Food>Restaurants & Travel

Las Vegas Vegan Restaurants Expand As Sin City Embraces Guilt-Free Food

Las Vegas Vegan Restaurants Expand As Sin City Embraces Guilt-Free Food

The Las Vegas vegan dining scene continues to thrive with the recent news that two vegan restaurants —  Veggy Street and Pancho’s Vegan Tacos — are preparing to open new locations in the desert city.

The first to expand is Pancho’s Vegan Tacos opening the first of three new spots in Anthem (2540 Anthem Village Dr.), followed by Veggy Street (1110 E. Silverado Rancho Blvd.) and then –  in late November/early December – Pancho’s westside location is set to open (3555 South Fort Apache Rd.). Finally, later this year, Pancho’s is opening a full vegan cafe and bakery located next to its original spot – which recently expanded from 1,300-square-feet to 2,200-square-feet – on Tropicana and Pecos. Pancho’s owner, Sabe Meling also hints of a California location coming down the line.

“It’s been an amazing journey, but we’re just starting,” says Meling. The first Pancho’s opened late 2016. In July 2017, Meling acquiring a food truck

Expect new things at both Pancho’s locations – Anthem is going to serve alcohol and all will feature new items once the westside location opens.
The vegan restaurant options in Las Vegas continue to grow with the upcoming expansion of two businesses - Pancho's Vegan Tacos and Veggy Street. For more news on vegan dining in Las Vegas, visit www.vegansbaby.com“We will have more gluten-free, soy-free options,” promises Meling. They will also have lower calorie tacos featuring jicama tortillas and more homemade options like picadillo, rajas en crema, asado and baking traditional Mexican and holiday breads like pan de muerto and rosca de reyes.
Veggy Street, the healthy fast food concept, is opening its second location due to the “phenomenal response” to their first location, according to Owner Jorge Melatti. “We want to spread the healthy-eating way of life to all of Las Vegas, and, one day, the world.”

Melatti prides the brand on bringing the best flavors to the fast food culture and producing some of the “best tasting food in the city, regardless of whether or not there is meat in the dish.”

The vegan restaurant options in Las Vegas continue to grow with the upcoming expansion of two businesses - Pancho's Vegan Tacos and Veggy Street. For more news on vegan dining in Las Vegas, visit www.vegansbaby.com

“We are always forward-thinking and we will innovate, adapt and reproduce our model as often as humanly possible.”

The opening of the second location of Veggy Street is just the beginning for Melatti, who hopes to see the business expand across the nation and then internationally.

“While we start small and fully learn the social responsibilities we have as a healthy fast food chain, we will expand to share our model with other cities and people so that everyone can have a healthy, affordable, fast food alternative while also eating tasty vegan food,” says Melatti.

As for talk about Vegas being oversaturated with vegan restaurants, Meling believes that one of the issues is that vegan restaurants have been appealing mostly to vegans and competing with each other because of similar items which are highly priced.

“The vegan options places usually offer are third-party vegan products like Gardien and Daiya,” he says. ”Our mission is to provide good food, fairly priced. A product that is available and accessible to everyone, not just to those whom can afford it, not just to vegans. That’s why our posts say ‘vegan food made for all.’”
Melatti sees something different: “Veganism and [the] vegan culture is spreading in our beautiful city, and it is being embraced from Old Henderson to Far Hills. As we expand, we are promoting a way of life, and we strongly believe that our customers and Las Vegas will stick with us through it all. We encourage and enjoy all other vegan restaurants in town, because we are all on the same team.”

For everything vegan in Las Vegas, including the city’s only vegan food tour, vegan dining guidebook and information on the vegan dining scene and more, visit Vegans, Baby.

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Diana Edelman