Mission Impossible: Tēla Bar + Kitchen

In case you hadn't heard, Impossible Burgers have hit Cincinnati.  And they will blow your mind. I don't want to overhype them, but both and Francisco and I have been seriously impressed by these vegetarian burgers. I actually first tried them at White Castle of all places, and I was in disbelief. They look way more meaty than a regular White Castle burger, although I can't really judge on taste.

To briefly introduce you to this revolutionary product, Impossible Foods was founded in an effort to make the global food system more sustainable. One of its key ingredients is heme, which is responsible for the taste and aroma of meat. Heme is a basic building block of life in all organisms, including plants. The company genetically engineers yeast to make this key ingredient and produce an Impossible Burger with the lowest achievable environmental impact. Currently, you won't find the Impossible Burger at any retail stores, but they are entering more and more restaurants across the country.

I first saw this article in Cincinnati Refined that detailed which restaurants carry the Impossible Burger locally, and it highlighted Tēla in particular. We'd been to this restaurant once before and were happy to return again. 

The Impossible Burger is available for $15 on their menu.  It comes standard with bibb lettuce, roasted tomato, shaved red onion, house dill pickles, sundried tomato ketchup, and it's served on a Sixteen Bricks cubano bun. We added a slice of cheddar cheese for an additional $0.50. 

The bun seemed a bit thick, but it was soft, so it didn't completely overwhelm the sandwich. We weren't the biggest fans of the standard toppings the restaurant chose - I think things like the roasted tomato made it lean a little sweet. The burger was slightly more mushy than would have been preferred; it still had a good chew, but we would have preferred a slightly crispier texture. 

It came with fries at no additional cost, and Francisco claimed that these were his ideal fries and had his favorite everything. Meaning they were a good size and had the perfect amount of crispiness, seasoning, and temperature. Very flavorful.

Burger Cross-Section

Per Francisco "everything was fire". He's so hip, isn't he? ;)

Verdict: $15.00 has gotta rank up there with the most that I've ever paid for a veggie burger, but the Impossible Burger is not your everyday burger. Keep in mind that the standard Veggie Burger on their menu, which features a housemade quinoa burger, sells for $13.00 on its own. At least the price includes fries. (I've been surprised to see how many times fries are no longer included with the burger at various places around town.) Since this burger doesn't come with cheese, it was disappointing to be charged extra for such a basic ingredient.

For our first Cincinnati Impossible restaurant, it was a strong start. I want to focus my review on just the burger offered by the restaurant, but I also appreciate the other items on their menu like the Fried Goat Cheese and this delicious Lemon Cream Cake.