Meat-eaters recently stood in line for hours to taste Slutty Vegan burgers, according to Forbes.
In January, the Atlanta-based Slutty Vegan – a former ghost restaurant – opened its first permanent location. As well as the restaurant, the company’s food truck is still in regular rotation around the area, and both are attracting hordes of people. More than 1,200 customers attended the restaurant’s grand opening on January 13, with some waiting around seven hours for their chance at a taste.
Celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Tyler Perry have been spotted at the truck; Perry appeared in a video on social media that showed him dancing and enjoying a burger. “This is too good to be vegan. This is really good,” he said.
The company is owned by Black entrepreneur Pinky Cole, and in addition to Slutty Vegan’s taste, it’s this element that’s drawing crowds in.
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Renita Bryant, the CEO of Mynd Matters Publishing, was one of the eager non-vegan customers who waited in line for a taste of Slutty Vegan’s food. A Black woman herself, she told Forbes that Cole makes vegan food – as well as the whole vegan movement – seem accessible to African-American people.
“I wanted to be part of the exclusive club of people that had been ‘sluttified.’ For a couple of months, I watched, from a distance, as everyday people and celebrities were filmed taking their first bite into a Slutty Vegan burger,” she explained.
“I didn’t like being an outsider to the experience and they always said how the taste exceeded their expectations. As a pescetarian, I’m fairly open to vegetarianism but being a vegan always felt extreme,” she continued. “However, Slutty Vegan proved how attainable and accessible veganism is and that it actually could be for someone like me.”
Although Slutty Vegan wasn’t founded on an inspirational story – just love for animal-free junk food – Cole is aware of the positive impact her food is having. She told Forbes that the business has become something “bigger than just burgers and fries.”
“We are connecting the culture to something new,” she said. “For years, veganism hasn’t been something that’s been welcomed in our community because we probably didn’t have the resources or information. To see so many people come together in the name of food is such a beautiful feeling.”
The Slutty Vegan restaurant serves everything from plant-based patties to vegan shrimp and is located on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, Atlanta.
Image Credit: Slutty Vegan
