Is this badass?

[warehouse]

I am obsessed with the veggie burger at a restaurant about 35 minutes away from my house. I rarely go downtown, and rarely go out to eat, but every once in a while I splurge. The sandwich is $12 before tax and tip.

I found out the brand of the veggie patty the restaurant uses (one of my faves already for other items). Stalked it out online and find that this particular product is food service only, not available for retail sale!!  That's why I've never seen it at the store.

I call the company's office, and they agree to sell me a case and ship it to me :)

Cost is $3 per patty, including the shipping… still expensive.. but I now get my favorite restaurant meal at home for around $4 all in.

I just ate one tonight… so delicious!!

Badass or spendy-pants?

[pbkmaine]

I think it's a great idea. An even better idea would be trying to deconstruct the product so you can eventually make it yourself.

[Bob W]

Wow

[ohana]

So I gotta know, what kind are they!  I have a weakness for veg burgers!

[jamaicaspanish]

Another vote for BadAss

[bludreamin]

Another vote for badass. And a request to know what kind the veggie burger is!

[MrsPfennig]

I vote for badass! I recreated a dish of our neighborhood asian place and it kicks butt. Good for you!

[Basenji]

Badass.

[boyerbt]

Congrats - I'd chalk one up in the badass column.

I work for a food manufacturing company and we get requests like this all the time; unfortunately we cannot sell directly to the public so we always instruct any requests to contact local store and restaurant managers to see if they can purchase a case from them. I am always surprised to find out that our customers have no problem releasing this information to the general public.

[Mrs. Crackin' the Whip]

I think this is awesome!  Totally worth it to keep you from eating out at $12+ a pop.

Have you tried making your own from scratch?  Black bean burgers are on my "to cook" list.

[trailrated]

Knowing what you like and finding a way to get it 66% cheaper than anybody else and without the hassle of driving across town. Badass!

[AZDude]

Badass. I have tried to recreate favorite restaurant meals at home several times, with varying degrees of success.

[I'm a red panda]

Have you tried making your own from scratch?  Black bean burgers are on my "to cook" list.

We frequently make black bean burgers, but our recipe makes the patty a bit squishy, and it results in it squeezing out of the bun a bit.  Still super yummy.  http://www.hy-vee.com/seasons/recipe.aspx?r=9779

[Rosy]

Have you tried making your own from scratch?  Black bean burgers are on my "to cook" list.

We frequently make black bean burgers, but our recipe makes the patty a bit squishy, and it results in it squeezing out of the bun a bit.  Still super yummy.  http://www.hy-vee.com/seasons/recipe.aspx?r=9779

OK - I gotta give this a try, if I bury-hide this in a good sauce with peppers and onions from the garden and top it with sour cream I wonder how long it would take Mr. R to determine that it's a veggie burger?

Oh and my vote: BADASS!:)

[2ndTimer]

You are absolutely brilliant.  I am in awe.  I would never have tracked down the company like you did in a million years and I adore food and deconstructing restaurant dishes.  I will search through the house for a hat so I can take it off to you.  What brand by the way? I have a feeling the company is going to get a few more one case orders.

[MissStache]

The badassness of the part is definitely your tracking down of said item and really going after it.  I would have given up after I found out it was food-service only.  Well done!

[Gretamom]

Totally Badass! Sounds like something I would do, so I think it's brilliant!

[I'm a red panda]

Have you tried making your own from scratch?  Black bean burgers are on my "to cook" list.

We frequently make black bean burgers, but our recipe makes the patty a bit squishy, and it results in it squeezing out of the bun a bit.  Still super yummy.  http://www.hy-vee.com/seasons/recipe.aspx?r=9779

OK - I gotta give this a try, if I bury-hide this in a good sauce with peppers and onions from the garden and top it with sour cream I wonder how long it would take Mr. R to determine that it's a veggie burger?

With that recipe- I wouldn't try to pass it off as a hamburger, but I think it is good enough if you just called it a sandwich that he would eat it.  It was yummy, but it is not a direct meat substitute.  My husband (who is in no way a vegetarian) really likes them.

[warehouse]

Shoot you're going to think I'm a jerk…  the guy I ordered the case from actually said to me on the phone "we don't normally do this, please don't put it all over Facebook or anything." Ooops!! I guess I will keep the secret for now…

I do make a veggie burger from scratch, it's from the Oh She Glows cookbook, happy to share that recipe if anyone is interested! It has a black bean base as well but not mushy at all, it's my favorite homemade patty. I think it would be tough to recreate the case of masterpieces sitting in my freezer right now, but I may give it a shot.

Thanks for all the badass votes :)