Meati's Vegan Carne Asada Is Now on the Menu at Next Level Burger

“I love what Meati is doing: whole food, plant-based and offering an alternative to folks that no one has really seen before,” says Matt de Gruyter, co-founder and CEO of Next Level Burger. The vegan quick-service chain, which added its first Colorado location near the University of Denver last August, recently launched two limited-time menu items featuring products from the Colorado-based brand Meati, which makes meat alternatives using MushroomRoot™.

The carne asada burger features a smash patty topped with Meati carne asada steak, melted pepper Jack cheese, organic guacamole and pico de gallo, served on an organic white bun with a generous smear of chipotle mayo. The carne asada fries are loaded with the same Meati carne asada steak, pico de gallo, cheese sauce and sour cream. Both will be available through August 31.

Collectively referred to as the “Sizzling Summer Duo,” these flavorful creations are completely plant-based. Approachability is intentional, as Next Level Burger and Meati both aim to appeal to consumers beyond the vegan crowd.

“We recently surveyed our guests, and more of our guests identify as omnivores, flexitarians and vegetarians than vegans. As a 100 percent plant-based restaurant, our menu obviously checks the box for vegan diners, but our goal from the beginning was that our food would appeal to all types of eaters,” explains de Gruyter.

“[Meati has] been in market at scale since March and in some of our retail partners, as many as 40 percent of people who have purchased Meati are coming to the category for the first time. They've never made a plant-based or animal-free meat purchase before,” says Christina Ra, Meati vice president of marketing and communications.
Ra explains that Meati buyers are a wide demographic. “I like to say we know them at a belief systems level. These are people who care about food innovation. These are people who believe that for both human and planetary health, we have to eat differently. These are folks who prioritize sustainability in their decision making. They also prioritize health.”

Meati products, which are available at retailers like Sprouts and Whole Foods as well as restaurants such as Birdcall, are made with 95 percent MushroomRoot™, a strain of mycelium that founders Tyler Huggins, Ph.D., and Justin Whiteley, Ph.D., selected for its food production viability and nutrient density.

“I think what's most special about Meati is that all of [its] nutrition is naturally occurring. Our classic steak, for example, has seventeen grams of complete protein, eight grams of dietary fiber, iron, niacin, magnesium, folate — the list goes on and on. We like to say it's kind of like getting your meat and your vegetables in one,” says Ra.

The carne asada burger on the Next Level menu boasts 28 grams of protein, which is more than half of the Percent Daily Value recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The carne asada fries contain eleven grams of protein.

“You certainly benefit from protein when it comes to animal meat and some other nutrients, but in some cases, you're going to get the cholesterol and fat. Our products are free of those things,” says Ra. “MushroomRoot™ not only [supplies] nutrition, but allows us to create whole cut chicken and steak products that deliver on texture, on thickness, on mouthfeel, on all of these things that people expect if they're coming from animal-based products.” While Meati obviously encourages plant-based eating, it doesn’t preach veganism and the complete abstinence from animal-derived foods. Ra says, “[Meati carries] a little bit of a different belief in that we don't think we collectively need to stop eating animal meat. We believe there's a time and a place for it. We believe that by changing the way we eat, we can level [up] the quality of meat that's on the table. It's this mass, commercially produced meat that is creating issues for the environment and sacrificing the quality of meat overall.”

“I was eating ten pounds of red meat a week into my late twenties and had grown up on a 100 percent not plant-based diet,” comments de Gruyter, who opened Next Level Burger with his wife, Cierra, in 2014. “The inspiration behind launching Next Level Burger was to share what we believe is a healthier, more sustainable and more compassionate approach to how we fuel our bodies, our families and our communities.”

He notes that the DU location, one of ten Next Level Burger outposts across the country, services many University of Denver college students, but also families and “folks just looking for quick, convenient and healthy food. Folks are generally very health-conscious, active and outdoorsy [in Denver], so there’s a lot of synergy.”

Acknowledging the local outdoor lovers, Next Level Burger is hosting another seasonal special alongside the Sizzling Summer Duo: the “Adventure Trio.” This includes the Smoky Mountain BBQ burger, the Redwood truffle burger and the Crater Lake fish(less) burger.

Explains de Gruyter, “These are available through September, and each Adventure Trio burger purchase comes with a prize ticket, and every single ticket is a prize winner. Prizes range from free Next Level Burger food and swag to sweet outdoor gear such as hammocks, tents, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and off-road e-bikes to two epic grand prizes: a trip to Zion and a trip to the Smoky Mountains.”

Next Level Burger is located at 1605 East Evans Avenue and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information, visit nextlevelburger.com.