McDonald's New Burger Debuts at These Locations Today
Today marks the American debut of McDonald's highly anticipated new burger. The chain will begin selling the McPlant at a handful of locations across the country, ushering in a new era of plant-based menu items going as mainstream as it gets.
The McPlant will become available at only eight McDonald's restaurants in Irving and Carrollton, Tex., Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jennings and Lake Charles, La., and El Segundo and Manhattan Beach in California. The chain is conducting a test of the new item in these markets in order to gauge how it will fit into its kitchen operations, and will only be on the menus temporarily.
"This particular test will help us understand how offering a burger with a plant-based patty impacts the kitchens in our restaurants," the company said in a statement.
And while this will be a first taste for Americans, several European countries have already tried out the new plant-based creation. Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, and the U.K. tested the McPlant this year with one overwhelming response: it tastes very much like a typical McDonald's experience.
Reviewers in the U.K. have likened the McPlant to a Big Mac, which is quite an achievement for the chain, considering the U.K. version of it took longer to develop as is completely vegan. In fact, the burger has received the UK's Vegetarian Society vegan accreditation, meaning that it is not only completely free of any animal products but it is also cooked and prepared separately from McDonald's non-vegan items, according to Engadget.
The version served in American test markets, however, stops at plant-based—it will still include the classic sesame bun, slices of real American cheese, and a mayo-based sauce. It's also worth keeping in mind that it will be cooked on the same grill as the meat and dairy products, so it might not even check the vegetarian box, depending on your definition.
McDonald's initially announced its first-ever plant-based burger late last year and revealed it had signed a three-year global agreement with Beyond Meat. The food company is partnering with the chain on the protein for a whole plant-based line, which could, down the line, include chicken and breakfast sandwiches, too.
For more, check out:
- Discontinued Menu Items You Forgot McDonald's Used to Serve
- Adele Eats These McDonald's Foods Every Week, The Singer Just Revealed
- Two Creepy McDonald's Secrets We Just Learned From a Drive-Thru Employee
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