Vegan Impossible Burger Debuts in Texas

Vegan patty Impossible Burger debuted at two Houston, TX restaurants, Underbelly and Hay Merchant, last week. Both restaurants are helmed by chef Chris Shepherd, who prepares the burger with two patties, lettuce, pickles, tomato, and two slices of dairy cheese. The menu item is made vegan by omitting the cheese and requesting a lettuce wrap in lieu of a bun—which Shepherd tells VegNews he’s working to make vegan. While Shepherd said he was skeptical at first, upon trying the burger, he became an advocate for the vegan patty. “I just feel like it’s a really great addition,” Shepherd said. “It’ll be something that I don’t feel bad eating … It’s really pretty [expletive] cool, what they did.” Impossible Foods recently began construction on an expanded production facility in Oakland, CA, and estimates that its vegan burger patties—which the company hopes will displace meat—will be available at 1,000 restaurants by the end of this year.