Where's the beef? Not at Burger King's new India restaurant

E-Paper | October 01, 2026

Where's the beef? Not at Burger King's new India restaurant

AFP Published November 10, 2014

comments

Join our Whatsapp Channel

Add Dawn as a trusted source

MIAMI: Burger King is famous as the home of the beefy Whopper hamburger, but not in India, where the American fast food empire opened its first franchise Sunday featuring chicken, lamb and vegetarian fare.

The debut of the chain's New Delhi branch marks the 100th country to have a Burger King restaurant, the Miami-based corporation said in a statement.

“The Burger King team spent months developing a unique locally sourced menu that has been researched and tested by more than 5,000 customers across eight cities,” for its beef-free establishment in India, where many people object to the slaughter of cattle for religious reasons.

The Miami, Florida-based company said that among the “innovative” items on its Delhi menu are Whoppers made from mutton and chicken, and a paneer melt sandwich, made using a fresh cheese popular in South Asian cooking.

The new establishment opened Sunday at Select Citywalk, a popular shopping mall.

World

Iran gets US response as Washington pulls out of Iraq

Israel-bound plane rerouted to Saudi Arabia; pilots wounded in reported fight

India’s opposition parties call for protests over ‘vote theft’

Reddy

Nov 10, 2014 10:47am

What is the point of this news? How many global franchise in Pakistan serve Pork?

Recommend 0

Mathew Miller

Nov 10, 2014 10:48am

There's nothing more delicious then a juicy beefy burger, yet alas not possible to buy at Burger King India. This is democracy??? Whatever happened to freedom of choice?

Recommend 0

Gaurav Arya

Nov 10, 2014 10:51am

All foreign chains in India don't serve beef and pork. Its not banned by the government. But then customers will not go to a joint serving beef or pork. However, you can eat beef burgers at Johnny Rockets and other places.

Recommend 0

shivan

Nov 10, 2014 10:59am

Most eateries in India do not serve either beef or pork in deference to religious beliefs of the people

Recommend 0

Paul

Nov 10, 2014 11:04am

May be surprising to Pakistanis but beef, typically from buffaloes, is readily available in many states in India. All of the north east, Kerala, Karnataka, etc. have restaurants even in small villages that have dishes with beef. It is also readily available for sale in Maharashtra, Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, etc. in addition to the aforementioned states. Pakistan seems to be fixated with beef and somehow sees McDonalds, Burger King and other fast food joints not selling beef in India as a major deficiency. But the fact is none of these fast food joints have pork products in Pakistan nor is pork sold in Pakistan except a few shops catering primarily to foreigners, yet pork is widely available in India and is consumed by some Hindus such as those from Coorg.

Recommend 0

Usman

Nov 10, 2014 11:12am

@Reddy No offense intended but Burger King is known around the world for its beef burger. They don't do pork anywhere.

Recommend 0

Rus

Nov 10, 2014 11:25am

@Usman Dear Usman, They do have Bacon (Pork) in their Burgers.

Recommend 0

Rohan

Nov 10, 2014 11:29am

If they have beef in India, no one will even enter the place!!

Recommend 0

Yasir Ishaq

Nov 10, 2014 11:32am

We are living in such that countries where we eat breads in thousand of rupees inception of destruction

Recommend 0

KRana

Nov 10, 2014 11:33am

@Mathew Miller Are you coming india to eat just this junk food? India is rich other food enjoy that and eat burger when u back to USA.

Recommend 0

KRana

Nov 10, 2014 11:35am

@Usman Oh seems u search all over the world, pork burger you can find many places I lived in Seoul and here too they are selling pork burger.

Recommend 0

rajat

Nov 10, 2014 11:42am

@Usman The question is if there was a chain famous for its port burgers, will it be allowed in muslim countries, specially Saudi etc?

Recommend 0

ProudtobeanINDIAN

Nov 10, 2014 12:26pm

@Mathew Miller There is no Ban of beef serving in India... Burger King opened their store in India for doing business and get profit out of it... they opened India outlet not for promoting beef... They knew very well that if beef is served, then their business will come down and profit will be less as large number of people will not go there... You should not simply question democracy...

Recommend 0

Ammy

Nov 10, 2014 01:19pm

@Mathew Miller : what is the point of eating beefy burger when in India? When in India, try Indian cuisine, not even burger, you will be more delighted.you can have your regular beefy burger, when back again in your country. Instead of relating it to democracy, you should value the choice and tradition of your host and enjoy the pleasure as guest enjoying host countries' traditions.

Recommend 0

Sunil

Nov 10, 2014 02:02pm

That is the strength of market place. Producers who do not cater to the tastes of customers shall perish. And India is a great market coveted by many countries.

Recommend 0

being human

Nov 10, 2014 04:27pm

how many restaurants in pak serve pork,alcohol,beer ??

Recommend 0

being human

Nov 10, 2014 04:28pm

@Mathew Miller nothing more tastier than pork bacon,you are missing it.

Recommend 0

Tota Ram Verma

Nov 10, 2014 04:33pm

@Mathew Miller , you can go for Pork which we allow in our democracy.

