Anyone who regularly reads my restaurant reviews knows that I am an unabashed omnivore.

I am fortunate to have no dietary restrictions. I am willing to try anything at least once. I have preferences, to be sure, but I try not to let them interfere with my objectivity.

If my doctor were to recommend tomorrow that I consider going on a meatless diet, I would be disappointed. Although I often enjoy a good vegetarian meal, I also appreciate a good steak. And where would I be without a hamburger every couple of weeks?

But here’s the good news: I could fully embrace a plant-based diet and still have my burgers.

When Cierra and Matt de Gruyter opened NextLevel Burger in the Century Center on Bend’s west side in mid-July, they took a big step toward convincing a new generation of diners that “veggie” burgers are more than frozen soy patties.

NextLevel is a fast-food cafe that doesn’t serve traditional hamburgers. There’s no beef here, not even any turkey. Every single item served is plant-based.

That goes not just for the burgers. It’s also true for the hot dogs, the chili and even the bacon in the BLT sandwich.

Eight burgers

There are eight different burgers on the NextLevel menu, and I have tried half of them.

The everyday burger is the NextLevel Burger. Described on the menu as “a juicy meaty patty,” I found it only marginally juicy and certainly not meaty: The 4.2-ounce patty was made, said Matt de Gruyter, with GMO-free soy and wheat, “ancient grains” such as quinoa, and vegetables. Topped with pickles, mustard, vegan mayonnaise and ketchup, it is “high-protein and low-fat, with about one-third the calorie count of a traditional burger,” de Gruyter said.

My favorite is the quinoa burger, shaped from sprouted quinoa (a cereal-like grain that originated in South America) and black chia seeds (from a plant of the mint family). At once firm but soft, the patty is served on a sprouted wheat bun with toasted sesame seeds. It is spread with ketchup and mayo and topped with dairy-free cheddar cheese, onions, tomato and lettuce. For gluten-free diners, a different bun is available.

Other burgers had similar composition. The “Tangy Tempeh” burger was made with a fermented soybean cake (tempeh) of Indonesian origin, seasoned and grilled. I liked it nearly as much as the quinoa burger for its somewhat nuttier flavor.

The spicy bean burger was my companion’s favorite. Small Anasazi beans, a sweet-flavored relative to pinto beans, were blended with iron-rich black rice to make this patty. The toppings of pickled jalapeños and creamy horseradish sauce more than accounted for its “spicy” designation.

De Gruyter said that while many of NextLevel’s meat substitutes are manufactured “by other awesome companies” and shipped to Bend for preparation, his company also makes its products from scratch. Among them is a new white bean-and-pumpkin burger, hand-crafted in-house with quinoa, that has become “one of our customers’ favorites,” he said.

Kale salads

Besides the burgers, my companion and I most enjoyed the salads, especially the kale salads. The NextLevel Kale had its dark green leaves tossed with sunflower seeds in a garlic tahini dressing and garnished with tomato. The Avo Kale featured curly-leaf kale in a house-made avocado-lemon dressing with carrots, onions and toasted sesame seeds.

But we were not as thrilled with some of the other dishes.

The chili cheese dog sounded better on paper than it tasted in real life. I found the soy-free combination of wheat, barley and vegetables — made in Seattle “with an Old World sausage-making technique,” de Gruyter said — to be dense and rubbery. The frankfurter was covered with a meatless chili and, like a ballpark dog, topped with melted, dairy-free cheese and chopped onion.

The NextLevel BLT-A, served on sprouted, multi-grain bread, featured several slices of what the menu called “smoky sliced bacon.” Lettuce, tomato and creamy avocado were very good, but the mock bacon was blackened, as if it had been burnt to a crisp. When I described that to de Gruyter, he apologized and urged me to return to try it again.

“When it was black, it was no bueno,” he said. “Our ‘bacon’ is organic tempeh, prepared in-house with a special recipe and cooking technique. For about two or three weeks, we experimented with some other approaches before going back to the original recipe. I’m sure you’d like it now.”

Other menu items include a tangy tomato soup, blended with garlic and oregano and topped with fresh basil; french fries cooked in organic canola oil and tossed with a special seasoning; and fair-trade sodas made with evaporated cane juice.

Big plans

Cierra de Gruyter, a graduate of Redmond High School, met Matt, a Denver native, in college in Colorado. Prior to moving to Bend late last year, they started a family and lived in Southern California, where Matt managed a venture capital firm.

His business acumen is not lost in his long-range plans for NextLevel Burger. He foresees the Bend store as being the flagship for what will eventually become a national franchise.

“When we decided to involve ourselves in something that we felt would have a lasting impression, we decided to start (the business) in Oregon,” de Gruyter said. “We had decided on Portland, but my wife convinced me to check out Bend. We felt this city’s demographics represented a good sample of people focused on a healthy lifestyle.”

Not only could their children share in some of Cierra’s childhood memories, Matt said, but Central Oregon “is also a great place for us to incubate this concept and make it better.”

They are already developing an expansion plan, he said, which could initially include Portland, Eugene and Seattle.

In Bend, de Gruyter said, they chose their quiet, off-street location in the Century Center because they felt it would appeal to young mothers — who could provide good nutrition to their children without having to fight for parking (there is a spacious lot) — and because of its proximity to other Century Center businesses such as Backporch Coffee Roasters and GoodLife Brewing Co.

Customers order at the counter from a staff that is friendly and knowledgeable; The de Gruyters have done a good job of training their employees about their products. After paying, diners are given a number and orders are delivered to tables. The dining area is minimalist, with light-wood décor, but it’s clean, comfortable and well-maintained.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com