Freebirds was quite popular with the students and when you have a student body of almost 50,000 and very loyal former students, your business can grow quickly. In the 4 years I was at Texas A&M, it went from one location to four. Since then (I’m old), Freebirds has expanded all over Texas. According to the website, there are 49 locations in Texas and 4 in California.

Freebirds is similar in concept to Chipoltle. You choose your format (burrito, bowl, salad, tacos or nachos), your toppings and your sauces. It’s got a much more indie and eclectic vibe than a Chipoltle, with customer made foil ‘sculptures’ lining the walls and lots of graffiti style artwork. Each one also has a life-size motorcycle with a Statue of Liberty (holding a burrito, of course) mannequin rider.  My little guy refers to Freebirds as the restaurant ‘with the motorcycle by the ceiling.’

source

There are six locations in San Antonio. We like it for its casual, family friendly atmosphere and it’s very customizable menu. My latest order is the salad ($5.69) with the following combination of ingredients:

• field greens
• black beans
• shredded cheese
• roasted peppers and onions
• chopped tomatoes
• roasted corn
• pico de gallo
• sliced avocado
• cilantro
• tortilla strips
• Roasted Tomatillo dressing