Recommend 0

bonkers

Nov 10, 2014 07:17pm

@Mathew Miller government has not banned it..d restraunt will not sell cz people will not eat..it's decision of restraunt. common sense! !!! n dnt give lecture on democracy...

Recommend 0

Shaan

Nov 10, 2014 07:28pm

Well, we all have to respect other people's faith

Recommend 0

surinder kade

Nov 10, 2014 09:20pm

@Mathew Miller many establisments , will not serve non halal meat.it is marketing nothing to do with any ism only customer rules supreme

Recommend 0

Salman Chaudhry

Nov 10, 2014 09:24pm

Indians need to beef up their diet if they are to develop quad and leg muscles to perform better in sports. Guys try out beef, you might actually develop some much needed muscle to shed the image of being one of the weakest nations in the world.

Recommend 0

An Indian

Nov 10, 2014 09:24pm

@Mathew Miller Too much beef leads to cancer in the rectum ,piles problem and bleeding. Beef is not an easy meat to digest.In fact no meat is good as most animals carry some diseases. Among non vegetarian items, fish is very good for health if the water from where it was caught is not poisoned with mercury or arsenic. So far vegetarianism is concerned, more than the leaves, people are taking daily does of dangerous fertilizers which can lead to colon or pancreatic cancer,memory loss,brain tumour etc.We need to focus on organic farming.

Recommend 0

Anil Nair

Nov 11, 2014 01:35am

@Salman Chaudhry If I suggest you do the same with Pork, I will be called an Islamophobe. Muslims are religiously forbidden to eat Pork. Hindus with beef. Is it that hard to reconcile the fact that there are several religions in the world?

Recommend 0

MiDas

Nov 11, 2014 04:04am

@Usman They sell burgers with Bacon along with lettuce and tomatoes and they are good.

Recommend 0

MiDas

Nov 11, 2014 04:06am

@Salman Chaudhry Wrong idea about nutrition. There are very good world class athletes who are vegetarians

Recommend 0

MiDas

Nov 11, 2014 06:10am

@Salman Chaudhry So what happened in just concluded Asian games.Beef-eating Pakistanis got a fraction of medals of vegetarian Indians got. Please explain how that happened.

Recommend 0

Ammy

Nov 11, 2014 06:23am

@Salman Chaudhry Salman, going by your reasoning that eating beef makes better sportsperson, I would suggest you to look the medal tally in last Asiad and Oluympics, and compare the nos. of Pakistan and India. You will have the answer.

Recommend 0

Amir Indian

Nov 11, 2014 06:36am

@Salman Chaudhry you are talking about sports - fact is India won more medals till today in all sports at international level than Pakistan - so who need to consume Beef more ??????????????????

Recommend 0

bloggervat

Nov 11, 2014 06:49am

@Mathew Miller In an indian restaurant freedom of choice is mainly for the locals. Not for people coming from abroad. If you allow BK's in US to have paneer rolls and melts then we can also have beef melts as a matter of choice

Recommend 0

Indian Chef

Nov 11, 2014 07:43am

Even as enlightened Bolivia peacefully booted out every McDees from their country, India continues to be the destination for multinational junk food companies. Their modus operandi is to use their sepoys (usually among the West-leaning institutions) to mock and devalue Indian food, and promote the "coolness" of eating junk food. While Bolivians believe that food should be prepared with love, have nutritional value and be prepared with hygiene and have therefore rejected fast-foods, Indians whose minds are colonized embrace these fast-food places, mistaking it as a sign of progress, at the expense of their own cuisine! The culture that deliberately devalues itself, and chases a Western dream is a doomed culture.

Recommend 0

rajat

Nov 11, 2014 08:00am

@Salman Chaudhry In that case, you may want to compare the no. of gold medals won by Pakistan in various events, India won 8 gold hockey olympic medals - 6 of them on the trot, a sport which is one of the most strenuous and tiring. We have some of the best weight lifters and wrestlers in the world. Sushil Kumar and yogeshwar Dutt who won golds in their respective categ. in Asian and C/W games are pure vegetarians. Mary Kom has won 5 world championsips in boxing - same as the legend in the movie Rocky. According to your logic, maybe Pakistan should try alcohol since it brings a little joy and shed your image as the most depressed nation in the world :D

Recommend 0

AGK

Nov 11, 2014 08:03am

You should also mention that fact that these chains (KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominos, BK etc) also do not serve pork products in India. I think you know why. In addition the meat sold in these international chains serve halal meat. Why don't you mention these so that the complete picture is given to the readers?

Recommend 0

Ajay

Nov 12, 2014 10:15am

You can have exclusive stores where they serve "Beef & Pork" on the menu as well. This way everyone gets their options and nobody's religious sentiments are also hurt. Win - Win.... Besides there are enough joints selling Beef and Pork so its not like the option is not their at all but places like burger king and MCD have their patronage because of these marquee products so they should find a way to continue it.

Recommend 0

Branded Content

28 years of McDonald’s Pakistan: celebrating the local partners behind the Golden Arches

The milestone highlighted the structural evolution of the company's local procurement model.

Etihad Town Sialkot delivers Possession ahead of time

The project was delivered within just 1.5 years against a 3-year payment plan, while commercial possession had already been handed over to customers in January 2026.