Vegan Burgers + Second Chances at Mr. Charlie's
BY TAMARA PALMER
Mr. Charlie’s is a vegan quick-service restaurant on La Brea near Melrose in Los Angeles that opened on Valentine’s Day. The clever visual presentation was an early hit on TikTok and Instagram. I saw it on the Gram earlier this year and finally had a chance to try a vegan burger last weekend at the Family Style Food Festival (check out my event recap) at CBS Television City on Fairfax.
Turns out, Mr. Charlie’s was debuting the Big Chuck that day. The Big Chuck has two Impossible patties, vegan cheese, shredded lettuce, a sauce that is special and three buns (like another double cheeseburger you may know). It was a popular choice at the festival. I find the taste of Impossible to be pleasant in general, and I inhaled my Big Chuck in about three minutes, which should stand as a great review in itself.
The plan was to write about how good the Big Chuck is and how smart the branding is, but then I struck up a conversation with co-founder Taylor McKinnon on the Gram after he asked what I thought of it.
“Do you know why we do this?” he asked, directing me to watch a local news segment that aired in LA.
Front of the Big Chuck box
Back of the Big Chuck box
Mr. Charlie’s Big Chuck
Mr. Charlie’s booth at Family Style Food Festival 2022
According to that news story as well as a Los Angeles Times report, Mr. Charlie’s employs residents and alumni from the Dream Center, which offers housing and resources for the recently homeless and incarcerated, and offers a credit card to managers to help establish credit.
“We pay $300 a month to each member for incidentals such as gas to help them build their credit,” co-founder Charlie Kim told the newspaper.
Now we know, and I’m glad he told me so.
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