Burger King's Leicester Square Flagship Goes 100% Vegan for a Month

Burger King's flagship restaurant in London's Leicester Square has reopened today (Monday, March 14) as a completely meat-free restaurant, serving nothing but plant-based food until April 10.

It's the first time Burger King UK has turned a restaurant fully plant-based, and it chose one of the busiest corners of the West End to do it. The site at 17-21 Leicester Square has just had a full refurbishment, with a new shop front, 12 digital ordering kiosks and a remodelled kitchen.

The menu runs to 25 items, including a children's menu. Alongside the Plant-based Whopper and the Vegan Royale there are more than 15 new items, among them a Cheeeze & Bakon burger, a Vegan Katsu Royale, a Plant-based Katsu Chilli Whopper, Katsu nuggets and Ben & Jerry's non-dairy ice cream for dessert. The patties come from The Vegetarian Butcher. And because no meat is being cooked on site, Burger King confirmed to Plant Based News that everything on the menu during the month is vegan.

Katie Evans, marketing director at Burger King UK, said:

We're incredibly proud of our new meat-free menu; it absolutely delivers on big taste with no compromises and reflects our ongoing commitment to serving our customers a diverse and innovative range of products. We can't think of a more fitting way to re-launch our new-look flagship in Leicester Square.

Burger King UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch added:

The launch of our meat-free menu is an exciting campaign that recognises customers' growing desires for flexitarian and meat-free alternatives. It is a great way to re-launch our flagship restaurant in Leicester Square, which has undergone extensive redesign and transformation work over the last few months, demonstrating our commitment to offering consumers a truly diverse menu for any appetite or occasion.

The month is a test bed. Burger King says it will look at rolling the most popular dishes out across the country, and may consider permanent meat-free branches if the site performs well. So if you're anywhere near Leicester Square in the next four weeks, you know where lunch is.

It's a smart bet. The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, and fast food is where a huge amount of it gets eaten. Swapping the patty is one of the easiest health upgrades going.

The move builds on Burger King UK's pledge to make its menu 50% meat-free by 2030 and on the first 100% plant-based Burger King in Cologne last year. This year has already seen the vegan McPlant go nationwide in every UK McDonald's and KFC launch Beyond Fried Chicken across the US. Not long ago it was a popular pizzeria going 100% vegan making headlines. Now it's the King.

Long live the (plant-based) King.