'Slutty Vegan' Plans Harlem Restaurant Amid Surging Popularity

HARLEM, NY — Fresh off its wildly successful opening in Brooklyn, the vegan burger joint Slutty Vegan is planning a Harlem homecoming.

Slutty Vegan will open its next location at 300 West 135th St., between St. Nicholas Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, a company spokesperson told Patch. An opening date has not been announced.

The company hinted at the Harlem opening in an Instagram video on Wednesday, featuring the Harlem-raised rapper Cam'ron trying to open the doors to the future location.

Pinky Cole founded the Atlanta-based chain in 2018, two years after a fire destroyed the Jamaican restaurant that she ran on 145th Street in Harlem.

After opening five popular restaurants in the Atlanta area and a sixth in Alabama, Slutty Vegan opened its first New York City restaurant last month in Fort Greene, Brooklyn — drawing what Eater described as "hours-long lines" and an overwhelmingly Black crowd. (Cole, too, is Black, and has spoken of wanting customers to "feel like they can see themselves in me.")

Menu items across the Slutty Vegan empire include towering plant-based burgers and sandwiches with names like "One Night Stand," "Ménage à Trois," and "Hollywood Hooker," plus rotating daily specials.

"We’re doing the vegan lifestyle in a different way," Cole told Eater last month. "I’m not telling you that if you eat meat, you’re a bad person. There are no rules to this. We just want you to have a good time."

Many more locations may soon follow: earlier this year, Cole received $25 million in funding from an investment group that includes Shake Shack's Danny Meyer, fueling a nationwide expansion that aims for 20 new locations by the end of 2023.

Noted for celebrity followers including Shaquille O'Neal and Tyler Perry, Slutty Vegan also has another fan at the local level: Mayor Eric Adams, a vocal vegan, welcomed the restaurant with a video message ahead of its Brooklyn opening.

Have a Harlem news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at [email protected].