At Buona, we are always looking for new concepts and high-quality ingredients to bring to our customers. Our founders began researching vegan and vegetarian trends and thought, “What if we didn’t just create another plant-based burger- what if we recreated our signature dish, but meatless!” Our Chef started researching (having a vegan daughter, he knew where to start) and found that Upton’s had all the things we were looking for: Chicago-based, high quality, and all natural. We could not be more excited to partner with one of the most prominent meat substitute providers and bring this vegan vision to life. Owner and creator of Upton’s Naturals, Daniel Staackmann, met with the Buona family to share his insights, recipes, and products. From there, the Italian Beefless Sandwich came to life. We then transformed this popular menu item into our Vegan Beefless Bowl to offer the same great taste, just without the carbs- offered for a limited time only!