The cult-like following behind Plant Power Fast Food will have to show even more patience: following an announcement last year that the company would open a location at Clark Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway by September of 2018 and a second announcement that the opening would be pushed to early 2019, officials with the San Diego-based eatery announced the opening of Long Beach’s first vegan fast food joint has been pushed to this summer.
“July or August is what we’re hoping for,” said co-founder and co-CEO Zach Vouga. “We’ve had some major setbacks with the city as the building was very old and the previous owners were nowhere near being up-to-code.”
After opening its flagship location in San Diego two years ago, the operation has quickly expanded—Redlands will have its first location in the coming weeks—and the company figures to fit comfortably into a Long Beach vegan scene unparalleled anywhere else in the Los Angeles region.
We have long-time vegan joints Ahimsa and Steamed in DTLB joining a plethora of newer options that have opened up over the past year or so, including Seabirds, Under the Sun, The Grain Cafe, the expansion of both Caffeinated Kitchen and Wild Chive, along with restaurants offering vegan options that go beyond a veggie-patty, pseudo-sammie. (There’s a vegan poutine at Lacquered that is pretty spectacular and The HipPea’s falafel is one of our essential Long Beach dishes.)
And when it comes to food, Plant Power aims for a purely Californian palate. Vegan milkshakes. Chili cheese fries. Buffalo chicken. Burgers. All plant-based, no animal products included.
“Our secret mission has always been to turn more people on to a vegan diet,” Vouga said. “It’s obviously the wave of the future. But we totally understand that diet is such a personal issue and that each person goes at his or her own pace. So the Plant Power Fast Food brand is really all about turning people on to how delicious plant-based food can be. And we’re doing it in a way that’s welcoming and fun. Our brand isn’t preachy; the food itself is the message.”
Fellow co-founder and co-CEO Mitch Wallis is no stranger to the concept, having opened Evolution Fast Food, SoCal’s first vegan fast-food restaurant, in 2009.
Plant Power Fast Food will be at 5095 E Pacific Coast Highway.
Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.