Hundreds of hungry customers waited in a line wrapped around Whitehall Mill for a chance to taste vegan burgers from the Slutty Vegan food truck.
The Atlanta-based vegan burger joint, founded by Baltimore native Pinky Cole, held a pop-up event at the historic-mill-turned-food-market on Monday from 1-5 p.m.
But within the first hour of the pop-up, organizers had already handed out all of the tickets being used to reserve burgers. Still, more people waited in hopes of getting to sample the mouth-watering menu.
Customers were lured by the Slutty Vegan’s tantalizing menu items and their tongue-in-cheek names, like a vegan cheesesteak with jalapeños, bell peppers and caramelized onions named the “Hollywood Hooker”; and a burger called the “Ménage À Trois,” which included a plant-based patty topped with vegan bacon, vegan shrimp, vegan cheese and more.
Lynnell Williams, who runs a food blog on Instagram called @fridaynightdiningthosewilliams, was able to get in line early around noon with fellow food bloggers.
Williams said she has been “slutmatized” by Slutty Vegan before when she has eaten their food in Atlanta.
“Every time I go to Atlanta, it’s on my must-stop list,” she said. “So when I heard she was having a pop-up, I had to make sure to be here.”
Towards the back of the line, Patrice Lee was without a ticket but still holding out hope.
“We’re just going to rely on the kindness of others,” Lee said, as she banked on someone bailing out of the line and passing their ticket to her. And with a bright yellow fold-out chair, she was ready for the wait.
Mel Jawahir was one of those lucky customers who was gifted a ticket by a woman who had to leave before purchasing a burger in order to attend a work meeting.
Neither Williams, Lee nor Jawahir identify as vegans. Yet all three women were excited about trying Slutty Vegan’s food.
“I’ve attempted to make my own stuff and I know it doesn’t taste like hers, so let me taste the professional,” said Lee, who calls herself “vegan-ish.”
When it comes to vegan food, Jawhir finds herself let down by many restaurants in the area.
“A lot of places in Baltimore don’t have fun vegan food,” Jawahir said. “They have dry patties. It’s not seasoned. They don’t all the time use vegan cheese.”
But she said Slutty Vegan’s food doesn’t sacrifice on look or taste.
“If I’m going to eat it, it has to taste like meat. It has to give me that appearance of it,” said Jawahir, a pescatarian who has not eaten non-fish meat in almost two years.
Williams described herself as “definitely a meat eater,” but said she has been trying more vegan foods lately.
She said “vegan restaurants are really stepping up the flavors and the textures” to encourage people to eat more plant-based meals that still satisfy their cravings for foods like burgers.
The pandemic has made many people more health conscious and prompted some to explore vegan foods, Lee said.
“I think since the pandemic hit, there have been a lot of new vegans – and vegan-ish people like myself – that have emerged,” she said, adding that TikTok creators like Tabitha Brown and others have introduced people to a plant-based lifestyle.
At the beginning of 2021, Lee took on a “vegan challenge” and she hasn’t had pork, beef or lamb since. She still eats chicken and fish, and she isn’t “strict on everything,” but she hasn’t had a beef burger “in a long time.”
Lee said she came out to Slutty Vegan’s pop-up because she wanted to show support for Cole as a fellow Black woman.
“She’s a Black woman-owned business who’s had a lot of success, so I wanted to support her.”
Slutty Vegan plans to open a location in Brooklyn, New York in spring 2022, and Cole said last week that she might consider opening a location in Baltimore if there is a strong demand here.
“I couldn’t be more excited to finally sluttify my hometown of Baltimore,” Cole said in a statement. “Who knows… if we sell out of burgers, we may just have to open a location here!”
Lee is hoping that possibility will come true.
“I think she’d get a lot of support,” she said.
