Washington, D.C.-based PLNT Burger opened in December 2024, bringing kosher and halal fast food (plant-based burgers, dogs, fries) to Coolidge Corner. Spike Mendelsohn (“Top Chef”) oversees the menu. Co-founder Seth Goldman also co-founded Honest Tea and chairs the board of plant-based-patty empire Beyond Meat; Jonah Goldman focuses on food justice and environmental activism.

Here’s what to know about the new spot.

It’s kosher! “It’s exciting because we get to serve people who have observed kosher rules their whole lives. They have the ability to eat delicious mushroom bacon cheeseburgers for the first time ever. We want to make sure that we’re empowering consumers to enjoy food no matter what your dietary restriction or beliefs or background,” Jonah Goldman says. The menu is IKC Kosher and halal.

The brand has strong Jewish roots. Jonah Goldman grew up kosher, and he actually read Parshat Re’eh (where Moses explains the laws of kosher food) at his bar mitzvah, modernizing it for his audience. “As a 13-year-old, I read these sections where they talk about the importance of the life and the blood, and that the blood is the life and how holy the life is. You only take a life if you need to really sustain yourself. I reconstructed that portion in a modern context to think about: We no longer need to eat animals. We live in a world where we could be perfectly happy and healthy with plant-based options. We no longer need to take a life,” he says. When he was a teenager, he also convinced his entire family to adopt a plant-based lifestyle.

The head chef is famous. Washington, D.C.-based Spike Mendelsohn entered the limelight on Season 4 of “Top Chef.” His following got even bigger when he opened Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill, a favorite of then-President Barack Obama.

Coolidge Corner was chosen for a reason. In addition to having a vibrant kosher population, the area swarms with students. “Young people are a huge demographic for us. We want to empower them to understand how our dietary choices represent a huge part of our carbon footprint. This doesn’t have to be a downgrade. Rather, it can be an upgrade to enjoy planet-friendly, plant-based options,” Goldman says.

The burgers use Beyond Meat. The plant-based vegan patties are then smashed and coated in a signature, browned caramelized onion schmear to ensure crackling juiciness.

The Brookline location will also become a test kitchen. The brand will trial-run experimental menu items exclusively out of Coolidge Corner beginning in March.

The “B.I.G. Burger” is the staff favorite. If you try just one thing on the menu, make it this one: a quarter-pound plant-based patty, caramelized onions, pickles, plant-based American cheese, lettuce, tomato and creamy-spicy “PLNT sauce.” “It’s rich and juicy. I think it really scratches the itch that I think most people have when they think of an indulgent burger, and it’s packed with protein. It’s a thicker, more luxurious bite,” Goldman says. Pro tip: He recommends adding sautéed portobello mushroom “bacon” for extra umami.

There are legit veggie burgers, too. “A lot of plant-based eaters don’t want to eat a plant-based meat product because they don’t want to be reminded of the textures and flavors of animal products. For those people, we do have an actual veggie burger, a greens-and-beans patty,” Goldman says. There are also gluten-free options as well as a relatively new Better Balance hot dog menu. (Get yours doused in barbecue-flavored chili and cheese sauce with a sprinkle of green onion.)

Visit PLNT Burger at 297 Harvard St., Brookline.