4 of the best-rated all-vegan eateries near SDSU

By Haylie Logan

Published May 2, 2019

Story Highlights:

• One in four college students want a plant-based eatery on their campus, according to a food industry survey.
• Donna Jean was awarded Best All-Vegan Restaurant of 2018 in San Diego, according to Vegan in San Diego.
• Veg’n Out was rated number 2 on the Best Vegan Burger of 2018 according to a poll conducted by Vegan in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO ­­— Many vegan restaurants are appearing all around San Diego County.

San Diego has roughly 52 all-vegan restaurants and pop-ups, and more then 174 vegan-friendly restaurants, according to the Vegan in San Diego organization.

The demand for meatless, animal-free foods continues to increase. More consumers are choosing plant-based protein diets than ever before.

According to Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, plant-based food options are showing double-digit growth, such as meat alternatives selling 30% more in 2018 compared to the year before.

Fast food chains in the U.S. such as Carl’s. Jr and Del Taco revised their menus to include plant-based options like Beyond Meat.

Beyond Meat is made from plant-based ingredients only. It contains pea protein isolates, fats, trace minerals, and water; it takes less resources to create compared to animal-based meats, according to Beyond Meat’s company website.

Plant-Based Diet for College Students

According to a food industry survey, one in four college students want a plant-based eatery on their college campus.

The University of California, San Diego, ranks number four on the top 10 most vegan-friendly colleges, according to VegNews.

There are 29 different vegan-friendly options available on the UCSD campus. They have one all-vegan cuisine restaurant called Roots.

A recent poll ranked San Diego’s vegan restaurants, pop-ups, manufacturers and specific menu items.

A poll by the Vegan in San Diego organization from Dec. 11, 2018 to Jan. 7, 2019, rated vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in the San Diego region. For overall best vegan restaurant, Donna Jean came in first with 332 votes.  For the best vegan pizza, Donna Jean also ranked first with 376 votes.

Pop-up eateries such as By Rosaline, El Veganito, and Veg’n Out all ranked in the top six best vegan pop-ups in the poll. These eateries can be found at local farmer’s markets, breweries, and other local restaurants who partner up with them.

Not every restaurant rated on the poll is strictly vegan. Red House, ranked second Best Vegan Pizza, created a plant-based alternative for their customers.

If you are looking for all-vegan restaurants and pop-ups that strictly offer plant-based items, these four businesses located within 10 miles of San Diego State University are worth a visit: Anthem on 30th, Evolution Fast Food, Donna Jean, and Veg’n Out.

View this virtual map to locate the vegan companies discussed below. 

After a year of business in their North Park location, Anthem Vegan recently closed their storefront and partnered up with a local beer bar called Toronado San Diego. The location is now called Anthem on 30th, and they serve the community daily at their 4026 30th St.location.

Anthem Vegan founded in 2013, serves a variety of mock chicken and steak sandwiches, wraps, tacos, and other sides. At their new location, they condensed their menu to about 15-16 items so that it would run smoother than ever before, according to owner Patrick Murray.

“Here at the Toronado location, we are going to focus on specials,” Murray said. “All of the items from the North Park location will come back at some point in the form of a special, but our base menu will be smaller.”

The food with the highest amount of protein on their menu is the Avocado Chik’n Wrap. It contains mock chicken, avocado ranch, baby spinach, fried onion, pico de gallo, and guacamole.

The menu was developed by Murray, and the entire kitchen staff remains the same as the North Park location.

Murray grew up in a musical family. He created the name of the business based on his family background.

“Anthem made sense musically,” Murray said. “It is described as a song that is sung with two different melodies over each other. I toured in a band for many years and this was the focus of our music.”

Murray began his culinary journey by hosting an event out of his home once a month that served 30 plates called Vegan Speakeasy Brunch.  There was such a high demand to attend that he selected people based on a lottery system.

“This event fueled my fire to create a restaurant that could feed everyone who wanted to attend, not just the few selected,” Murray said. “That’s when I realized people will eat what I’m cooking, and they will pay for it. All these ideas together, led me to create Anthem and work full-time.”

