Soul Burger opens new Glebe venue
When Amit Tewari transformed Soul Burger into an entirely vegan eatery last year, he wondered if business would severely drop and he'd end up closing his Randwick venue.
Instead, revved-up demand for his sweet potato fries, meat-free burgers and coconut shakes means he's now launching a second store on Glebe's main strip.
"Our buddies at the Cruelty Free Shop are up the road as well, so we're stoked to turn that section of Glebe Point Road into a little plant-based hub," says Tewari.
It's no surprise that Soul Burger has a cult following - people were willing to jump on planes and cross state lines just to try its monster-sized Plant-Based Disgrace burger (which began as an April Fool's joke, but Tewari was compelled to put it on the menu, when hordes of people started requesting it).
And despite its obvious appeal to vegetarians and vegans, Soul Burger's fanbase extends far beyond diners on meat-free diets.
On Friday, he polled diners in the original Randwick store and "88 per cent of our customers were omnivores," says Tewari. "Every time a person chooses a plant-based menu on any particular day, that's a huge thing for animals everywhere."
He hopes that his burgers (with their convincing versions of battered fish, spicy sausages and beef patties) will spark interest across the population. "We're hoping to pop up all over Australia and convince omnivores and vegans alike that plant-based foods can be just as sexy as [their] counterpart."
In the meantime, the Glebe store will open on Wednesday September 28 with the carrot-stick of 50 free burgers to the first customers through the door.
And Soul Burger will continue its trend of attention-seeking specials, which previously included the milkshake-propped Plant-Based Disgrace and the vegan halal snack pack, which they invited HSP enthusiast Sam Dastyari to try.
Did he end up coming in to give his verdict?
"Sadly, he didn't. But in an alternative universe somewhere, I'm sure he loved it!"Open Tues-Sat midday-3:30pm and 5pm-10pm; Sun-Mon midday-3:30pm and 5pm-9pm
111 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, soulburger.com.au
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