O.C.’s Johnny Rockets Earns an ‘A’ in PETA’s National Ranking of Burger-Joint Menus
Lake Forest–Based Chain Earns Top Score, While Local Rival The Habit Burger Grill Falls Short With a ‘C’ Grade
For Immediate Release:
September 15, 2016
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
The demand for healthy and humane plant-based meals—including the ever-popular veggie burger—continues to skyrocket. Now, PETA has released letter grades for burger joints across the country, noting which spots offer delicious vegan entrées and which need to play ketchup—and two Orange County–based restaurants made the list.
Johnny Rockets scored high with an “A” grade for its Streamliner burger, which is made with a vegan Boca patty and comes with several sauce options, while local competitor The Habit Burger Grill fell short with a “C” for offering a veggie burger that contains milk and eggs.
“The vegan-friendly menu at Johnny Rockets proves that no animals need to be harmed to make a crowd-pleasing burger,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges The Habit Burger Grill to step up its game and satisfy the nation’s hunger for healthy, cruelty-free cuisine.”
Research from the National Restaurant Association confirms that plant-based meals are vital to an eatery’s success. In its What’s Hot 2016 Culinary Forecast, vegan entrées placed among the top 10 in the “Main Dishes” category and were said to be a “hot trend” or “perennial favorite” among 76 percent of professional chefs surveyed.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that cows raised for food are crammed together by the thousands in feces-filled lots. These sensitive, gentle animals are castrated and branded, often without pain relief. After being transported to slaughter in all weather extremes, they’re strung up by one leg and their throats are slit, sometimes while they’re still conscious.
In addition, cheap hamburger meat often comes from female cows on dairy farms, who are continually impregnated so that they’ll produce a steady supply of milk and whose calves are repeatedly torn away from them within days of birth. Once they’re no longer considered useful for milk production, mother cows are slaughtered for meat.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