Anthem orders their products from many different distributors. Their impossible burgers, beyond burgers, onion rings, and dry goods come from a distributor in San Diego called All Fresh. The company’s produce comes from other distributors such as Moceri, Restaurant Depot, Veggie USA and local Mexican markets.

“Our breakfast sausage and soyrizo comes from a Los Angeles distributor who is a family-owned company, El Burrito,” Murray said. “They only sell plant-based foods there, and it is the best breakfast sausage you will ever taste.”

When it comes to Anthem’s original products, they create in-house aioli’s and bacon. The aioli’s have gone through a variety of different processes. It began with a soy milk and vinegar base, then moved to a pea-protein base, and now the recipe is top-secret. Anthem’s bacon, however, is made fresh in-house from eggplant.

Anthem used to host a popular community monthly event called First Friday Night Market. They would invite at least 10 vendors and two beer or kombucha vendors to set up in the parking lot with a live band or DJ. This mini vegan farmer’s market drew about 1,000 people each time, according to Murray.

Krystal Sommer Reynoso, a regular customer of Anthem, said that she recommends that other people try this restaurant because of her positive experience.

“I enjoyed the food, but I think some of the items can be a bit pricey,” Reynoso said. “I also enjoyed the First Friday Night Market that they hosted. I’ll truly miss it being so close to my house.”

Evolution Fast Food

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Evolution Fast Food is the first vegan drive-thru in the entire world according to the owner, Jon Branch. Located in Banker’s Hill, the venue has outdoor patio seating, a Grab ‘N Go section, and parking for local customers.  

Branch, decade-long general manager, said their restaurant location has a long history of being vegan and vegetarian.

“Evolution Fast Food has been around for about eight or nine years,” Branch said. “Before it was Evolution, it was called Kung Food, and then Natures Express, both buffet-styled vegan eateries serving the community for nearly 15 years.”  

It is also the same location where San Diego Soy Dairy was founded, one of Southern California’s plant-based organic food makers. This company distributes tofu and tempeh to Evolution, according to Branch.

“All of our house-made items are unique to Evolution,” Branch said. “Our ketchup and ranch are house-made every morning, as well as our burgers, black bean patties, and tempeh patties.”

Evolution also cuts fresh potatoes every morning for their French fries.

Evolution’s model is to charge as minimal as possible, and they do not raise their prices to maximize profits, according to Branch. However, he said that they use the highest quality ingredients and do not compromise for price savings.

“Our food is pretty unique,” Branch said. “There is extra care and extra love put into each item.

Some of the distributors that Evolution orders from are Specialty Produce in San Diego, Moceri in Miramar, and a Los Angeles Distributor, Kernel of Truth. They also order custom vegan focaccia buns from Sadie Rose Baking Co.

Evolution is known for their mock meats, specifically the meat in their California burritos. They marinate their carne asada overnight in a custom marinade, and hand-bread their fried ‘chik’n’ with a proprietary blend of spices and ingredients.

“We want to evolve people’s eating habits, and be the next generation of fast food,” Branch said.

Michael Scur, a data manager for a local pharmaceutical company, eats at Evolution Fast Food more times than he can count. 

One of his favorite meals is the Thanksgiving meal the restaurant does each year. Evolution offers a meatless turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing for any customer who comes into their restaurant for the holiday, according to Scur.

“I run into plenty of people who do not have the ability to make a Thanksgiving dinner. Evolution has plenty of space that tends to the needs of the community,” Scur said.

Scur is one of many customers who have food allergies. He has a fatal peanut allergy, and said that Evolution Fast Food always takes care of him.

Research shows that the vegan diet overall can help people around the world with a variety of allergies, including seasonal allergies.

A study conducted by researchers I. Bakolis, R. Hooper, R. L. Thompson  and S. O. Shaheen, showed that allergies improved more with starches, grains and vegetables introduced into the diet.

