'Slutty Vegan' Will Open Much Anticipated Harlem Joint This Week

HARLEM, NY — The plant-based burger joint Slutty Vegan will open its much anticipated Harlem location this week.

Slutty Vegan will open Tuesday at 300 W. 135th St., between St. Nicholas Avenue and Frederick Douglass.

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

“This is a full circle moment for me,” Cole said in a news release about the opening. “I had a restaurant a few blocks away that was destroyed in a grease fire. To come back to the place that helped me get started is such a big deal for the realization of my dream, and this, quite frankly, is my redemption story!”

After opening five popular restaurants in the Atlanta area and a sixth in Alabama, Slutty Vegan opened its first New York City restaurant in September 2022 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn — drawing what Eater described as "hours-long lines"

The Harlem location will open with its full menu that includes burgers named the "One Night Stand," the "Fussy Hussy," and the "Hollywood Hooker."

In 2022, 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 this year.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony outside of the new Harlem location on Tuesday.