This is quite possibly the most controversial addition to the Jucy Lucy Restaurant Map to date: Birchwood Cafe’s Vegetarian Lucy.

Yes, that’s correct. A vegetarian Lucy.

Birchwood black bean burger stuffed with kalamata olives, capers, mozzarella and feta served with red peppers, sundried tomato aioli, bibb lettuce on buttermilk bun. $9

The vegetarian Lucy presents challenges for the cook. Beans, unlike beef, is hard to wrap around meat. And once heated, the cheese has a tendency to be absorbed by the beans.

At $9, it’s also one of the more expensive Jucy Lucy’s I’ve ever encountered. That price comes with a chips & salsa side. For $1 more, you can get fresh greens.

For vegetarians who’ve always had an interest in trying a Jucy Lucy but not enough to actually eat meat, this is now an option for you. But I can assure you that this is NO WAY a substitute for the real thing. It’s a bit too fancy, doesn’t have the texture of meat, and isn’t able to contain molten cheese the way actual meat does.