Going Out No. 29: Face Plant
Vegan fast food for the masses.
Welcome to Riley’s Recs! A place for people who love to talk about what they eat, drink, and do in Portland. This is the Going Out edition, where I review a restaurant, bar, or activity. Every Sunday, I also share Staying In recipe recommendations for your week. Don’t forget to check out pdxrecs.com for even more recommendations and follow RR on Instagram at @rileysrecs. Enjoy!
Meal: Dinner
To eat: Fancy Burger, 5-Piece Nuggets, and Fries
To drink: Strawberry & Vanilla Shakes
Cost for two: $34.97
Have you heard about Molly Baz's new plant-based fast food spot on Swan Island?
Let’s unpack that question. Yes, Swan Island — the industrial park in North Portland. Yes, Molly Baz — the influencer chef who gained a following for her zippy recipe titles, iconic aprons, and cool-girl mayo line. Yes, plant-based fast food — meaning no meat, no cheese, and no ice cream.
In Internet-speak: a celebrity-chef, plant-based fast food spot on Swan Island was not on my Portland bingo card.
But Face Plant has arrived. And with it, an eager fan base. Since they soft-opened in March, Face Plant has amassed 16K Instagram followers; nothing compared to Molly Baz’s nearly one million, but that’s double SuperDeluxe’s follower count and slightly more than Burgerville’s.
And these followers are ready to gobble up whatever Face Plant offers. A few months ago, an announcement that milkshakes were on the way set off a flurry of Instagram comments like “Hello, are the shakes happening” and “Shakes when??” and “When is the shakes?”
The healthy following is a good sign, not just for business, but for plant-based meat—an industry more desperate for validation than an anxiously attached partner.
Despite a strong initial market entrance, plant-based meat has struggled. Beyond Meat’s stock price fell from $234 a share in 2019 to less than $4 today, and the company is more than a billion dollars in debt. Although Impossible Foods is privately held and not open about their financial state, it’s assumed their value is not as strong as it once was.
Because plant-based meat alternatives have a PR problem. They’ve fielded accusations ranging from being ultraprocessed to environmentally unfriendly to just tasting gross.
In a scramble to protect their reputation, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have responded by releasing ingredients lists, environmental reports, and increased transparency about their production processes. They’ve introduced new food lines and invested in big-budget ads. But the market’s up-and-down relationship with plant-based foods has put their very existence into jeopardy.
And demand will continue to be rocky until they can solve the industry’s existential dilemma: How do you dupe a non-vegan into thinking they’re eating a burger while also reminding them that the burger isn’t actually made of meat?
Most Americans eat a hot dog without question. How do we get plant-based meat to the point of no scrutiny? Is Face Plant the answer?
Building a Face Plant menu was simple. They stuck with the classics: burgers, nuggets, fries, and shakes.
Recipe development was not. When co-founder Matt Plitch approached Molly, he gave her this brief: make food that "could taste as juicy, crave-able, finger-licking, and mouth watering-ly delicious as its real meat competition.” Essentially, make a burger better than In-N-Out.
Recipe testing took four years. Matt and Molly hyper-analyzed every element of every dish. They nixed oat milk in their milkshakes (hard to disguise it with a subtle flavor like vanilla) in favor of their own proprietary pea milk blend, developed their own sauces (like the Carolina Gold-esque bbq sauce that accompanies the nuggets), and messed with their french fry formula until it was McDonald’s worthy.
They knew they had to nail the menu. Not just because all eyes in the plant-based meat industry are on them, but because ultimately Matt wants to reduce beef consumption and reverse the trajectory of global warming. And in order to do that, you have to scale. And to scale, you have to get it right the first time.
Did Face Plant get it right? Did I like it?
I’m a meat eater who wishes I ate less red meat. But I literally just wrote an article about Portland’s best hot dogs and ate more than five in a week. So you could say I’m a long ways away from veganism.
But sitting in the drive-thru line at Face Plant, looking hungrily at the menu, I knew I could be willingly deceived. I’m a sucker for drive-thrus and burger sauce and milkshakes.
The milkshakes arrive first; a metaphorical best foot forward. They absolutely live up to the hype. I’ve tried the strawberry and vanilla flavors and genuinely found them to be better than Burgerville’s. My only complaint: the shakes melt quickly, not due to these 95-degree days we’re experiencing, but because of the low fat content. So drink fast.
The burger, a patty that’s been smashed and cooked until the edges are caramelized and crispy, benefits from a healthy slathering of sauce and the freshness of the lettuce and sliced tomato. The cheese, made with oat milk and sunflower oil (don’t think about it), is just as gooey and orange and fake as a Kraft single. The bun, unfortunately, is a disappointment. And it made me wonder about the unit economics of vegan fast food and where cost savings come into play.
The nuggets, on the other hand, are infinitely better than McDonald’s: they share similar textures but with Face Plant’s you don’t have to think about chicken parts getting blended and fried. On one recent trip, the nuggets were exceedingly salty; tossed too many times in Face Plant’s proprietary seasoning blend. But any sodium bomb can be neutralized by a good dipping sauce. In this case, a sweet mustardy barbecue variety. And on a second visit, the salt-levels seemed fine.
The fries have a pleasant hint of vinegar and the right amount of potato. I ate them straight from the bag in the passenger seat as I drove, knowing that like any good fast food fry they would be cold and stale within a matter of minutes. Which doesn’t bother me at all.
Generally speaking, eating at Face Plant requires very few compromises. The nuggets and shakes beat the competition and the burger is fine for $5.99. But I knew what I was getting into; that the burger would be soy-based, the milkshakes cream-less.
For most people driving by and thinking about lunch or dinner, the former Burger King drive-thru looks generic. Like any fast food spot. There’s nothing that says “vegan” or “plant-based.” Matt estimates that about a third of the vehicles in the Face Plant drive-thru are trucks, likely coming from nearby Daimler or industrial work sites. But do these diners know what they’re paying for?
Judging by the negative Google reviews, some customers aren’t driving away happy. They complain about food tasting “off” and “patties flatter than a fresh dollar bill.” To blend in requires omission. It requires boldly leaving things unsaid. Time will tell if the bet pays off.
After my first visit to Face Plant, my friend and I took our burgers and shakes to Mocks Crest, the lookout point nearby. From here, you can see Face Plant down below, cars inching through the drive-thru.
Being only five minutes away, Mocks Crest is the perfect spot to eat your meal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Face Plant paper bags are a new picnic staple here. The Pendleton blanket of summer 2025.
After we finished our food and started heading back to our cars, I felt the crash that happens after a rush of salt, sugar, and grease. That heavy feeling in your stomach that settles in once your burger is scarfed down and your milkshake has melted. My car smelled of vinegar and salt. There was a fry on the floor. I felt like I needed a nap.
Is that not the classic fast food experience?
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What a great idea to picnic too! This has been at the top of my list since I saw Molly post about it.