With Hardee's rolling out it's new vegetarian burger, the Beyond Thickburger, in select locations (sadly, Gainesville is not one of them), I felt the need to properly take the time and really delve into the fast-food vegetarian burger OG: The Impossible Whopper. It's honestly hard to imagine a world without the Impossible Whopper, even though it's only been out since August of this year. It's been my go-to fast food meal. Let's face it -- burgers aren't America's favorite sandwich for nothing! So, below, I have created a very thorough, rigorous criteria for the Impossible Whopper to undergo, which will ultimately be on a scale of 1 to 5.
Marketing: 5 stars
I mean, come on, who hasn't heard of the Impossible Whopper by now? It's basically Burger King's whole identity. Every commercial I've seen from Burger King in the past few months has had some mention of this brand-new veggie burger, and obviously their marketing has been working well, with their sales skyrocketing. No offense to Burger King, but they needed a lot more than their chicken fries to reassert themselves as a fast-food heavyweight, and without a doubt, the Impossible Whopper achieved that goal.
Appearance: 4 Stars
So I'm not going to lie, this burger actually looked pretty good. I'm a fan of having sesame seeds on my burger, which Burger King delivered on. The color of the meat was a nice, dark brown, and it didn't appear to be covered in gristle, which is always a good thing. The vegetables (tomato, onion, pickle, lettuce) appeared to be fresh and gave the burger some weight. However, something that could really just push this burger's appearance to the next level is the make the switch from iceberg lettuce to romaine. Iceberg lettuce has never really been an aesthetically pleasing leafy green, since it is usually pretty colorless and limp. However, romaine would really just make the visuals of the burger pop and would actually be better for you, since romaine lettuce has more nutrients!
Bun Quality: 3 Stars
So as I said, I like when my hamburger bun has sesame seeds because it makes the bun more visually appealing. However, the appearance of the bun was about all I liked about it. The bun was soft, but almost too soft to the point where a few bites in, the bun was already ripping and dripping mayonnaise everywhere. Also, the bun's flavor tasted a bit chalky, but wasn't overpowering. I know people don't go to Burger King expecting gourmet burgers, but for the sake of rating all aspects of this burger, I had to be a little tougher on the quality of the bun.
Patty Texture: 5 Stars
As a former carnivore, I can wholeheartedly support the claim that the texture of the Impossible Whopper is practically identical to a regular Whopper. I honestly don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference. It was cooked medium-well like any other burger, and all in all, it really did feel like meat. The texture of the patty is a perfect example of how far the alternative meat industry has come, because I don't think you could make a vegetarian patty's texture closer to meat than what you get with the Impossible Whopper.
Patty Thickness: 3 Stars
When I saw my burger, one of the first things my eyes went to was the patty. This patty, although it had amazing texture, lacked in the department of being thick. What the Impossible Burger fails to achieve is those two words that every customer hopes will describe their burger, thick and juicy. If the patty was thicker, I would be convinced that this would be the perfect burger. But it isn't enough to hold it back from being enjoyable.
Flavor: 4 Stars
The moment we've all been waiting for, "How did the burger taste?" Well, you may not be surprised to hear this (or maybe you will be), but this burger tasted just like any another fast-food burger. But that's what makes the Impossible Whopper so much more special. All the vegetarians and vegans in the world just wanted a burger that they could enjoy, so they wouldn't have to miss out on eating a 1,000 calorie burger and experiencing mild heartburn afterwards. We didn't want anything too fancy or wild, we just wanted a way to enjoy fast food burgers with everyone else, and now we can! That being said, this burger did taste very good and had a very good ratio of the ingredients to blend together and make one great sandwich.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Seriously, you can't go wrong with getting the Impossible Burger. It's a reasonable price, with good flavor and texture. Sure, I didn't love the bun or the thinness of the patty, but overall, at the end of the day, this burger is inarguably a fantastic substitute to eating meat, and I can guarantee you will enjoy every last bite.