[fashionrob]

The other thing I am not seeing in the comments is that most store bought meat from big chains like Vons, Krogers, Walmart, etc- doesn't really taste that good. When cooked, likely chewy, dry and tasting "off". When we think of the "good burger" bite, we arnet thinking of discount ground meat from the market, we are thinking of a good burger from some restaurant.

[greedo]

Here's one. I buy grocery store ground chuck, and I've never had a restaurant burger that surpasses my own. Now fries are another thing, since I don't have a deep fryer.

[joe_the_user]

Well,

I like the taste of existing meat substitutes to be honest.

The problem I have is that I find meat substitutes hard to digest and meat seems to help my digestion regardless of taste.

As far as restaurants go, I'm not if the meat used by restaurants actually is better quality that supermarket ground beef. In my shallow exposure to restaurant food prep, I get the impression that restaurants in, say, the $8-12 burger range use the cheapest acceptable supplies and make it taste good with good equipment, sweat/salty/spicy recipes, and professional preparation. I think you need to go to Chez Panisse type restaurants before you get dishes where "the ingredients stand on their own" and there's a reason for that.