Madelyn Rinka; with Sarah Goltsman, RadioX’s program director; Kelsey Bruce, arts and entertainment editor; and Mario Lorrimer, business manager.
“Fake” burgers have been popping up at many fast food restaurants within the past few years, but even more so recently. Student media staff Sarah Goltsman, RadioX’s program director; The Current’s Kelsey Bruce, arts and entertainment editor; and Mario Lorrimer, business manager, tested out various frozen and fast food burgers so that we could let you know where to go when you’re having a burger craving but want to cut down on red meat. Along with their reviews, they rated each burger on a scale of 1-10 for “Would you eat it again?” “Did it fool you?” and “Is it good?” “1” meaning the burger was overall bad and “10” meaning the burger was overall good.
Boca Burger $ – without bun and toppings
The Boca Burger is a frozen burger found in most grocery stores. Boca Burgers have been around for what feels like ages and are one of the easiest to find veggie burgers. To see if they held up to their history, our staff tried the “Original Turk’y Veggie Burger,” a patty of mainly soy protein concentrate and wheat gluten.
SG: “It tasted nothing like meat, but it was pretty good. I would eat it again if I had a bun or some hot sauce. Did not fool me.”
KB: “The Boca Burger tasted like ambiguous tough something-or-other. It was pretty bland, but I think drowning it in hot sauce would help.”
ML: ”The worst compared to the others. The patty wasn’t horrible, but it just wasn’t the best. It had a very sweet taste, and chewing it felt like I was eating a vegetable. The texture was coarse and a bit lumpy. My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.”
Eat Again: 6.3
Fooled: 3.3
Good: 7
BurgerFi’s Beyond Beef Burger $$$
BurgerFi’s Beyond Beef Burger comes on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard. Beyond Beef is also sold in stores in various forms such as crumbles, patties and sausages, all of which use pea protein isolate as their champion ingredient, along with beet juice for the meat-like color.
SG: “This burger wasn’t good at all and I really didn’t like how it tasted. It was sort of cardboard-y and needed a spice or two.”
KB: “This smells like vegetables and also weirdly tastes like those veggies they cook at hibachi places. I dig it.”
ML: “BurgerFi’s burger was decent; it had a very sweet taste to it. It also had a very similar texture to a beef patty. The patty had slightly more resistance as I chewed when compared to a normal burger. It had accents of plants, but not enough meat flavor.”
Eat Again: 6.7
Fooled: 5
Good: 6.7
Burger King’s Impossible Whopper $$
The Impossible Burger is just recently beginning to be offered in stores, although it’s not found very easily just yet. Right now, the best bet is to find the soy and potato-protein patty in restaurants. Burger King’s take on the Impossible Burger has been hailed as tasting just like the real Whopper — but can it stand up to the test?
SG: “This one was shockingly meaty, but in a fast food type of way. It didn’t taste gourmet, but it was pretty legit. I’ve never had a real Whopper before, but if you didn’t tell me it wasn’t meat, I wouldn’t have any questions.”
KB: “Pretty accurate naming here. I’m really not sure if this wasn’t a burger imposter. It tasted exactly like a Burger King burger, which is alright if you’re in the mood for it.”
ML: “My top choice in this comparison. The advertisements are not a lie. It tastes exactly like a normal whopper and has that nice smoky aftertaste. The texture is just right, and I am very satisfied.”
Eat Again: 8.7
Fooled: 10
Good: 10
Sourced: K. Ninios
