elevation burger

elevation burger
50 east wynnewood road
wynnewood, pa
(610) 645 7704
www.elevationburger.com

type of cuisine: burgers
culinary excellence: 6
vegan friendliness: 7

luca heard about this new place in wynnewood from his dental hygienist that serves organic burgers and fries with options for vegans and plenty of vegetable oil at the end of the day for bio-diesel-fueled cars. i thought it sounded pretty nifty, given the paucity of good vegan eats on the main line and general lack of progressive offerings. on my first visit, i was given some misinformation about elevation's buns not being vegan and wound up with a disappointing lettuce wrap, which i promptly blogged about. then, amazingly, i received word from someone in their corporate offices letting me know that the buns are in fact dairy-free and vegan! so back i went to elevation burger. this time the server dutifully informed me that their buns are vegan when i ordered a vegan burger, having no idea of course that i was the reason he was telling me this... much better! i still wish their carmelized onions weren't prepared on the meat grill and i think they should add avocado to their list of toppings, but i was very pleased with my burger. i wouldn't want to eat them all the time, since they do contain some processed ingredients (soy protein and "natural flavors") and i generally prefer fresh whole foods, but a vegan burger and fries in a pinch is a really nice option. their fries, by the way, are fabulous. they taste just like fast food fries, but are made in 100% olive oil. here is a pic of their goodies once i got them home:



does anyone else miss macro plates from all natural market? i still kind of believe that i put them out of business because of that review i wrote on my old website. i was just mad that they didn't get me that juicer part in a more timely manner. i didn't want them to close... you know, the space where wynnewood pharmacy used to be, right next to elevation burger, is still available for rent. i think i should open my bohemian grove restaurant there. i would have fresh muffins and scones and smoothies in the morning, delicious sandwiches and soups for lunch and easy-going gourmet dinners with cupcakes and cookies du jour. and then i would go out of business after a few months.

delancey street bagels

delancy street bagels
50 east wynnewood road
wynnewood, pa
(610) 896 8837
www.delanceystreetbagels.com

type of cuisine: bagel place
culinary excellence: 5
vegan friendliness: 2

having just polished off one of delancey street's soy chicken salad sandwiches on a toasted everything bagel with tomato, i was poised to write a brief review of what i erroneously believed to be one of the only places on the main line to get a tasty vegan lunch. i thought i might warn my readers to double check that delancey doesn't use egg glaze in their everything bagels and then decided to be responsible and perform this service myself. so i called them. one of their usual teenage servers, trained in enthusiasm, picked up the phone. she, of course, had no idea what was in the food she had been selling all day, but graciously offered to check. when she returned to the phone, she reported that no, the everything bagels are not vegan. i was fairly sure that many of their other bagels were egg-free, but bothered her to confirm that as well. after asking another server quite audibly if she should tell me that the other ones are vegan without knowing for sure, she opted to actually find out by checking the box. i'm not sure why i assumed that delancey street makes their own bagels, but clearly this is not the case. to my displeasure, she reported that even the plain bagels contain eggs. so there it is. one less place to go for a cruelty-free meal. they get a 2 in vegan friendliness for their juices and occasional prepared vegan item in the case.