Evolution Fresh (a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Starbucks) is testing a veggie cheeseburger. This item is available only at two of the Evolution Fresh stores. As a reminder, Starbucks operates four juice bars under the Evolution Fresh brand: two are in Seattle; one is in Bellevue, Washington; and one is in San Francisco. The two stores with the veggie burger are the one in Bellevue, and the one in Seattle’s University Village shopping area.
This is truly a small test, and will be over in the next few weeks, so I am told. However, if you can easily get to one of the two Evolution Fresh stores testing the veggie burger, it’s a fun thing to try. And, it’s such a unique idea, I thought it was worth writing about.
I saw this sign just outside the University Village Evolution Fresh, and was enticed to order the veggie burger:
The price tag for the burger (which comes with chips) was around $9.00, in case you are curious. It comes with a the seasoned veggie burger patty, bun, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and a slice of cheese. I think you can get mustard on it, but I asked for no mustard. (I’m not 100% sure about the mustard option). One thing I thought was remarkable was that this burger is simply prepared by cooking it (with the bun) in the Starbucks TurboChef oven. The “TurboChef” is a special oven found in most every Starbucks (and all four Evolution Fresh stores) which heats and cooks things amazingly quickly. It’s not a microwave.
Here’s what my burger looked like:
The chips on the side are Terra brand sweet potato chips. They’re good but come completely unsalted. I felt like I wanted salt! The burger itself was good. I liked the seasoning. One thing though, the actual patty seemed to crumble and fall apart too easily. It was difficult to pick up and eat with my hands without making a mess. A fork is recommended!
To be clear, this burger is just a test. (I know I am repeating myself, but sometimes I get emails from people who run to Starbucks to find things I write about, only to be disappointed that they can’t find the “new veggie burger” at their local Starbucks.)
While I don’t think you’ll ever see veggie burgers at Starbucks, there is one thing about this test that is incredibly interesting to me. It demonstrates that food-expertise that Starbucks has. I think that if Starbucks wanted to, they could easily offer a veggie burger. It cooked quickly in the TurboChef, and then it appeared that the lettuce was pre-washed, ready to go, and everything can be assembled quickly. It didn’t seem like any more work than baristas already do to assemble some of the Evenings Starbucks food options. I don’t normally write about this minutia of Starbucks testing, but I find this fascinating because it demonstrates that Starbucks can do things that you might not expect at all!
Now it’s your turn to weigh in.
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Melody as someone that would welcome this veggie burger to the SB food line, I am not sure it would work out because of how it is heated up in that oven. I have tasted numerous veggie burgers and some of them do crumble depending on the style of the burger, etc. I still believe that SB has to expand the food line for those of us that are vegetarians, but I am not sure the way they are doing it will be successful.
I’m heading to San Francisco this weekend and will hope to find an EF store! Would like to check out the veggie burger, maybe in three weeks when I come to Seattle 🙂
@Purple1 – I am not a vegetarian – though honestly I like a lot of veggie foods (love the restaurant chain the Veggie Grill) but I guess they do tend to crumble more than a meat patty. The veggie burger at the Veggie Grill does too. But I think this one is a lot of crumbling going on!
@Leslee – Woohoo! You are coming to Seattle! Can you come to a tasting at the Olive Way Starbucks?? Will you get to the Coffee Gear store? I hope you can try this, but I think it might end in like two weeks. There was talk with the barista that if they sold well, they’d return in January 2014 to Evolution Fresh stores.
I would be enticed to try this. Hopefully one day they expand the evolution fresh stores to Phoenix. I do love that we are expanding the offerings inside Starbucks stores(new flavor of juice, several flavors of trail mixes, and fruit/nut bars). Personally, I am allergic to nuts so I can’t try them, but my customers love a healthier alternative with their morning beverage or even an afternoon treat.
Did you catch a glimpse of the ingredients? I would be curious to know that if you removed the cheese, it would be vegan.
Well, I gotta say: am not hoping for Sbux to expand any food, any where. I would love more COFFEE, coffee ware, etc, back….and I doubt that will ever happen. The Clover stores are great but wish they had not taken the (short-lived) Reserves away from the few stores that did not have a Clover and had them. (not so long ago) In fact, I’d like it if we were at least back to the Black Label days…that was nice. That was as recent as 2005, I remember bringing one to a friend.
