Veggie Grill Pre-Grand Opening – Irvine

We had the pleasure of being invited to the pre-grand opening of the newest Veggie Grill location in Irvine. It was a reservation only meal provided to us free of charge! Although both Veggie Grill and Native Foods have been on our list to review, we just had never got around to dining there. I’m glad we finally made it, because the food was delicious and would have fooled most meat eaters. Their grand opening will be on Friday, November 21st, In celebration of the grand opening, the Veggie Grill will be donating 20 percent of restaurant sales to the Irvine Public Schools Foundation from Nov. 21 through Nov. 23.

We were able to sample a starter and two entrées, along with drinks, and some dessert. I’m going to do a little different then normal since this isn’t an official review due to the restaurant not being officially open yet.

Veggie Grill - Santa Fe Crispy Chickin’ ($8.95)

Chill Out Wings ($6.25)
Bite sized chillin’ chickin’ with our tangy BBQ sauce. These were great, they had near chicken consistency, just a little softer then real chicken. The white sauce is the chipotle ranch.

Santa Fe Crispy Chickin’ ($8.95)
Crispy fried chillin’ chickin’, lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado, southwestern spiced vegan mayo. Mrs. DanGarion commented that she probably would order it without the mayo next time, but she liked it. It had a lot of spiciness to it. The chickin’ had a little firmer consistency then the wings.

Chipotle BBQ ($8.50)
Shredded veggie-steak, marinated in our tangy BBQ sauce, with chipotle ranch, caramelized onion, lettuce, tomato. I liked this a lot the veggie-steak actually held together and fought me when I tried to bite it, like real steak would. My one problem with this sandwich is that it had a sort of cigarette smokiness to it that some people could be put off by.