McDonald's Will Start Testing McPlant Burger in These Locations in November

Following their announcement last year about the arrival of their new "McPlant" line of menu items, McDonald's USA  has announced that the McPlant sandwich, a plant based burger co-developed with Beyond Meat, will officially debut in eight McDonald's restaurants starting in November as a test of the product. Starting on November 3rd the McPlant will be available to order in McDonald's in Irving and Carrollton, Texas, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jennings and Lake Charles, Louisiana and El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, California. The McPlant is made from plant-based ingredients like peas, rice and potatoes and served on a sesame seed bun with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and a slice of American cheese, so it'll taste just like a McDonald's burger.

Vegan fans perhaps interested in trying it should read the fine print on the latest press release though which denotes (H/T CBS News): "In addition to the plant-based patty, the McPlant in the U.S. contains non-plant-based ingredients such as American cheese and mayonnaise. It's also cooked on the same grill as meat-based products and eggs. As always, guests can customize and request to hold the cheese and mayonnaise, or any other ingredients." The McPlant patty being cooked on the same grill as the regular meat burgers might be sticking point for some restaurant guests, and they may be out of luck in hopes of their burger not touching a meat burger.

McDonald's went on to note that, yes, they have released the McPlant in other markets before with Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and most recently the U.K. all getting the plant-based burger earlier this year. The test being conducted within the United States will likely be to see how it can handle the pressures of McDonald's quick service within the US but also how much demand there might actually be for said product anyway.

Though often thought of as a leader in fast food options, McDonald's is already somewhat late to the game in terms of bringing a vegetarian option to its menu. Burger King, one of McDonald's biggest competitors, has had a similar product, The Impossible Whopper, a meatless version of the classic Whopper burger, on its menu for almost two years. Other fast food chains that have vegetarian options as well include White Castle, Carl's Jr/Hardee's, and Wendy's.