An internet-buzzy vegan restaurant with a saucy name is coming to Dallas: Called Slutty Vegan, it's an Atlanta concept and it's opening a location in Deep Ellum, in a cute brick storefront at 2707 Main St. #A. Which is coincidentally right across the street from famed BBQ place Pecan Lodge.
Slutty Vegan president Jason Crain confirmed that the restaurant was indeed coming, with an opening set for late spring.
Slutty Vegan was founded by Pinky Cole, a colorful and outspoken champion of the vegan lifestyle, who started it as an Instagram business, before opening her first restaurant in Atlanta in 2018.
The concept now has 10 locations including seven in Georgia, two in New York, and one in Birmingham, Alabama, with another opening in Louisville. There's a big expansion underway, via funding from Enlightened Hospitality Investments, co-founded by Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer.
The menu includes plant-based burgers, chicken, bratwurst, vegan chili, and crispy vegan shrimp with buffalo sauce.
Their signature is the "Ménage à Trois" featuring a plant-based patty, vegan bacon, vegan shrimp, vegan cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and "Slut Sauce."
Other options include a chicken sandwich called the Chick’N Head, a plant-based bratwurse called the Big Dawg, and the "PLT" featuring plantains in a sweet jerk sauce.
Cole has also written an all-vegan recipe book called Eat Plants, B*tch, and has written essays for the likes of Bloomberg about why she stopped eating meat altogether in 2007.
Pinky Cole, founder of Slutty Vegan.
Photo by Drea Nicole Photography
"I created Slutty Vegan because I was solving a personal problem: I really wanted some vegan comfort food on the late night. Then I realized that not only am I solving a problem for myself, I’m solving a universal problem. I’m helping people to reimagine food in a way that they’ve never seen it before," she said.
Their emphasis has been to show that vegan can taste good. They've also switched away from plastic, and are doing a partnership with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) where they advocate for the prison system to offer vegan options.
"I have an in-your-face approach when it comes to veganism. No means am I saying that I’m perfect. My approach is different. But people pay attention," she says.
