Not all vegan (or even all vegetarian!) but with some veg-friendly options.

I’ve been staying alot over the last month or so in the midtown-west / clinton / hell’s kitchen area – basically west of Penn Station / Times Square.

1. At 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue there is a Better Burger. They deliver ($10 minimum, 212-629-6622), or you can dine in or take out.

2. There’s also Josie’s delivery – 212-629-6872, delivering to an area bounded by 34th to 57th streets and 5th avenue to 12th avenue.

3. Finally, Zenith Vegetarian cuisine at 48th street near 8th Avenue, also delivers (212-262-8080) and is/was offering a free 750ml bottle of wine with delivery order.

First, Better Burger – check the menu here (PDF).

Their focus isn’t on vegetarian food but on what they characterize as organic, “guilt-free,” all natural food. (I know, “guilt free” and hamburgers-made-from-dead-cows don’t go together in everyone’s book, including mine – but they are antiobiotic & hormone free, and if my colleagues are going to eat meat I’d rather they do so here than at the fast-food joint down the street).

They do have two veggie burgers: one soy-based, one “homemade” from grains & veggies. They also offer soy-based cheese, vegan mayo, and organic ketchup as fixings, along with organic whole wheat buns, and air-baked organic fries.

For drinks they’ve got smoothies – both milk based and fruit-based (vegan), each with lots of goodies.

I was impressed with the quality – often the “veggie burger” is the kind of least-common-denominator choice of last-resort offered by restaurants just so that they can say they have options. Better Burger’s soy burger, with soy American cheese, baked fries, and strawberry smoothie, made for a great lunch – and, as peta says, no body got hurt.

Josie’s I haven’t actually tried, and the menu I had grabbed (while at Better Burger – Better Burger is an offshoot of Josie’s) was for a delivery area which I can’t now locate online – not sure if it is a new service or an old one they no longer offer. (It appears to be dated 3/12/07, so I guess it is newer than the web site)

The (paper, or I would link to it) menu I have lists 212-629-6872 as a number, and the delivery area described above. They have a broad variety of vegan and vegetarian options, including fajitas made with tofy, “un-fried rice” and an organic penne pasta which was what I was going to try but never had the chance.

Zenith I did order from – you can get their menu here. Never did actually eat in at Zenith, thoughI understand they share space with a sushi restaurant so if you want to avoid fish smells delivery may be the way to go. They’ve got pages of options, all vegetarian, with many vegan choices – though not all are clearly labeled as such.