Toad Style
Vegan restaurant · Bedford-Stuyvesant ·
Vegan comfort food featuring veggie burgers, banh mi, and fries
Vegan comfort food featuring veggie burgers, banh mi, and fries
"I appreciate that the Vegan Cheeseburger doesn’t try to be meat but still delivers: an in-house patty of lentils, mushrooms, and oats is crisp-edged and deeply savory, layered with vegan cheese, arugula, avocado, and sweet chili mustard on a pretzel bun, with even the ketchup, pickles, and cheese made from scratch for a fully DIY feel that’s earned it a loyal local following." - Stephanie Gravalese
"Toad Style is a casual little vegan spot in Bed-Stuy where you can get a basket of deep fried cauliflower. They also do things like a veggie burger, pizza fries, and a banh mi. If you’re a vegan and you miss junk food, you’ll love this place." - nikko duren
"Toad Style serves three different rich, messy cheeseburgers. But what sets this Bed-Stuy spot apart is the fact that the food here is 100% vegan. Their burgers are made with mushroom-and-lentil patties, topped with things like avocado and cashew-dill cheese." - team infatuation
"Toad Style is the right place to get your basket of deep-fried cauliflower in Brooklyn. They also do things like a veggie burger, pizza fries, and a banh mi. It’s sort of like By Chloe, with a little more character. If you’re in the mood for vegan junk food, order some now using their website." - nikko duren
"Opening in 2015 at 93 Ralph Avenue (at Putnam Avenue) in Bedford-Stuyvesant, I watched owners Jillian Camera and Tyler Merfeld turn a former fish market into a small counter-service restaurant focused on soy- and palm-oil-free, scratch-made vegan comfort food; they emphasized housemade nut cheeses and an array of veggie burgers alongside meatballs, chickpea tofu, and a tofu scramble on a chalkboard menu. I found their approach deliberately whole-foods and accessible — offering gluten-free options from the start and, in 2017, a gyro special made with mushrooms and artichoke instead of seitan — and their made-in-house components (burger patties, cheeses, pickles, and a homemade ketchup that tops a classic cheeseburger with almond mozzarella) signal food people could imagine making at home but prefer to get out. Their menu also includes vegan, gluten-free riffs like a Crunchwrap-style dish with five-bean chili, chipotle jackfruit burritos, a Buffalo cauliflower quesadilla, and a pickle soup cup ($5); pricing (burgers $11–$15, with a weekday lunch add-on for seltzer and chips) has kept them accessible when volume is high. I noted they survived the pandemic by shifting to to-go and delivery, added pizzeria-style booths to entice diners on a low-foot-traffic block, and now flag themselves as Impossible- and Beyond-free on Instagram as part of resisting the processed-meat trend." - Alicia Kennedy
