Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
We compared White Castle's original slider with its new game-changing burger - and the winner is clear
We compared White Castle's original slider with its new game-changing burger - and the winner is clear
Leanna Garfield,Jessica Tyler,Jessica TylerApr 17, 2018, 19:13 IST
Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
White Castle is known for its 77-cent beef sliders served in tiny cardboard boxes.
Advertisement
But now, the 97-year-old chain is testing out a more vegetarian-friendly option.
On Thursday, 140 White Castle locations in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois debuted a plant-based slider by the Silicon Valley startup Impossible Foods. Founded in 2011, Impossible has created a meatless burger that mimics the taste of beef.
We recently went to a White Castle in Brooklyn to see how White Castle's original sliders stack up to Impossible's. There was a clear winner.
We visited a White Castle in Bushwick — one of 14 in New York City — on the first day the Impossible sliders became available.
Considered America's first fast-food chain, White Castle was founded in 1921. The brand rose in popularity following the 2004 film "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," in which two stoners visit a New Jersey location.
The Impossible sliders are a little more than double the price of the traditional sliders ($1.99 vs 77 cents).
White Castle already has a vegetarian slider, which it will continue to offer in addition to Impossible's.
We ordered one Impossible combo — which included two plant-based sliders, fries, and a soda — and a regular combo — which included four beef sliders, plus the fries and drink. We also asked for two extra Impossible sliders. It was a lot of food.
In total, the veggie combo with cheese cost about $8 and the other (without cheese) was $6.59.
Both sliders included the same toppings (onions, pickles, and ketchup), but the Impossible ones also had cheese.
We first tried the Impossible burgers, which looked much thicker than White Castle's normal square patties. They also weirdly looked more like meat than the beef ones.
Instead of beef, Impossible's burgers contain heme (the molecule that gives beef its reddish color and metallic flavor), textured wheat protein, and coconut oil, among other ingredients.
The center was slightly pink and appeared to have a meaty texture. It was moist and had a sweet, pleasant flavor.
It similar to beef, but not quite the same as a regular burger you'd make on a grill.
However, the White Castle ones didn't really taste like beef, either — more like a greasy substance that'd you expect to cost 77 cents.
Unlike the Impossible burgers, White Castle's patties had their signature five holes in the center.
The Impossible slider was the clear winner.
That said, competing with a 77-cent slider — which essentially just tastes like grease, ketchup, and bread — presents a low bar.
Impossible Foods hopes to launch its sliders in every White Castle in the US as well as other fast-food chains globally, COO David Lee said.
The startup is now able to offer its sliders at a relatively low price.
Previously, a larger version of the Impossible Burger was only available in higher-end restaurants, like Umami Burger and David Chang's Momofuku Nishi, for over $10.
The new Impossible slider presents a meatless alternative that beef devotees might warm up to.
