VERTS Mediterranean Grill

Dear Verts: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I used to be obsessed with Verts. Being an engineering student, I ate Verts probably 3−4x a week due to their closeness to campus, quickness, variety, and relative cheapness. Then, it started to change. It was subtle at first: new, grosser vegetable options. Significantly fattier meat. I stopped going for a while, until today when I just craved my old standby. I sit here eating a wrap that is dry, fatty, and flavorless. I wanted to give this new Verts a chance, as you are clearly working hard to revamp/​market differently, but this is just gross. I will not be back, it’s the end of an era.
At the very least, put sauces on the bottom still. This was NOT saucy enough and almost inedibly dry.

Had high expectations when I heard Verts makes authentic German donner kebaps (brings me back to late nights while studying abroad)… And Verts didn’t disappoint!
Tried the chicken, lamb and beef and the beef meatball. Lamb and beef was my favorite but all meats were delicious and authentic! Shaved off the spit right in front of you.
Love the selection of toppings (unlimited!!) and falafel was A+.
Can’t wait for the opening of the Boston location!

Excellent! The kebab looks small, but once you fill it up with all kinds of goodies inside (meat, veggies, condiments, sauce), you will be stuffed. First time here, and I will be back!
I came around 12:30 on a weekday and missed the long long line by just a few minutes :)
But the long long line must be an indication that this place is good — and it is.

We were invited to a test kitchen event with new items that have the possibility of making it on the menu. 2 of the 3 were surprisingly good. This was my first time tasting hummus that I actually liked and the fresh baked bread was on point. For dinner we got a beef and lamb wrap. You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu concerning the kebabs, wraps or bowls. I also tasted the live oak beer. I’m not a beer fan but I liked it. Wasn’t too strong or have a nasty after taste. We got to meet the chef and co-​founder. The event was a hit. Thanks for the invite. We will be back…

So… I can’t decided whether I like this place or not. The service is nothing to write home about and on my last visit, I requested a snack size and was told they were out, which was annoying. I usually get the chicken kebap and I for one love the bread it comes in, but overall I think even with the sauces, it tastes a little bland. Also their hot sauces (forgot what it’s called exactly) are anything but hot. I still enjoy it though– but for the price (over 7 without a drink or side) I think there’s much more filling+flavorful options on the drag!

Delicious — verts went through a menu change and now they have more options than ever. I recommend getting a salad and going heavy on the veggies. I like their chicken shawarma meat but it tastes much better when it’s cut fresh off the rotisserie and verts doesn’t do that

Got a pita with beef & lamb and everything inside. Wasn’t bad but it wasn’t incredible either. The falafels were great though.

In general, I really like Verts. The concept is simple: choose your protein (chicken, beef and lamb or falafel), the style (kebap, wrap or salad), toppings (lots including spring mix, onion, jalapenos, bell pepper, chickpeas, cilantro, feta, grilled onion and mushroom, etc) and sauce (a house yogurt sauce, garlic sauce, hot sauce, etc). They’ve recently been experimenting with new meats (I saw lamb meatballs once) and styles (over rice was temporarily introduced) and toppings (corn was replaced by chickpeas, new sauces were added), so I’m excited to see what the final menu will be. I usually stick with the beef and lamb kebap with all the veggies with the hot + garlic sauces and it never disappoints. This place can get a bit busy during lunch, but pretty empty during the off peak hours. The price isn’t bad either, the kebaps are big enough to fill you up, so sides aren’t necessary (though they are available: fries or falafel). They do serve beer as well.

Came here on the way to class to grab a chicken salad with house dressing and vinaigrette. Also got a small sweet potato fries.
Service is super fast, but I didn’t feel rushed because the staff were so friendly. Since it was my first time there, they answered all my questions without stopping the flow of traffic too much.
The chicken salad was really good! I got spring mix with grilled vegetables, carrot slaw, purple cabbage, cilantro, arugula, hummus, house dressing, and vinaigrette. Note: The chicken meat they use is not white meat. I ordered chicken because I was trying to get something on the lighter side but the meat they use is thigh meat/​skin. It’s roasted and very flavorful. It ended up being a really hearty salad for only $ 6.95 ($ 7.52 with tax).
But what I’m going to really rave about is the sweet potato fries. Thick cut, perfectly crispy exterior with a good chunk of sweet potato on the inside. Lightly salted. Perfection. I know where I’m coming back to when I have a craving for sweet potato fries.
I’m lucky I live close by to this place, will definitely come back!
Also according to the cashier, they have half-​off beers on Tuesday and Thursdays.

