Viral plant-based restaurant opens Brandon location

Slutty Vegan’s ‘One Night Stand’ burger with a plant-based patty, Slutty Strips vegan bacon, vegan cheese, LTO, and Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun. Credit: Photo by Madelynne Boykin

We’ve all heard “Welcome to Moe’s,” but at Slutty Vegan employees greet you in the only way they know how: “Hey slut.”

After some ownership struggles earlier this year, the Atlanta-born, plant-based burger restaurant opened its ninth brick-and-mortar on July 5 at 2080 Badlands Dr. in the Tampa exurb of Brandon.

Tampa’s no stranger to Slutty Vegan either, with the concept hosting 2024 pop-ups in Ybor City and Brandon.

CEO of The Slutty Vegan, Pinky Cole, started the business in 2018 by taking orders through Instagram and delivering them from her mobile food truck. The 37-year-old opened her first brick and mortar location in Atlanta in 2019. It now has several locations in Georgia, plus others in Birmingham, Brooklyn, and Baltimore.

Cole told People Magazine that the business had become too large and she began delegating leadership to others for more support, however, things didn’t exactly go the way she planned. She was in a freak accident on one of Atlanta’s busy highways when a mattress hit her windshield while she was going 70 mph. She told People that this “final destination” incident forced her to take a break from business and reflect. On March 28, she bought back the business and learned a valuable lesson. “You can never take your hands off the wheel,” she said.

From A-town to Tampa Bay, the viral restaurant offers burgers loaded with toppings, slutty fries loaded with their famous slut dust seasoning and even have a vegan pulled brisket sandwich. The “One Night Stand” includes Slutty Strips vegan bacon, vegan cheese, LTO, and Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun.

In addition to its physical locations, Slutty Vegan stuck with its roots and has a food truck that attends pop-up events around the U.S.

On top of its brick and mortar locations, the restaurant sells its “slutty strips” (otherwise known as bacon), slut dust seasoning, and spinach and artichoke and hot-lanta buffalo cheese dips at Target.

Hours at Tampa’s Slutty Vegan location are to be determined.

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