Whenever I eat at one of San Diego’s finite assortment of vegetarian restaurants, I tap into an even smaller coterie of vegetarian friends to join me, which means setting a date with Steve.

A connoisseur of all things tofu, he possesses a hound dog’s sense for meatless meals that resemble in richness and flavor those from his beef and bacon days. After all, a soy burger isn’t really a burger unless the “meat” is properly spiced, crowned with real cheddar and slathered, perhaps, in chili (albeit the kind made with tofu and a whole lotta beans). And of those fake chicken sandwiches – well they’re not too shabby when the “patties” are breaded, fried and tucked into buns oozing with egg-based mayonnaise.

Steve is a vegetarian opposed to a vegan, which would’ve meant omitting the cheese and mayo in some of the dishes we consumed at the new Veg-N-Out restaurant in North Park. For me, protein is a precious commodity when pecking through sandwiches stacked with cucumbers and alfalfa sprouts.

Much to my delight, Veg-N-Out offers prolific “burgers” choices that are creatively flavored and topped with satisfying fixings such as Swiss, Jack and cheddar cheeses, not to mention vegan-friendly inclusions like sautéed mushrooms, avocado and faux bacon strips.

There are also garden-style salads, although curd-eating folk will take joy in the Fresh Mozzarella Salad drizzled with blackberry balsamic. And from the “specialty sandwiches” category there’s grilled cheese with garlic-herb butter and fresh basil, a three-cheese Little Laurie with veggies, as well as others made strictly with plant-based ingredients and vegan mayo.

A rather convincing “bologna” sandwich is the I Love Rach’y, named after the eatery’s vegetarian owner, Rachel Fogg. The veggie cold cut used here captured all the mysterious flavors of real bologna, and came out a winner layered over cream cheese, apple wedges and a slice of Swiss.

Also classic in taste was a Veggie Dog topped with the same shredded cheese and tofu-chili mixture that buried a basket of pulpy potato wedges we ordered on the side. The spuds upstaged our Zucchini Medallions battered loosely with tempura. They were unexciting without support from the accompanying tarragon-mayonnaise and a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper sitting on the tables.

As satellite radio beamed in familiar tunes by Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Janice Joplin, we plowed through the remains of our meatless repast with the Crusted Chik Burger, which put to shame those chicken tofu nuggets Steve has slipped into my dinner parties on occasion. The sandwich boasted the essence of an all-American diner, brought about by lettuce, pickles, onions and mayo – a trickster alliance of condiments that actually made the breaded tofu patty taste like fried chicken after we unloaded the scads of sprouts bursting from the bread seams.

Veg-N-Out opened about three months ago and shows its young age on the service front. We waited nearly 15 minutes after arriving before anyone sauntered out of the kitchen to our table – only to tell us that meal orders are taken at the front counter. Yet the breeziness of the staff equates to friendliness, which may or may not compensate when having to ask for a piece of silverware, an extra plate or a tidbit of information about the food.

What we learned is that the salad dressings are made in-house – and they’re very good – while the veggie burgers come from an outside purveyor who tosses into the grinds everything from Asian and Italian spices to black olives, rolled oats and cheese.

The modest atmosphere matches the bargain menu prices. Four tables and a small lunch counter fill the space, along with a few potted plants, some wall art and a clunky ATM machine located near the entrance. White and lavender curtains cloaking the kitchen threshold reminded me of an entrance to a Catholic confessional booth, perhaps where flesh-eating diners line up to repent.

For dessert, we returned to a mound of tempura, this time used to coat chunks of mild-tasting apples and very sweet bananas. Like everything that came before it, the dish offered plenty of sustenance, with enough calories to fatten up even the strictest of vegetarians who overindulge here.