The burger arrived in a snazzy metal basket with a paper liner, a savory slab beautifully grilled, then topped with pepperjack cheese and a garden's worth of fixings — all wedged inside a golden bun.

It was love at first bite.

The kicker: There wasn't an ounce of moo anywhere. This was the veggie burger at Park Burger on South Pearl Street. Concocted with a housemade mix of grains and beans, studded with dried cranberries and corn kernels, it burst with great texture and flavor.

Holy cow — and this as the National Western Stock Show is underway. Can it be?

Times, and veggie burgers, have changed.

Once scorned by meat mavens and vegetarians alike, reviled as "hockey pucks" and "sawdust patties," the veggie burger is enjoying a renaissance. This has been driven by omnivores interested in reducing their meat intake and a new wave of chefs bringing imagination to the task of putting a vegetarian spin on the beloved hamburger.

Veggie-burger listings on menus are up 17 percent since 2008, according to the National Restaurant Association.

"I think the elevation of the veggie burger from what it once was reflects what's going on in the restaurant industry in general," says John Imbergamo, a Denver restaurant consultant. "People are interested in chef-driven restaurants that do creative things with their menus.

"We used to think fine-dining restaurants were the only place to go for chef-driven food," he says. "Now we're seeking it in our fast food. It's a logical outgrowth."

The rise of veggie burgers isn't confined to the Boulders and Berkeleys of the world. You find them on chic menus in New York and Chicago, towns that know a thing or two about prime beef.

Along the Front Range, a number of burger outlets dish up veggie variations that go far beyond the products that arrived in supermarket frozen-food aisles 20 years ago.

The popular house-made veggie burger at ParkBurger incorporates grains, beans, dried cranberries and corn kernels.
The popular house-made veggie burger at ParkBurger incorporates grains, beans, dried cranberries and corn kernels. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

Root Down serves a slider version anchored with red and wild rice, then fleshed out (sorry) with mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, broccoli, sunflower seeds and panko, the delicate Japanese bread crumb. In a further departure, the fries are made with sweet potatoes and come with a curry-lime dipping sauce.

Colt & Grey delivers a trio of tomato sliders. Almond-flour cakes are packed with goat cheese, tomato, basil and seasonings, then served atop fresh greens.

"We're listening to our customers," says Peter Newlin, general manager of Park Burger's South Pearl Street shop. "It's a huge part of our menu. We have a lot of people who come in just for the veggie burger. Our owner (Jean-Philippe Failyau) wanted it to be something special, not an afterthought."

Hence the touches such as dried cranberries and cumin.

Creating a successful veggie burger involves a bit of culinary legerdemain: Conjure up a patty with the texture and savoriness of beef, minus the calories and cholesterol.

While longtime veggie-burger staples such as soy, grains and black beans are still used, chefs are employing unconventional ingredients. Black-eyed peas, cannellini beans, edamame, beets, corn, nuts and quinoa, the South American supergrain, are literally in the mix.

Watercourse, the venerable vegetarian restaurant on East 17th Avenue, delivers one of the most meat-like burgers, using a blend of pinto beans and quinoa.

Granted, some restaurants cut to the chase and don't bother creating patties per se.

Larkburger's Amy Burger, for instance, is a roasted portabello mushroom cap slathered with grilled onions.

H Burger in LoDo serves an Eden Burger that reflects this new veggie-burger ethos. At $8.95, it's a blend of squash, beans and bok choy, bound with egg, then griddled with red peppers, greens and sweet-and-sour bok choy.

"It's really popular," says staffer Kevin Rangel, who notes that the Eden Burger's creation was in response to diners with food allergies. "Our secret is that we fry it on the flat-top stove. It may not be the healthiest veggie burger in town, but it's the most delicious."

Rangel says the Eden Burger hasn't supplanted old-school cheeseburgers among diners, and figures they sell about one veggie burger for every 20 standard versions. "But we make a large amount of Eden mix every day and come close to selling out," he says.

Beyond the flavor, these upscale veggie burgers are something of a novelty. While people like the tried and true, adventurous diners are drawn to the new.

"It's a departure from the norm," Rangel says. "You can go to any restaurant in Denver and get a hamburger. This is different."

William Porter: 303-954-1877 or