Burger King Opens (Another) Fully Meat-Free Restaurant

Burger King just announced the launch of a fully vegan restaurant, with a month-long pilot takeover of its flagship Leicester Square restaurant in London, UK.

Alongside existing options such as the Vegan Royale, Plant-based Whopper, and the recently launched vegan katsu range, Burger King is also introducing more than 15 new meat-free menu items as part of its rebranding and relaunch of the Leicester Square location.

These include a Cheeeze & Bakon burger, Plant-based Bakon Double Cheeeze XL, and Chicken Royale Bacon & Cheese, as well as a Vegan Nugget Burger, Plant-based Double Cheeezeburger, and Plant-based Cheeeze & Bakon Whopper.

Furthermore, for the first time ever, Burger King is launching a meat-free kids’ menu, with Jr versions of its plant-based Whopper, Cheeeze Whopper, Hamburger Meal, and Cheeezeburger Meal. Based on customer response to these options, the chain plans to introduce some of the top sellers at additional stores nationwide.

“The limited-edition menu is a direct result of our focus on vegan and plant-based innovation and goes hand in hand with our target of a 50% meat-free menu by 2030,” says Katy Evans from Burger King UK. “It absolutely delivers on big taste with no compromises.”

All of the fast-food company’s meat-free options are produced in partnership with The Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch vegetarian and vegan meat brand acquired by Unilever in 2018.

Burger King launches vegetarian locations

The vegan Leicester Square location isn’t Burger King’s first foray into meat-free restaurants. In October of last year, a location on one of Madrid’s most iconic boulevards, Paseo del Prado, was rebranded as “Vurger King” and served 100 percent meat-free food for a limited time.

In addition to plant-based Whopper and vegan chicken nuggets, Vurger King stocked the Long Vegetal, a plant-based take on Burger King’s Long Chicken sandwich that was previously available at a similar meat-free concept in Cologne, Germany.

The breaded plant-based chicken sandwich features vegan mayonnaise and shredded lettuce on a long sesame seed bun. Burger King Spain has since announced that this option will be available in all locations nationwide.

​​”We want to reach both people who base their diet on vegetable products and those who do eat meat but want to reduce their consumption,” Borja Hernández de Alba, general director of restaurant brands in Iberia, Spain, and Portugal, said.

Burger King goes meat-free

Burger King’s move to include more plant-based options is prevalent in all parts of the globe. Studies show flexitarianism is on the rise. And to meet the demand, Burger King has been including more vegan and vegetarian menu offerings worldwide.

“Now more than ever, we believe that fresh, good quality food is vital to the quality of our lives and the health of our planet. Being good to the planet, our people and guests [are] central to our values at Burger King UK,” the chain’s CEO Alasdair Murdoch said.

In July last year, the chain launched the Vegan Chicken Royale. The vegan chicken sandwich features a meatless chicken fillet, iceberg lettuce, vegan mayo, and a sesame seed bun. Burger King UK also launched an improved vegan Rebel Whopper around the same time, which features a similar vegan patty from the Vegetarian Butcher. 

Burger King has now launched vegan Whoppers in a number of other countries, including Singapore, Canada, China, Latin America, Mexico, and Japan.

For a complete guide to eating vegan at Burger King, click here.

Editor’s note March 11, 2022: This article has been updated to note that the new meat-free Burger King in London is completely plant-based. A previous version identified it as vegetarian.