I believe most people eat meat because it just tastes better than their alternatives.

Data point: I do.

In the case of low-quality meats (e.g. McDonalds) the taste bar isn't even set very high.

This is probably low-status, but I do prefer the taste of meat even in the junk foods to most of the alternatives. In my experience, most of the alternatives are significantly improved by adding some meat to them.

I wonder if ... there exist vegetarian recipes which really do taste as good as the real thing.

Most likely, no. Otherwise we would already see them sold everywhere. Unless they were invented yesterday, or are extra expensive, or something like that.