A petition started earlier this week on Change.org begging Wendy's to offer a veggie burger. Turns out, the Dublin-based chain has been testing a black-bean veggie burger for weeks.

A petition started earlier this week on Change.org begging Wendy�s to offer a veggie burger.

Turns out, the Dublin-based chain has been testing a black-bean veggie burger for weeks.

�We�ve been conducting a small operations test for a high-quality, great-tasting black-bean burger at two restaurant locations in Columbus,� Wendy�s spokesman Bob Bertini said in an email.

The veggie option is available at 5505 W. Broad St. and 739 Bethel Rd.

At the Bethel Road location, the black-bean burger is listed on the Build Your Own Sandwich board beneath a hamburger and a chicken sandwich. It comes on a multigrain bun with pepperjack cheese, asiago ranch sauce, tomato, red onion and spring-mix greens, according to the menu description.

�It makes sense because Wendy�s is moving upscale,� said Darren Tristano, vice president at Technomic. �It�s a good thing to give it a try and see if they can score with vegetarians.�

Vegetarians can veto places to eat when they are out with friends or family, so offering options for them can open a restaurant to more customers, Tristano said. Veggie burgers also might bring back lapsed customers looking for something that�s different or fits a new diet.

White Castle, another Columbus-based burger chain, tested a veggie burger, or slider, last year. White Castle bought its patties from a New Jersey company, Dr. Praeger�s Sensible Foods, which also makes a line of frozen veggie-burger products.

White Castle made the veggie burger a permanent menu item in March.

�Talking to vegetarians around White Castle, a few people told me they hadn�t been there in years,� Tristano said, �and they went back because they added it.�

Wendy�s isn�t saying what the future might hold for the item.

�It�s too early to say where this may go,� Bertini said, �but we�ve been encouraged by the early consumer response.�

In four days, more than 15,000 people have signed the Change

.org petition, which was started by MTV reality-show star Steve-O. A similar petition asks McDonald�s to add a veggie burger; that one is a year old and has more than 100,000 signatures.

jmalone@dispatch.com