A Littleburg pide with almond cheese, local kale and cherry tomato jam. (Photo: Littleburg via Facebook)

Meatless fans have a new option in Union Square that emphasizes real organically grown veggies over products such as Impossible and Beyond meat substitutes: Littleburg, a to-go stand nestled in the alley that runs up from Bronwyn’s and The Independent to between Bronwyn’s Biergarten and Field & Vine. As the realization of Graham Boswell bringing his pop-up concept to a storefront, Littleburg’s somewhat of a Mediterranean spin on all things meatless that makes sense considering Boswell worked at Oleana in Inman Square.

Pitas with seitan or mushrooms are prominent. I’ve had plenty of seitan pitas at Clover and will definitely try Littleburg’s version, but on this outing we skipped them – though the Yuba Shawarma Hoagie with mushrooms and tahini and Zucchini Parm Hoagie drew my eye – and had the spanakopita and lentil flatbread. The Greek phyllo pastry stuffed with local greens and a smooth almond cheese checked all the boxes, but it was that flatbread called pide that was the winner. It’s not so much a flatbread but a boat-shaped shell stuffed with lentils and leeks, topped with dollops of creamy, mozzarella-like hazelnut sauce and adorned with chopped fresh herbs. It reminded me of some of the very good meat pizzas I’ve had with lean ground sausage. The savory Greek turnovers come with a white bean side salad, and the pide came with a cupful of pickled cauliflower and carrots. Other items on the menu I am curious to explore are the zucchini tenders and hammered broccoli. Unfortunately, because the takeout page has no pictures (while those on the website make the food look so glorious and tempting), I have no idea what either dish is; I’ll wait to be pleasantly surprised at a later date.

The food is packed up pretty well in to-go containers and bags, and you can mosey over to Backbar a few feet up the alley and grab a signature cocktail to go along with your Littleburg goodness. Littleburg is open only for dinner at the moment, though to me that zucchini parm and gyro with mushrooms and fried potatoes screams lunch. I guess that’s me selfishly hoping for an expansion of hours.

Littleburg (5 Sanborn Court, Union Square, Somerville)

Cambridge writer Tom Meek’s reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in WBUR’s The ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.