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Lucky Goose's plant-based fast food sets roots in Nob Hill
As home to a cuisine freighted with chicken, pork and beef, Albuquerque would seem to be an inhospitable place for plant-based restaurants.
Yet a couple of recent success stories suggest that local diners are warming up to the vegan way.
First was Elizabeth and Jonathan Bibiano’s Vegos, which grew from a table at the ABQ Rail Yards Market to a food truck to a popular brick-and-mortar establishment in just three years.
After that came Lucky Goose. Rafael Guillen and Melissa Timmons launched the operation as a food truck in the summer of 2021 before moving into a space in Nob Hill a year later. They recently opened a second location at Wyoming and Montgomery boulevards in a spot vacated by Two Boys Donuts.
While Vegos’ menu is centered around plant-based versions of New Mexican dishes like stuffed sopaipillas, chile rellenos and enchiladas, Lucky Goose’s selection of burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and shakes resembles that of a Route 66 diner.
The original location stretches across a couple of storefronts on the north side of Central Avenue, west of Carlisle Boulevard. The block is home to an impressive selection of eateries, including Jennifer James’ award-winning frenchish, Urban Hotdog Company and Fan Tang Asian cuisine. There is ample parking in the neighborhood, with Central and Amherst Drive offering metered spaces that are free after 6. Free street parking is available on Campus Boulevard, a block north of Central.
Lucky Goose is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. A weekend breakfast runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with breakfast burritos and biscuit sandwiches made with plant-based egg and bacon substitutes for between $5 and $8, along with a variety of coffee and tea drinks.
The restaurant entrance is adjacent to a small patio with a couple of tables. Inside, two separate dining rooms split off the entrance. The industrial chic interior with its exposed ceiling and polished concrete floor is brightened with plants and whitewashed walls with canary-yellow trim.
Ordering is done at a counter in the back, bracketed by a cooler full of bottles of lemonade and a display case holding vegan cookies and pastries. When we arrived early in the dinner hour on a Saturday night, the place was sleepy, with only one other party inside.
The lunch/dinner menu is divided into Burgers, Hot Dawgs, Fries, Chick’n and Shakes. The server told us the kitchen uses products from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat as the basis for its creations.
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Five burger options costing from $9.99 to $14.99 topline the menu. Plant-based burgers have improved significantly since the days of mashed-up bean patties that bore little resemblance to ground beef. Today’s versions mix and match plant-based proteins for structure, fats for juiciness and binders for a meaty texture, resulting in a decent approximation of the real thing with a far less detrimental impact on the environment.
The Lucky Burger ($9.99) displays both the possibilities and the limitations. It’s served with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and Lucky Sauce, a mayo and ketchup combination that is one of eight different sauces available. Plant-based cheese costs an extra $1.75.
Peeking out from its yellow paper wrapping, the burger looked quite convincing. The two thin patties resembled beef burgers very closely but carried a more soft, uniform texture. There wasn’t much in the way of beefy flavor, but the combination of tangy sauce and a fresh bun and toppings was satisfying.
The Chick’n section of the menu is priced from $10 to $14 and includes tenders, a wrap and a spicy barbecue sandwich. We tried the Grilled Lucky Chick’n ($12) on a gluten-free bun. Like the burger, the chick’n was wrapped in yellow paper. The round, uniformly thick patty with the color of dark-meat chicken was served with the same toppings as the burger. A schmear of mayo topped it off. The rubbery, peppery chick’n patty made for a reasonable approximation of the real thing, perhaps because chicken’s mild flavor is easier to replicate than beef in plant-based versions. As is typical, the gluten-free bun was not as soft as its wheat-containing counterpart. Again, the veggies were fresh and added some crunch and flavor.
Of the three Dawgs on the menu, I tried the most expensive one: the New Mexico Dawg ($10.15) with green chile and Lucky Sauce. This was a successful if pricey rendition of another American classic. The tan-colored dog was juicy and had the smokiness of a real hot dog, and the green chile added some sting to the bite.
The four options in the Fries section include Crispy, Sweet Potato, Wild Style with cheese and New Mexico Style with green chile. The Crispy Fries ($3.35), served in a paper basket, delivered as advertised. The portion was generous, and the fries were free of grease.
Lucky Goose’s Shakes come in six flavors plus seasonal varieties. We tried the gluten-free Cookies and Cream for an extra 50 cents. Served in a plastic cup lined with chocolate sauce, the shake was thick enough to stand a straw in and was filled with cookies blended to an almost sandy texture. A terrific shake. I never would have guessed that it had no dairy in it.
Other drinks include bottled lemonades in Regular or Strawberry for $5. Service was brisk, friendly and informative. The separate gluten-free menu shares many items from the main menu. The server said the fries may have some cross-contamination from the oil.
With its roster of burgers, fries and shakes, Lucky Goose offers a gentle introduction to vegan dining. Its success shows that Albuquerque diners are coming around to plant-based eating.