After hanging out at Spiderhouse for all of an hour trying to get some work done, my co-​worker suggested this place because their wifi works and we were both hungry. (Spiderhouse wifi sucks. Do not attempt to work there. It ain’t happenin’.)
Verts wifi works and it works very well, praise the gods. I worked as quickly as I could while stuffing my face full of food because I was quite a bit hungrier than I thought. I ordered a yellow rice bowl with chicken. I haven’t seen the rice bowls before, but it’s been quite a while since I ate at a Verts. At any rate, I’m pretty happy about that addition since I don’t really like bread or lettuce.
My rice bowl was just okay — the rice was crunchy and ain’t nobody got time for crunchy rice. Just kidding. Apparently I do because I ate every single little grain in my bowl. I assumed this was probably just a one time thing, though. The chicken was good and the veggies I added were fresh, so some crunchy rice clearly wasn’t going to stop me from chowing down.
The people who worked here were awesome. My co-​worker has a lot of severe food allergies, so she asked Macie to change her gloves before working on her salad, and Macie happily obliged and told the next person to change their gloves, too. That person, sorry I forgot your name, told the next person to change their gloves, too. Nobody acted like it was a hassle or an inconvenience or gave her a look like, «Are you just being picky or do you actually have allergies?» She really appreciated it and I thought it was really nice of them.
They serve beer here, including my favorite, Live Oak HefeWeizen, and the cashier filled my glass up all the way to the very tippy top. Much appreciated, sir!
There’s a Smart Car inside the store, too. They have a poster up explaining why, but I was too busy with work to read it. Now I have some reading for next time! (I hope the transmission on y’all’s Smart Car doesn’t go out like mine did! I’m still a little bitter.)
Despite the crunchy rice, this place is super clean, the bathrooms are super clean, the food is filling and not super heavy, the people who work here are incredibly friendly, the wifi is speedy fast, and I love all the little quotes on their napkin dispensers. Did you know this place was created by two UT students? Hook ‘em!
Y’all keep on keepin’ on, Verts.

Verts used to be one of my favorite places to grab a bite near campus. Healthy, fast, delicious sandwiches and, in my opinion, very delicious expresso drinks. But they changed the bread (my main complaint) and overall quality has gone down since it first opened, and what was once worth the price, now seems overpriced. Bring back the original breaaaaaad!!! (which looked more like pita).

I’m always down for a good kebab!
I tried the chicken kebab and the meat was a little bit dry, but the flavor was there. I had the original and it was tasty, but more sauce is needed
I also tried the French fries and they had a nice crisp to them but lacked a certain flavor. Will definitely try again

This was my second time at Verts. The first time, I ordered a salad with beef/​lamb. I may have just not ordered a good mix of toppings, but I did not like my salad. I also thought the beef was very fatty, or chewy. I decided to give it a second chance.
This time I ordered a chicken kebap. The chicken was a lot better than the beef/​lamb. It was moist and had some yummy crispy parts. I ordered my sandwich with garlic sauce, which I thought would taste like garlic… wrong. Garlic sauce is apparently just the dill sauce… with some garlic mixed in. My entire sandwich tasted like dill. They need to rename this sauce, or list the other flavors in it so it won’t be misleading. My sandwich was so gross. It tasted like nothing but dill.
When I asked the guys at the counter they explained the garlic sauce is just the dill sauce with garlic. One of them kind of had an attitude, and they did not seem apologetic in any way.
I tried to put some of their hot sauce on my sandwich to make it better, but the hot sauce tasted like straight cayenne. Not any help.
I probably won’t return, which kind of sucks. I really wanted to like this place since it’s a good healthier alternative and so close to my office.

I feel like maybe the popularity of Verts has gone done the past few years? Regardless, it remains a staple of the Austin food industry, being crafted from the minds of two UT students, bringing the food close to home.
Things have changed at Verts– how you order and the pricing, and it’s a great deal in my opinion. Almost like Chipotle, but a Doner Kebap version of it. I always get the beef and lamb, with all the veggies and heavy amounts of the sauces. The sauces are amazing and you can do any combination in any amount. It’s extremely filling and tasty– full of flavor. It is hard to eat cleanly (the Doner version, the wrap is amazing too) but that’s why there are napkins and clean bathrooms right? Also, the patio outdoors is awesome. It’s a wooden deck set high so yeah. The view isn’t great– classical west campus parking lot– but it’s a good place to be in good weather.

Got the snack size Beef/​Lamb Kebop. Pretty good, but I’ve had better. Bread was yummy.

