Shake Shack woos San Francisco with an old-school veggie-burger picnic

Veggie burgers are back. 

For a while there, it looked like the vegetarian patties made from ground-up but recognizable foods like beans, nuts and carrots were going extinct, replaced by high-tech pseudo-meats. 

But as products like Beyond and Impossible burgers have lost some of their sizzle recently, some national fast food restaurants are going back to the good old veggie burger, a product that could be found in health food stores of the 1970s alongside items such as nut loaf and carob.

Where else to push this concept but San Francisco? On July 29 and 30, global fast food chain Shake Shack is celebrating National Picnic Month with a vegetarian-friendly local takeout kit. 

The “Veg Out” meal for two spotlights the burger chain’s new plant-based menu items. The patties made from mushrooms, sweet potato, carrots, farro and quinoa rivals Burger King’s Impossible Whopper and McDonald’s ill-fated McPlant, which was introduced in 2021 but quickly went the way of the McLean Deluxe—which was dubbed the McFlopper, according to the New York Times—and the Hula Burger, a pineapple slice between two pieces of cheese. 

Read More: The Best Picnic Spots in San Francisco

Dessert is a pint of non-dairy, chocolate-flavored frozen custard “made with NotMilk™, the sustainable, plant-based beverage that tastes, cooks and blends just like milk,” according to ShakeShack. You also get crinkle-cut French fries and two lemonades. 

In keeping with the green theme, the kit comes with a Dock & Bay picnic blanket along with bamboo dishware, cloth napkins and utensils, all packed into a picnic basket. For after-lunch entertainment, it includes a frisbee, a deck of playing cards and a Bluetooth speaker. You even get two personal-size bottles of sunscreen. 

Read More: Guide to the Perfect Date in San Francisco’s Presidio Tunnel Tops

The whole kit is $60 and available for pickup Saturday and Sunday at the chain’s Cow Hollow restaurant at 3060 Fillmore St. You can place your order here starting Tuesday.  

🗓 July 29-30
📍Shake Shack Cow Hollow | 3060 Fillmore St., SF
🔗 vegoutinsanfrancisco.splashthat.com