Vegan News
New vegan restaurant in Dallas does a crispy spicy fried 'chickn' sandwich
A buzzy and innovative new vegan restaurant concept that specializes in fried "chicken" sandwiches is coming to Dallas. Called Project Pollo, it's a growing young chain from San Antonio that will open its first location in Dallas at 6857 Greenville Ave.
According to founder Lucas Bradbury, the restaurant will open in late June, with plans for a second Dallas location in September.
Project Pollo started out in 2020 as a food cart but is growing rapidly, with four locations in its hometown San Antonio, and one in Austin which opened in December.
The menu centers on "chickenless sandwiches" such as the Spicy Project, featuring breaded fried chickn with spicy garlic Buffalo sauce and ranch, served with a pickled jalapeño.
The "pollo" is a proprietary soy-based chicken substitute which you can get fried or grilled. Other menu items include burgers, cheeseburgers, chickn nuggets, salads, a chickn Caesar wrap, loaded "papas" — fries topped with queso, jalapeno, and chickn tenders — and mac & cheese, made with vegan cashew-based cheese.
Breakfast options includes a chikn burrito, chikn & waffle, and a chikn biscuit.
Bradbury previously worked for a convenience-store chain managing concepts such as Dunkin and Which Wich, and was inspired to create the concept after encouraging his parents to adopt a plant-based diet for health reasons.
Not causing harm to animals is Project Pollo's primary motive, and they donate some proceeds towards animal groups, but he's also on a mission to make plant-based food more accessible to all, telling the San Antonio Current that they want everyone, no matter what their income bracket, to be able to afford to live a plant-based lifestyle.
He's also ambitious, with a goal of opening 25 locations in the next year, which he makes viable by choosing second-generation and offbeat sites such as the Greenville Avenue location. It's an odd building just south of Park Lane with limited parking that was, coincidentally, once home to the pioneering vegan restaurant Bliss Raw Cafe & Elixir Bar.
"Our concept is not about profits, it's about people and providing access to plant-based foods at an affordable price," Bradbury says.