Kuma's, Which Used To Proclaim 'No Vegan Options,' Now Serving Impossible 'Bleeding' Burger

By Stephen Gossett in Food on Oct 16, 2017 9:33PM

The iconic burger joint that once boldly advertised "THERE ARE NO VEGAN OPTIONS ON KUMA'S MENU" right on its list of dishes has done the impossible... by going Impossible. Yes, Kuma's Corner, long-running purveyors of metal-themed meat comas, officially has a vegan-entree option for the first time. All Kuma's locations now serve the Impossible Burger, the in-vogue (no complaints there) patty that aims to mimic the appearance and flavor of beef, right down to its juicy "bleed."

The Impossible Burger at Kuma's is served on a vegan pretzel bun with vegan cheese and mayo also available. Kuma's Corner posted the announcement on Monday on Facebook:

"Kuma's has been creating burgers for and with bands for over 10 years now. We set out to pay homage to the world of metal music to the best of our abilities.

Under many circumstances, members of these bands are vegetarian and vegan. So, to properly honor everyone involved, Kuma’s will offer our first vegan-friendly burger option..."

The Impossible Burger—which has also popped up at Umami Burger and M Burger this year—gets its signature "bleed" from heme, a plant-extracted compound. Other ingredients include wheat protein, coconut oil and potato protein, according to the Impossible Burger website. (Earlier this year Epic Burger started serving the Beyond Burger, which uses pea protein and beet juice to get its "bleed.")

The Impossible Burger made its Kuma's debut today at all four Chicago-area locations. An employee at the original location, in Avondale, told Chicagoist that, yes, the menus have been updated.

Despite a small handful of predictably reactionary posts on Kuma's Facebook announcement, this is of course excellent news. No reason to not provide an option if possible, especially one that we've seen garner kudos for hitting the meat-esque mark pretty well. And even approached from the narrowest terms, there's no denying that plenty of metal folks are indeed vegan. Cue the Cattle Decapitation!

Starting today, Kuma's added the Converge, in honor of the Massachusetts metalcore titans who have a new record due out on November 3. It features cherry tomato jam, avocado mash, vegan cheddar, vegan roasted garlic mayo, baby arugula and red onion piled on—you guessed it—the Impossible Burger.

[H/T Eater Chicago]