Universo Vegano

It is with a heavy heart that I write this review…
As a vegetarian who wishes she was a vegan, I want to love all vegan restaurants. I especially wanted to love this tiny place set off of restaurant lined Via della Lungaretta in Trastavere as the signage touted «cruelty free» and there is not a plethora of vegan restaurants in Rome. The sandwiches pictured on the menu appeared appetizing, although most featured fake meat which should have been the first indication that I was about to be disappointed.
I ordered the focaccia vegan, and on the recommendation of the only employee on duty during the busy lunch rush, my mom ordered the vegan burger and my dad ordered the vebab. The customer ahead of us had placed a very large order so we had to wait about 30 minutes for our food at a place touted as «fast food». Each sandwich came with a salad of lettuce and tomatoes, which was fresh and nice but nothing special, as well as a side of some unidentifiable potato concoction that resembled fingers and, maybe this is the American in me, was in serious need of ketchup. When our food was finally ready, I was so thankful I had saved the majority of my water bottle, as my sandwich was almost completely bread with a tiny slice of frittata in the middle. The bread had been previously frozen (I was looking at it in the freezer in front of my seat) and was therefore very dry and I could literally only choke down about half of it (I only ate that much because at this point I was starving). My parents had similar experiences, and my dad’s fake kebab meat had a very strange flavor.
The adorable couple from Hamburg, Germany who arrived after us summed it up quite eloquently and politely by saying «um… We have had better!». One star for the very sweet service from the woman working there all by herself, and also for the baby who kept waving and laughing at me.