But, back to the veggie-burger: I am not a vegetarian but almost could be…..eat meat maybe just a very few times a yr and then it’s in a very disguised form. (ie: a good Chicago hotdog! ha! I can hear the laughing all the way here….but, I speak my truth) I have had a few veggie burgers that were really good, to me. I remember hearing someone on a Chicago radio show once talking about food and saying: it’s all in the condiments. I think that’s true, often. ie: could really have a good “burger” on a good bun with all good condiments and no meat! unless of course you’re a big beef eater and need that huge amount of…..meat. (sorry, this sounds so gross but I will say what turned me off many yrs ago was working in clinical microbiology….. I’ll just leave it at that)
Anyway, the bottom line for me is: I wish Sbux would get back to more coffee focus. 😉
Denise R your post brings up a lot of thoughts. I like veggie burgers and find some good some bad like anything else and as I said I doubt this would successfully work at a SB. But, your comments bring up another question to me and maybe it has been asked before- At this point, what should SB concentrate on? Obviously, they are expanding their food/beverage line but what should be selling in the stores? I think to me one of the reasons they have expanded the food/beverage line is the way people eat, the way people work, etc. Everyone is so busy and probably to get the most from customers that run in and run out SB has to provide more than just coffee. But, I do get what you are saying and I also remember the days of long ago when SB was more coffee focused.
Interesting experiment.
Personally, I do my veggie burgers on the charcoal grill. We find the flavor lacking when “real’ heat, a preferably flame, is not used.
The price point is way out of my range. $9.00 for a “nuked” sandwich, Starbucks is looking to a demographic that is small a more interested in speed than quality.
I want more coffee, more Clover stores, and real pastries. Sorry, La Boulange has had long enough to get it right and they have not succeeded.
I totaly agree with @DadC…..re La Boulange. The one croissant, other than the chocolate one, that I really liked, and my mother even! (she is hard to please at her age, meaning she doesn’t care much for anything) was the pumpkin one which I found out today was ‘seasonal’ and now gone. It’s OCTOBER! 🙁 The old pumpkin scone was year-round, and I really liked that one….now gone since it was not a croissant made by La Boul…..
I really see no improvement and higher prices, smaller sizes. Too bad for me I guess. (but, I know I am far from alone in these thoughts)
I am a vegetarian & if Starbucks offered these I may or may not try one. The no salt chips is a no go for me & I would be really hesitant to spend $9. To spend that much it would have to be of very high quality ingredients, healthy, GMO free & probably Organic. Over the last few years Starbucks offerings have become less & less appealing. It’s gotten to the point that I prefer to just buy the beans & make my coffee at home & ever since the new pastries I don’t buy them at all since the suck. The only think left is the shortbread cookies & the Madeline cookies.
I like me a veggie burger now and then, but would have to really want one at that price point there. It does look healthy and fresh, though.
I feel like I am surprised a bit to see the reaction to $9. I eat out a lot. It’s difficult to find anywhere that you can eat something truly healthy, good for you, and yummy for anything less than that, made from good ingredients.
You can go get a grease-laden burger at about the same price point from Johnny Rocket’s but I would much rather have the Evolution Fresh burger.
http://melodyeats.com/blog/2013/9/8/dinner-at-johnny-rockets
If you start browsing through the menus on http://melodyeats.com/ – Look at the Nordstrom Cafe menus, and you’ll see that my favorite chicken Parmesan salad is over $10. At the Veggie Grill restaurant, a veggie burger is also about $9.
Reminds me, I really need to update that blog soon! Maybe Seattle is just super expensive.
@Melody: re: the $9.00 price. I am doubting that Seattle is super expensive..just depends on exactly where you are…at least that’s how it is all around the Chicago area. I am guessing what people are mostly reacting to is this is something “nuked” as DadC…said, so…I think the idea of the very very pre-pared food item is what (I agree) seems too costly. I am thinking that my usual shopping-lunch, which is a chicken Ceaser’s salad at Nordstrom, sitting down in a nice atmosphere, which is actually big enough for 2 meals for me, or at least a meal and a half, costs ~ $12.00? maybe $13.00? And I don’t consider that on the same as this heated veggie burger.
I don’t know..I think where you are can make a lot of difference in price, even within the same city.
[Yes, agree with comments from DadC/Denise R.]
I do not mind paying $10-15 for a restaurant-quality burger at a full service (or nicer fast-casual) place. However, for a quick meal on-the-go from a juice retailer, I would not likely do so often.