This informal little North Park café specializes in excellent meat-free versions of burgers, hotdogs, and other homey diner fare.

So you’ve made a commitment to healthier eating -- or to full-fledged vegetarianism -- but you find yourself still craving an occasional big sloppy burger or fully-loaded chili dog? Well, never fear, my healthy-minded friend: a little North Park eatery with the whimsical name Veg N Out is here to help.

The father/daughter team who own and operate Veg N Out wisely decided to go for an informal, diner-style menu, featuring burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and other fare familiar to recent (or current) omnivores. Only every single item on the menu is completely meat free, and many of the items can be made completely vegan for a small additional charge. Over a dozen different styles of burgers are offered, with toppings ranging from the frankly granola-head, sprouts and all, to creations that in a meat-ified version would give Carl’s Jr. a run for their money

My personal fave -- so far -- is their Ranchero Burger, consisting of a big, surprisingly meaty mock-meat patty simply dressed with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onions, and a mayo-based barbeque chipotle sauce. Like all the other burgers, this one is served on a generously-sized whole wheat bun and comes with a choice of hand-cut potatoes, the side salad of the day, or a tossed green salad. I usually opt for that green salad, which is also of goodly size. The house-made berry balsamic vinaigrette is quite nice, but I recommend their wonderful creamy tarragon dressing.

Among their non-burger sandwiches, I favor the Chick’n Bacon Swiss. Here an extremely tasty -- and very chicken-like -- soy cutlet is topped with some surprisingly authentic-tasting crispy mock bacon, plus lettuce, tomato, onion, and lots of melted Swiss, all nestled into a nice fresh wholegrain hoagie roll. Like the burgers, this creation is big and filling, even without the choice of green salad or side of the day.

Oh, and Veg N Out seems to have cracked the code on how to make a vegetarian hot dog actually taste great. They’ve obviously picked a good product to start with, a mild-flavored jumbo tofu dog with excellent texture. But they’ve also mastered how to cook it right so it’s tender and juicy. You can get it just topped with mayo, mustard, ketchup, and your choice of sweet or dill relish, or start loading on the diced onions, tomatoes, house-made chili (also meatless, natch), and grated cheese, all piled onto a wholegrain hotdog bun. Especially when I think of the mystery meat-byproducts, chemicals, and high percentage of fat crammed into the casing of a typical “real” hotdog, I’d much rather be eating one of these “fake” dogs, wouldn’t you?

Veg N Out also has a wonderful catch-all section of their menu dedicated to starters, which tend to be big enough to serve as meals all on their own. Their felafel starter is a case in point. The menu tells you it comprises ten felafel balls with a side of tahini sauce. What it doesn’t tell you is that these aren’t the little puny felafel balls you might be used to from other places, but big hearty spheres nearly an inch and a half in diameter. Only order this if you are ravenous, have a friend to help you finish them, or are prepared to take the remainder home.

Veg N Out’s space is as homey and unpretentious as its menu. You order at the counter, and then the server finds you whether you’ve chosen a table in the small, tidy dining room or the little sidewalk dining area out front. The clientele ranges from the young hip urban types you’d expect to see in a vegetarian restaurant to office workers stepping in for a quick lunch or a to-go order. A discreet little table against one wall bears an assortment of literature and flyers including some vegetarian and alternative resources, but there’s no preachiness involved. Veg N Out is too mellow for that kind of thing -- they know you’re here because you love a big sloppy burger.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.