Burger King is testing an “Impossible Whopper” at 59 Burger Kings in St. Louis. It is a product by Impossible Foods, Inc., a Silicon Valley company that develops plant-based products that are meant to replicate the taste and texture of real meat. Their product has been around for the past few years showing up at various restaurants and in grocery stores.
I stopped at the Burger King at 2320 1st Capitol Dr in St Charles this afternoon to see if they were one of those 59 locations and sure enough there was a sign in the window advertising it so I ordered a couple.
I am not a vegan or vegetarian myself, I was just curious as I have never had an Impossible Burger and hear about them occasionally. Heck I was surprised they didn’t ask me the ‘with or without cheese’ question they normally ask when ordering a regular Whopper. I ordered one with and one without. I now know that vegans don’t eat cheese either. Probably would have been better to snap a photo of the one without cheese for the article, oops.
I wasn’t sure how to give a good thought on it knowing that I was eating a meatless burger… so I bought one for my wife and gave it to her like it was a regular Whopper like I just brought home lunch any other time. She took two bites and said “ooh its a little salty” but that was only thing she noticed before I told her what it was. She was a little upset with me like I betrayed her in some way. She ate half of it and then gave it to our son when he got home from school and I watched him eat it and not say anything but thanks, cause he was hungry.
I then proceeded to eat mine, after a double cheeseburger, because I love meat… and cheese. This upset my wife more saying I could have gotten her meat too and that we could have ‘shared the plant burger.’ hahahaha. I think I would have been able to tell the difference if I was eating one thinking it was a regular whopper… but it is very close, and the toppings give it the usual whopper taste, the ‘meat’ is just less flavorful than the real meat. Though, I have had many real meat burgers in my lifetime that didn’t taste as good as this, so there’s that too.
The only flaws in my opinion with it is that while it doesn’t come with cheese, it is still cooked on same equipment as the meat and has mayo on it. So not fully vegan. It is extremely processed and high in fat and calories and there are some oils in the ingredients that that could bother people with AERD like myself, nothing severe but I did notice symptoms about 20 minutes after I ate it which then led me to check the ingredients.
Overall it was a tasty burger for those wanting to try it or are looking for a meat alternative.
Mick Lite served for 12 years in the military and is now an entrepreneur and photographer. Has worked as the official scorer and social media manager for the River City Rascals, Statistician for the Missouri Monsters and St. Louis Attack arena football teams, and as the Team Photographer and social media consultant for the St. Charles Chill, SLU Hockey, St. Louis Slam, and Gateway Grizzlies.
