Umami Burger Shifts Menu to Focus on Plant-Based Burgers

This month, fast-casual chain Umami Burger unveiled an updated menu at 16 of its participating locations. The menu refresh—a first for the chain, which has been in operation since 2009—allows customers to order an Impossible Burger (and gluten-free bun) in place of any meat-based patty and features a new vegan cookies and cream milkshake. The menu update was developed and curated by Umami Chief Operating Officer Nate Appleman. “Umami Burger is my chance to share what a real burger can taste like with the world,” said Appleman. “This was an opportunity to dig into something that customers crave and deliver them a quality and overall yummy meal. I wanted to highlight the unique, bold ingredients and big flavors Umami is known for with some new, fresh standouts. I’m personally backing every item on this menu.” In 2017, Umami first added an Impossible Burger to its menu in Southern California but at the time did not offer a vegan option. Shortly thereafter, Umami developed its first vegan bun to accommodate customer demand before launching two additional fully plant-based options: The VGQ (its first barbecue offering) and the Impossible Trufflemaker (served topped with cheesy vegan fondue).