Bombers Buritto - Albany

I’ve been eating at Bombers since being a baby vegetarian back in 2005. At the time, something like tofu fries (barbecue tofu on top of a mountain of fries and rice—NOT fries made of tofu) was a revelation. Even better when they started offering May Wah brand chicken nuggets. But what was objectively mediocre back then has somehow managed to gradually care less and less over the years. I consider it a real feat to somehow make a burrito as bland as theirs. I’m pretty sure at some point they started using boxed Zatarain’s rice (or an equivalent). No seasoning whatsoever. The burritos are big, but wrapped in such a compartmentalized way that it becomes a bite-by-bite journey from one flavorless ingredient to the next. What makes the decline in an already low quality even worse is that they’ve simultaneously increased the prices! A couple years ago, I wrote online that they’d given me food poisoning (vegan by then, but they still somehow managed it). The owner asked me to contact him directly and literally asked what he could do to keep me as a customer, as he knew I’d been a faithful one for so long. I took the chance to suggest they carry vegan cheese—and they did. It was Daiya, and the vegan tax on it was exorbitant, but it really changed the game at Bombers. Suddenly, as a vegan, I could get a buffalo chicken quesadilla or nachos, and tofu fries with thick melted cheese in the middle was a whole other level of delicious. Despite only mentioning the addition of vegan cheese once in a social media post, and never officially adding it to their menu, it still sold out in less than a week by word of mouth alone. I hadn’t eaten at Bombers so often in many years, and I was stoked. Sadly, it wound up being very deprioritized. It would sell out and take several weeks to be reordered. I heard it was a hassle with their distributor, but nowhere else had an issue getting some Daiya, so I didn’t really buy it, especially with their rude employees always taking a moment to tell me vegan cheese doesn’t melt (even though I would literally eat melted vegan cheese right after) and making other disparaging comments. Eventually, it was gone and I basically never went back. The one in Schenectady recently closed, after months of already appearing abandoned. No tofu or May Wah nuggets are enough to get me to return at this point, especially with all the amazing all-vegan locations now available.

The fries burritos are decent but nothing spectacular. The rasta fries seasoning is tasty. The burrito needed hot sauce to add flavour. The tacos, burritos and loaded fries have an option to upgrade tofu to chick'n nuggets. Good for a fill. Updated from previous review on 2022-11-15

Had dinner with a friend last week and we split a couple of items. The burrito was a little bland. Hot sauce will help. Veggie nugget fries were good but messy. No vegan cheese option. I found that a little surprising considering it’s 2020 and there are so many options available.

Vegan options at Bombers are lacking. When ordered, the food is bland. Not worth the money.

Bomber's has okay vegan options. The burrito is generously packed with tofu and toppings, but the seasoning leaves something to be desired, in a major way. Bomber's is rarely my first choice for vegan takeout, except when I get the odd craving.