Paul Galipeau photo
Budgies Burritos is a vegetarian burrito joint on Kingsway near where it splits off from Main Street, at about 8th Avenue. It expanded a couple of years ago and now offers a downstairs area with tables; recently they got licensed and are now selling alcohol as well. They offer burritos (my favourite), tacos, chips, and some other items too – but I always, always get the burrito.
When you order a burrito vegan at Budgies, they sub fresh, delicious guacamole for the normal cheese and sour cream. Having accidentally ordered a non-vegan burrito, I can say that they are better vegan.The freshness of the guacamole really makes a difference.
My favourite burrito is the Jame-Dog. It’s garlic potatoes and it’s delicious. The chipotle tofu is just marinated chunks of tofu and it tastes like… tofu. It’s firm tofu with a good texture, but I wish it were fried or roasted. The Tofurky burrito contains Tofurky sausage, which I’m not a personal fan of, but if Tofurky rocks your boat then I bet this is a great burrito. They also added a ground round burrito to their menu that I haven’t tried.
If you want a truly delicious burrito, here is what I always order:
10″ Vegan Jame-Dog on whole wheat with refried beans and mix salsa (all three).
I definitely think that they should have breakfast burritos, of course with a tofu scramble option. And if they were to crumble their chipotle tofu, marinate it in the same sauce, and then panfry it a bit, it’d be about ten million times better. Still, this is a reliably cheap and delicious place to get a burrito that will fill you up and give you the energy you need to continue being a vegan warrior. For $7, you just can’t beat the amount of food that comes in one of those.
Kirby on August 30, 2010:
I suggested they add daiya to their menu and they weren’t receptive at all =(. Said it’d be “too many choices.”
malloreigh on August 30, 2010:
I guess? I don’t see how “vegan cheese” is too many choices. It just goes to show that offering a non-dairy cheese option isn’t important to them. I don’t mind too much as I love the guacamole, and if you want a Daiya burrito, Bandidas is only a 99 ride away.
Lindsay on September 1, 2010:
I LOVE both the Tofurky burrito and the ground round one.
I’ll order Vegan 6″ Tofurkey on whole wheat with mixed beans and spicy salsa.
from a non-vegan, I definitely agree that the vegan burritos are better than the regular ones.
malloreigh on September 1, 2010:
You mean 10″, right? I’ve totally ordered a 6″ there before and they’re like, “Uh… this isn’t Subway.”