Food Review: Slutty Vegan
The Messenger's monthly digest
The combo fries with the Menage a Trois burger.
Photo by Anshi Vajpayee, Opinions Editor
Anshi Vajpayee, Opinions Editor
When the image of an ideal vegan plate comes to mind, most Americans think of protein-deficient green vegetables, along with a stereotypical “healthy” grain like quinoa or millet. However, Slutty Vegan, an Atlanta-based takeout style burger restaurant, seeks to break these barriers and destigmatize vegan food once and for all. When founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole noticed an apparent lack of fast-food vegan options near her, she took matters into her own hands and created Slutty Vegan - a fully plant-based burger stop with strong influences of Creole and Jamaican flavors present in their menu items. Cole didn’t stop there - she went on to create the Pinky Cole foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) aimed to foster Black success for aspiring entrepreneurs of color. Their recent ventures included support for VoteNik, a digital campaign created to promote voter turnout and spur awareness about issues affecting minority communities this election season.
From a young age, Cole witnessed the harsh reality of incarceration when her father served 22 years behind bars. Since then, she’s made efforts to hire ex-juvenile offenders, paid the rent of local businesses amid the pandemic, and ultimately hopes to bridge the generational wealth gap between Black people by providing various opportunities and sources of income to succeed.
In fact, the Slutty Vegan’s larger message about the environmental and health benefits of going vegan has made its way into the Senate race and become synonymous with political activism as prominent Democratic politicians – namely Sen. Jon Ossoff, Sen. Raphael Warnock, and Stacey Abrams - visited their food trucks and became “sluttified”. New customers are referred to as “virgins”, and frequent shoppers are given the title of “loyal slut”. Slutty Vegan has also gained status among celebrities, with their Instagram page featuring short clips of Offset, Maury Povich, and Megan Thee Stallion becoming “sluttified” as well.
Fitting to their name, the Slutty Vegan franchise offers an array of arguably sexual burgers, like Sloppy Toppy, Menage a Trois (literally translates to threesome in French), and Hollywood Hooker – all with a side of their famous Slut Sauce. Their patties are made with Impossible Burgers, a popular and indistinguishable soy-based alternative to lean beef meat with nearly the same grams of protein per serving.
The Menage a Trois.
Photo by Anshi Vajpayee, Opinions Editor
When I first visited the Slutty Vegan at Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, I was taken aback by the 50-75 person line extending outside the restaurant. I can assure you now the wait is worth it. Though I ultimately waited for an hour and a half, the first bite into a Dancehall Queen - a patty filled with sweet jerk plantains, vegan cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes all on a Hawaiian bun - relieved me of my irritation entirely. If anything, their long lines prove their prominence and highly coveted status. Their burgers come with a side of crinkle-cut fries lightly seasoned with their signature “slut dust”, an aromatic mix of Creole spices, which they also sell at the counter for customers to enjoy at home. I also ordered the Menage a Trois, a mega-sized burger topped with heaping amounts of vegan bacon, vegan shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes, and caramelized onions. I was pleasantly surprised to find out their vegan counterparts for shrimp and bacon mimic the original very well. I don’t know how they did it, but it really felt like I was biting into real shrimp, beef, and bacon. It was evident a lot of thought was put into their ingredients and cooking process, and the seasoning itself was enough to leave me in awe.
It’s hard to hate these burgers – they’re delicious, messy, and very slutty. Looking past the long but worthwhile wait times, visiting the Slutty Vegan is a fun way to promote Black businesses, try the unequivocal gold standard of vegan burgers, and encourage an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
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*This article is not sponsored by Slutty Vegan
