We tried the Impossible Burger in Charlotte. Here’s the one place to find it.

The Impossible Burger arrived in Charlotte this year and there’s only one place to find it: the revamped Duckworth’s Kitchen & Taphouse on Park Road.

I was cooking dinner on a stormy night in May, roasting veggies and boiling quinoa, when I needed an extra source of protein inspiration. So I called in a takeout order — just the one burger — and drove through the pouring rain to pick it up. It turned out to be a whopping $16 for one Impossible Burger.

Before I bit in, I did what any mildly-obsessive vegetarian would do when faced with the only meatless burger option of its kind in Charlotte: I conducted some online research.

The Impossible Burger, created by a company called Impossible Foods, first entered restaurants in 2016. The not-exactly-short list of all-natural ingredients features: “water, textured wheatprotein, coconut oil, potato protein, natural flavors, 2% or less of: leghemoglobin (soy), yeast extract, salt, konjac gum, xanthan gum, soy protein isolate, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Zinc, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.”

The patty also is prepared with genetically engineered heme, an ingredient that is abundant in meat and, according to Impossible Foods, is a key source of meat’s smell, taste and ability to bleed.

“Consider it the ‘magic ingredient’ that makes our burger a carnivore’s dream,” Impossible Foods says on their website.

While it can now be purchased at more than 600 restaurants in the U.S. (but not at grocery stores or on the Internet), the burger only officially made it to Charlotte in May 2018, after a testing period in April.

And it only made it to Duckworth’s Kitchen, per the Impossible Foods’ list of burger locations.

Duckworth’s Kitchen shared in a press release that the restaurant sold hundreds of Impossible Burgers in April and decided to add it permanently to the menu in response to survey feedback from guests.

“We found the Impossible Burger and we were immediately impressed how the patty looked, cooked and tasted just like real ground beef but was made entirely from plants,” said Rob Duckworth, owner and founder of Duckworth’s, in a press release. “We were excited to see our guests liked it as well.”

I wanted to see if I’d like it, too. I paid my $16 and brought it home. My boyfriend and I prepared our plates of roasted veggies and quinoa and then did what any normal couple would do — we dissected the Impossible Burger, took pictures of it and brought it to the couch with our plates to properly assess this meatless phenomenon.

It was cooked like meat — I was asked when I ordered it how I’d like it cooked. I had no clue, and ended up saying, “Yes, medium, thanks.”

When I finally held the patty up to my face to examine it, I was creeped out by how meat-like it appeared: vibrant pink in the middle and crispy brown around the edges. it was layered with onion, tomato, lettuce and Impossible Sauce (which I initially swore was melted cheese), and pressed in the middle of a soft bun.

I bit in and it tasted smoky and magnificent. And felt… like a grilled soy patty on my tongue. This brought me joy, since I like soy patties, and since the aesthetics had me paranoid that I was actually about to eat real meat.

My boyfriend bit into the burger next to me and proclaimed that while it looked pretty real, it was discernible it wasn’t actually meat. He (an omnivore) also said it had the same flavor as crusty refried beans, but the springy texture of a burger.

Is it worth the $16? I’d honestly be just as satisfied with a properly prepared black bean burger.

But, if the right craving struck, I’d get it again.

Find it: Duckworth’s Kitchen & Taphouse, 4435 Park Road

Photos: Katie Toussaint

This story was originally published June 6, 2018 at 1:00 AM with the headline "We tried the Impossible Burger in Charlotte. Here’s the one place to find it.."