White Castle Is FINALLY Vegetarian-Friendly

I personally have never had White Castle because I’m kind of afraid of really greasy-looking fast food establishments — it’s also the same reason I’ve never stepped foot inside of a Five Guys. But I wouldn’t completely rule it out now that White Castle has veggie burgers, which might be not-unhealthy enough to get me in the door. This, I’m sure, is also great news for the unlucky vegetarians who have ever gotten “the crave,” if that’s something that’s ever happened in history.

The veggie sliders (because this is still White Castle) hit locations nationwide today, after a successful trial run in select locations on the Beast Coast. According to White Castle, the sliders are, “chock full of vegetables like carrots, zucchini, peas, spinach, broccoli, and more,” which sounds like they’ll taste good in theory so at least we have that. Or they might just taste like a bunch of vegetables molded together with no flavor whatsoever. Either way, you will get the option of pairing your veggie sliders with ranch, honey mustard, or sweet Thai sauce. Unfortunately the closest White Castle to me is located in Tennessee, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide which sauce is best. My money is on the sweet Thai, though.

I will never know this joy! Tear.

Growing up with a sister who is a vegetarian (I’m not because ehh, too much effort), I learned that veggie burgers at fast food places are hard to come by, and if you’re looking for one it’s pretty much Burger King or bust. So even though it might not be the best veggie burger ever in existence, I’m glad that at least one fast food chain is finally getting with the times. Yayyyy options! Somebody tell Wendy’s and McDonald’s that they’re a little slow on the uptake over here.

If you do find yourself at a non-veggie-patty-having fast food location, here are my top three menu hacks for vegetarians. Some of them I have made up, some of them are actually more legitimate.

1. Wendy's Baked Potato

It's not technically a hack because it's blatantly on the menu, but I couldn't not give Wendy's an honorable mention. I love their baked potatoes — specifically, the broccoli and cheese one was my jam. I'm sure the cheese they use has three times my daily allowance of sodium, but it's vegetarian!

2. McDonald's "Grilled Cheese"

I used to do this as a kid before Hebrew school. Basically it's just a bun with cheese. You can add lettuce and tomato if you're fancy. Knock it for being simple all you want, but it's actually pretty good.

3. Chipotle in General

If you order a meatless burrito/taco/bowl/whatever at Chipotle, you get guac for free! That's right, free ninety-nine! I'm definitely trying that next time I go to Chipotle because even though I'm not a vegetarian, clearly guacamole > meat.

That's pretty much all I've got. If you didn't like them, you could always ask a real vegetarian, or y'know, go to White Castle.

Images: Monica Muller / Flickr; Getty (2); Giphy