After seeing advertisements with the Ruffles-​chips-​looking bread thing for a few months now, I decided I’d give Verts a try.
Walking in, it’s a little ratchet. It’s got a bit of a hipster vibe, and it’s pretty chill. It’s pretty dark inside. I got in line, and it was maybe 7pm, but not very busy at all. Kinda discomforting… The people working were nice, great people, but they were almost too chill. I heard one guy say «is this the snack size?» and someone else said «I’m not sure» and the conclusion was «it’s not big enough for regular but too big for snack.» I was just a teensy bit confused and annoyed. Then, the cashier didn’t know I had a chicken, and almost charged me for a beef/​lamb. If I hadn’t paid attention and heard her say «it’ll be $_​_​_​for your beef/​lamb kebap,» I would’ve accidentally paid extra.
Taste-​wise, though, the food was really good. Compared to other similar style places like Halal Bros or Kismet, I would say Verts is unique and probably falls between (better than Kismet, worse than Halal). The funky bread IS BREAD, though, so it’s not like eating food wrapped up in a giant Ruffles chip. Just FYI. The flavor was good – not as overwhelming or salty as Halal, which is good. Veggies didn’t seem SUPER fresh, but good enough for me. What are veggies, even.
I also tried the sweet potato fries. PSA: They’re not worth it. I got the large size – stop judging me – and it wasn’t a lot of fries. They were fresh, though, but I’m not sure if that’s a normal thing or if they happened to run out when I wanted fries.
All-​in-​all, not a bad meal, and I might come back occasionally. Won’t get the fries again, and not if I’m in a bad mood, but if I have the patience to deal with derpy service, I love the freshness and cool bread wrap thing.

Tried Verts on a recommendation from a friend who loves these things. They use the rotating meat cooker things, which is rare to see in CA, but maybe less so in TX. They load up the bread with stuff and grill it perfectly. It’s not too expensive, and all and all is a tasty dining experience.

Super fresh, good service and fast.
I got a super cheap snack-​sized salad topped with falafel and it was the bomb if you’re looking for something satisfying but not too large.
Of course I put every vegetable on there besides jalapeños and two sauces…
Inside décor doesn’t not match the outside street, trust me. Clean, well lit, and plenty of seating.
I’ve heard people who have never tried lamb before say it was great. Do not fear, for the lamb is good.

Have been there three times: on all of my visits to Austin
Firstly the food,
Great meats: lamb+beef kebap (kebap as per german street food a.k.a. shawarma as per Israelis, or gyro as per Greeks) was just awesome. Thinly sliced and very flavorful.
Most times, I get an extra side of meat for $ 3, which is worth it.
Chicken kebap: Great, but does not top the lamb+beef.
Falafel: Good.
Love their sauces: spicy house sauce, vinageraitte sauces.
Fresh veggies: makes for a great kebap.
Very good customer service. I even ran into their owner, Michael, who introduced himself as I was reading the history behind the chain. He was very nice and took some time to talk about what his plans are for the restaurant chain (and about the smart car and how they started the restaurant).

I have traveled the world several times over and enjoyed different takes on the traditional kebab/​shawarma. I think my experience at Verts was just Okay. They are super light on the meat and the lamb/​beef combo could use more flavor. As for the veggies. when I ask for light onion I mean light onion. The kid behind the corners slapped so much on my meal; I cant imagine what a regular onion add-​in looks like.
As for the atmosphere its chill like most places on The Drag. I will say that the metal seats they have on the taller tables are some of the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat on but it sure looks cool.
I’ll give this place another chance soon since I work close by. They even have beer options so why not?

This place was quite a surprise. It’s reminded me of a wayyyyyyy better Subway, with fresh veggies and rotisserie style meat cooking where everyone can see. The bread was delicious as well. I will definitely be back here!

I enjoy VertsKebap for a healthy lunch alternative on the Drag. You can get many fresh vegetables and there are good meat and vegetarian options.
I dined today and unfortunately the line was very slow and the students working the counter were not trained properly. They messed up my order as I had orded a regular but received snack size. The snack size is a small portion!
The restaurant is clean and the food is prepared in front of you which is nice. However, lunch on the UT campus is busy and this place would be much better if they could get patrons through the line much quicker (like Chipotle).
Note: They do not offer actual kebabs as I understand them to be. Seems to be an Americanized version.

As a doner fanatic when I was in Germany, I consider this place to be a solid lunch spot to get the closest thing I’ve seen to authentic, German-​style doner kebabs in the US
There aren’t a ton of options — this place keeps it simple. I always go for the lamb doner with grilled onions and mushrooms, garlic yogurt sauce, spicy red sauce, greens, cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes. The bread stays true to the style in Germany (not the wrap you see at other Middle-​eastern joints) although it could be a bit thinner and crispier
The meat is thinly sliced and tasty and the other items go well with it. I must say I wish they had an option for good Feta because that can really complete a good doner
This place isn’t quite like those cheap, doner shops in Germany where the meat is just exploding with taste, but it definitely gets the job done here in the US

Ich habe die vegetarisch doener gegessen (mit alles drauf). War 100% super !!!