New Vegan Chain Brings Baked “Miami Burgers” to the UK 

Britain’s first “healthy” vegan fast-food chain Miami Burger recently opened its first location in Reading, United Kingdom. The restaurant aims to change the landscape of fast food by offering an array of items that are not only vegan but also baked instead of deep-fried. Its Classic MB Burger—a soy-based patty topped with pickles, onions, lettuce, mustard, and ketchup on a sesame-seed bun—contains 78 percent less fat than a traditional burger. Other menu items include classics such as the Mac Cheeze and Bakon burger (the Classic MB with the addition of vegan mac and cheese and bacon bits) and the Louisiana Chick’n burger (a vegan chick’n patty coated in Southern Louisiana seasoning with mayonnaise and lettuce on a sesame-seed bun); wraps; hot dogs; all-day breakfast items such as the Sausage, Egz, and Cheese Muffin; “super bowls” such as the MB Roasted Chickpea Salad with hummus, beans, freekeh, spinach, lemon, and parsley; and sides such as baked sweet potato fries, onion rings, and mac and cheese. “We used to live in Miami in the summer and this was where the idea was born,” Miami Burger head chef Tom Halford told VegNews. “With 65 percent of the UK population overweight and nearly one in three clinically obese (and rising every single year), it’s imperative that we offer fast food that is up to 95 percent healthier than many of the other guys. With nearly 40 percent of people going vegan for health reasons, we need to offer these people genuinely healthier food.” Miami Burger is currently working with existing fast-food franchises to offer healthier, plant-based items, and plans to expand across the UK with a low-cost franchise model in the coming months.