The owner of Slutty Vegan, Aisha “Pinky” Cole, was recently appointed as the second-ever Chief Restaurant Advisor by DoorDash.
With her new role, Cole will help bridge the gap between the food delivery company and its restaurant owner partners by acting as a voice for the latter. As the Chief Restaurant Advisor, she will help the company make decisions by offering the views of the restaurant owners.
As the owner of Slutty Vegan, Cole has found success in the vegan hamburger food industry, opening up five locations in Georgia and recently expanding into New York and Alabama.
Here are five other Black-owned vegan restaurants to try out.
- Green Seed Vegan: Located in Houston, Texas, Green Seed Vegan is a vegan restaurant founded by married couple Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry. As residents, the pair wanted to bring clean, healthy vegan eating to their city and eventually decided to open their own food truck before opening up Green Seed Vegan officially. Guaranteed dishes that are 100% vegan and soy-free with some gluten-free options, restaurant-goers can choose from a variety of paninis, wraps, cheesesteaks, tacos and more at Green Seed Vegan.
- Detroit Vegan Soul: Known as “Detroit’s first 100% vegan soul food restaurant,” Detroit Vegan Soul was founded by Erika Boyd and Kirsten Ussery in 2012. After her father passed away from cancer in 2010, Boyd turned to successfully creating vegan versions of her family’s recipes for her loved ones. Two years later, Boyd and Ussery partnered together to bring Boyd’s dishes to the citizens of Detroit. The list of items on their menu include “Catfish” tofu sandwich, “Fish” Fry platter, mac-n-cheese, and the DVS bacon cheeseburger amongst others.
- Greedi Kitchen: Founded in Brooklyn, Greedi Kitchen was created by entrepreneur Latisha Daring. After working in the fashion industry for almost 30 years, Daring decided to open Greedi Kitchen after noticing that there wasn’t much diversity or flavor in vegan options around the borough. With a focus on providing Brooklyn residents with healthy and tasty comfort food, the restaurant offers walnut burgers, coconut ginger fried plantains, chickpea omelets, the restaurant’s special Greedi burger and more.
- Trio Plant Based: In 2016, Louis Hunter was wrongfully accused of throwing rocks at police officers at a protest for Philando Castile. With the help of a couple he met at the protest, Dan and Sarah Woodcock, however, Hunter was able to successfully beat the charges. Together, the trio decided to continue their partnership and make sure Hunter’s vision of helping deliver healthy food to the community was completed by opening up pop-ups of Hunter’s food. With the success of the pop-ups, the trio decided to start Trio Plant Based and, after the Woodcocks left the business in 2019, Hunter was able to become the sole owner of the restaurant, turning Trio Plant Based into the “first Black-owned vegan restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” On the menu, the restaurant offers a variety of burgers, soul food, wraps and appetizers, including the “House BBQ Ribs,” the “Mac Attack” burger, falafel and the “Lou” wrap.
- Cafe Organix: Located in San Bernardino, California, Cafe Organix was founded in 2020 by chef Terrance Thimodeaux and his wife, Shiloh Thimodeaux, in partnership with NBA superstar John Salley. Although Terrance’s culinary background mainly revolved around French pastry recipes, the couple decided they wanted to start their own vegan restaurant upon moving to San Bernardino and finding that there was a lack of healthy food options. On their menu, the restaurant offers quinoa bowls, sweet honey pecan salad, street tacos, their “Mamba Burger” and more.