Donna Jean

Donna Jean is a homestyle restaurant located in the same parking lot as Evolution Fast Food. The restaurant was awarded ‘Best All-Vegan Restaurant of 2018’ and ‘Best Vegan Pizza of 2018’ by the Vegan in San Diego organization.

Roy Elam, owner and head chef, used to work in the kitchens for Natures Express and Kung Food before Evolution and Donna Jean were founded. These two restaurants share a mutual founding partner, Mitch Wallis.

The space opened after the closing of Natures Express, and Elam started this restaurant project.

“I opened Donna Jean and named it after my mom who passed away from breast cancer at 55 years old,” Elam said. “The second time she was diagnosed with cancer, she wanted to correct things through her diet. So, I helped her make food. I want people to make this change earlier in their lives.”

Donna Jean’s menu changes seasonally, and is “ethically-driven,” according to Elam.

Their two hottest sellers are their Mac ‘N Cheese and Hot Shrooms, both comfort-styled items. Their Hot Shrooms are a take on fried chicken wings, made from oyster mushrooms.

Albert Galura, a regular customer who eats their monthly, loves their Hot Shrooms because of their southern spin and flavor.

“Their fried ‘shrooms are brilliant,” Galura said. “The stem has such a different texture than the hood of the mushroom. When they are fried, oyster mushrooms have fleshy parts, which makes it taste and feel very similar to chicken for those meat lovers out there.”

Donna Jean gets most of their produce from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, Hillcrest Farmer’s Market, and other local sprout growers. Some ingredients come directly from a garden located on their outdoor patio tended by Jaana Reising.

“I want people to see that food is actually a thing that comes out of the ground, it isn’t the prepackaged thing you get at the store,” Elam said. “We make our own hot sauce, bread, pizza dough, brown sugar, and soon we will make our own vinegars. I want to be our own food sustaining company.”

Veg’n Out

Veg’n Out was rated number 2 on the Best Vegan Burger of 2018 according to a poll conducted by Vegan in San Diego.

Veg’n Out is a pop-up burger joint that serves at local farmer’s markets and breweries around the San Diego County. Currently, the eatery serves at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market, North Park Farmer’s Market, and Modern Times Beer in Point Loma.

What separates Veg’n Out’s burgers from other local places is that their products are created without harming animals or the environment, according to their website.

Grant Plummer, founder and owner of Veg’n Out, believes a plant-based diet is better for one’s health.

“Our motto is changing the plant-based experience, one burger at a time,” Grant said. “If I can get one person that is not vegan at every event that I do to try a burger, that’s one less cow that is suffering, and it is exponential what one burger can do.”

Veg’n Out serves the Beyond Meat burger and hot dog with In-N-Out styled toppings such as grilled onions, cheddar cheese, and a take on thousand island spread.

“Beyond Meat is very ethical, they never test their products on animals, and they are a 100% vegan company like me,” Grant said. “It’s super important to have my values align with the products I use. I believe a lot in what they are doing over at their company.”

Veg’n Out orders its produce from a San Diego distributor, Specialty Produce. This company goes to numerous farms in California, and majority of the produce comes from San Diego County, according to Plummer.

He created the menu himself, and features a Burger of the Week where he takes customers ideas and makes them a reality.

“I had a customer who said she had a dream to eat a pineapple teriyaki, Hawaiian-styled beyond burger, so I made it the Burger of the Week,” Grant said. “I get requests and try to fulfill them as much as possible. I love involving the community, I do this for everybody else.”

Vegan eateries continue to evolve in a variety of locations around San Diego County such as farmer’s markets, festivals, and college campuses. Whether one is considered a vegan or not, these eateries are not limited to serving only plant-based eaters.

“I believe vegan eateries will experience exponential growth in the near future; it’s already happening,” said Branch. “Even themes like meatless Mondays are popular among meat eaters. I think most people can see the world changing for the worst and want to do something about it. Vegan food has just become another categorical option, like Thai or Mediterranean.”

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