As someone who eats meat and does not follow any
dietary restrictions, looking for meat substitutes is not
something that I often have to think about. I know this is not
true for many people, and the issue is that many options out there are just
that, alternative options that you can tell are not the real
thing. I have tried soy based, hemp based, pea based,
and many others but none that I have tried taste
anything like a real piece of meat. One company has set
out to create another option that without knowing, you
would not know it is not the real deal.

Impossible Foods is a 100% plant based meat
substitute that acts, smells, looks, and tastes like real
ground beef. Their burgers are served across the
country and provide a plant based “meat” option. I set
out to evaluate this meat alternative and see if it truly
lived up to an actual ground beef patty. As someone
who eats meat often I felt that my taste buds would be
hard to fool.

For this experience I went to Bar Louie, which is a
Houston restaurant in the Willowbrook area, one of many
restaurants in Houston that carry the Impossible Burger. I
went in with an open mind and really tried to let my
tastebuds make the decision.

The burger was served on a brioche bun with lettuce,
tomato, onion, pickle, and a house made aioli. At first
look the burger has the beautiful greasy glaze that a
normal burger has, but the patty was pressed fairly thin.
First bite: the burger had a nice chew to it, you could tell
the fat content was similar to a burger. As the burger
cooled down I could tell more and more that it was plant
based, it reminded me a little of the low quality burgers
you would get from a fast food restaurant. I think if the
patty was thicker it would have been a better burger, I
did not like getting such a big bite of bun and toppings
compared to
“
meat”.

Overall rating: would definitely recommend as a plant-
based option. Would I ever pick it over an actual beef

patty? No. The nutrition content is similar, which is why
the taste and texture are as well, therefore I am sticking
with my beef. But as a meat lover, I was pleasantly
surprised and would eat this burger again.