Vegan News

Dallas makes a respectable showing on list of top 20 vegan cities in U.S.

Dallas is home to Belse, which is a big deal in the vegan restaurant scene.

Courtesy photo

A new survey of the top 20 cities in the U.S. where it's best to be a vegan has determined which city is the most vegan of all. Spoiler: It's not Dallas. Boo.

But Dallas did make the list, coming in at No. 12, boasting 209 restaurants that are vegan or offer vegan options.

The survey by the team at Meal Delivery Experts set out to determine which cities have the most vegan food options. They compiled the 20 most populous cities in the U.S., then used data from TripAdvisor to count how many restaurants or food venues in each city offers at least one vegan option.

New York comes in at No. 1, blowing everyone else away with 1464 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options — more than double the number than any other city on the list.

No. 2: Los Angeles is in second place, with 705 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options. Los Angeles has among the widest variety of cuisines including vegan Korean, Ethiopian, and Thai food.

No. 3: Chicago, with 489 restaurants or food venues offering vegan options, which is a surprise since Chicago is such a big meat town, although the city is best known for deep-dish pizza, and many Chicago restaurants now offer a vegan alternative.

Whether motivated by health, environmental, or ethical reasons, the number of vegans in the US is rapidly increasing, reaching new heights in 2022. One in ten, or 10 percent, of Americans now consider themselves vegan or vegetarian.

The dollars are also there, with the plant-based industry worth over $7 billion in the US in 2022.

The milk substitute market is valued at over $3 billion in 2022.

The meat substitute market is valued over $1 billion in 2022.

Houston and Austin both make the top 10. Houston comes in at No. 6, with 312 restaurants — snatching the surprise win for top vegan city in Texas away from Austin, which has a bigger reputation for being veg-friendly; Austin is No. 8 on the list with 286 restaurants.

San Antonio is No. 13, with 202 vegan- or vegan-friendly establishments, just getting nosed out by Dallas.

Dallas' vegan scene is noteworthy for a few reasons. It's the de facto birthplace of the Mexican vegan trend, in which Mexican restaurants switch to an entirely vegan menu, a national trend that was pioneered by El Palote Panaderia in Dallas' Pleasant Grove neighborhood.

Dallas is also home to the first Belse, the gourmet vegan restaurant in downtown Dallas that's a spinoff of famed L.A. restaurant Little Pine. A second location of Belse just opened in New York on June 14. So we had it before New York, ha ha, sorry No. 1 city.

These are things that earned Dallas its very first spot on the 2019 list of Top 10 Vegan Cities in the U.S. compiled by PETA, which, no offense to Meal Delivery Experts, is a much more authoritative source on all matters of vegan and animals.

The real tragedy and misleading story is Fort Worth, which is in last place, with 68 restaurants or food venues offering at least one vegan option. Despite what the numbers may say, Fort Worth has the buzziest vegan scene in Texas right now with places like Pizza Verde, Zonk Burger, Mariachi's Dine-In, and is also home to Texas' most famous vegan restaurant, Spiral Diner.

But by sheer numbers, Fort Worth is beat even by Oklahoma City and San Jose, California, tied with 80 restaurants or food venues each. What a travesty.

The full list, by ranking:

New York - 1464
Los Angeles - 705
Chicago - 489
San Francisco - 467
San Diego - 385
Houston - 312
Seattle - 309
Austin - 286
Denver - 261
Philadelphia - 258
Phoenix - 234
Dallas - 209
San Antonio - 202
Charlotte, NC - 176
Jacksonville, FL - 140
Indianapolis - 140
Columbus, Ohio - 137
San Jose - 80
Oklahoma City - 80
Fort Worth - 68

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Closure News

Mexican bar and restaurant on Dallas' Ross Ave closes after only 4 months

dallas.culturemap.com

A Mexican hangout from San Diego has departed Dallas: El Chingon, which served Mexican food, cocktails, and a clubby atmosphere near downtown at 3404 Ross Ave., closed on Sunday, September 6, after a mere four months.

The venue, which opened its doors on May 1, blamed the closure on the city of Dallas' code compliance department, citing repeated procedural issues that ultimately persuaded the operators that closing was the only option.

The short lifespan has to be a record, especially given the extensive investment made on the space — an abrupt ending to what was a prolonged birthing by GBOD Hospitality Group, the San Diego owners, who invested more than four years and millions of dollars to get it open.

"Our goal was simple: give Dallas the best, most Chingón experience we possibly could," their statement said. "And Dallas showed up for us…. Unfortunately, almost from the beginning, operating that vision became a constant fight with the City."

"We dealt with repeated Code Compliance visits, citations, and ongoing challenges to our Certificate of Occupancy and restaurant use," their post said. "Over time, it became increasingly clear that El Chingón simply was not what the City wanted us to be. Events, programming, dancing, the way we used our space — nearly every part of the experience became another opportunity to find fault with our identity."

El Chingon operated as a high-energy restaurant, bar, and nightlife destination known for its “Bad Ass Mexican” cuisine. The concept was founded in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter in 2017, where it built a following for its lively programming and street-food menu of tacos, burritos, and shareable bites.

It's part of GBOD Hospitality Group, a San Diego outfit founded by brothers Raymond and Patrick Davoudi, with third partner Joe Santos, who owns San Diego bars such as Havana and Prohibition Lounge. Dallas was the third El Chingon, following San Diego and Fort Worth, where a location opened in 2020 and has not experienced the issues that befell the Dallas outpost.

The company first acquired the Dallas location in 2022, and began what felt like a never-ending period of reconstruction and renovation of the rundown brick structure, first built in 1945, which years ago had been home to a wholesale floral shop.

"We made changes," they said. "We worked with City officials. We worked with the neighborhood. We hired consultants and attorneys. We met with elected officials. We repeatedly tried to find a reasonable path forward while continuing to operate the restaurant we spent millions of dollars building. Instead, the scrutiny intensified."

"Eventually, there comes a point where fighting City Hall becomes a bigger part of running the business than serving the people who came through our doors. So, City Hall wins this round."

They've since put the property up for sale but did hint that they might reopen, stating that "we have not given up on Dallas."

"We still believe in this city. We still believe there is a place here for what El Chingón does. And we hope that in the coming years, we will have the opportunity to invest in Dallas again and once more be part of this community," they said. 'For now, thank you, Dallas. For every taco. Every tequila. Every celebration. Every packed night. Every memory. Stay Chingón. This isn’t goodbye forever."

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