How Vegan Mob, San Francisco’s Plant-Based Barbeque, Was Born

Black-owned restaurant Vegan Mob was born after founder Toriano Gordon had the idea to open a barbeque restaurant in 2018. However, there was a catch. Gordon and his wife had just gone vegan. So, the San Francisco native began to experiment with plant-based barbeque and soul food. From this experimentation, Vegan Mob was born. 

Source: hot for food/YouTube

Gordon had traveled a difficult path before founding his plant-based empire. Growing up in San Francisco, he learned to appreciate food from his family. Gordon’s grandfather owned two restaurants and his mother taught him to appreciate food from diverse cultures. Due to this early immersion in culinary culture, Toriano always dreamed of being a chef. However, for many years he pursued his other childhood dream of becoming a rapper. 

After becoming addicted to drugs in the early 2000s, Toriano Gordon suffered multiple adverse health conditions. After going through his recovery process, he spent a decade helping at-risk and formerly incarcerated youth in the Bay Area. Eventually, he and his wife decided to go vegan in 2017 after watching the documentary What the Health. Soon after, Gordon founded Vegan Mob, following his lifelong dream of pursuing cooking professionally. 

Now, the plant-based barbeque and soul food has several locations. These include newly opened locations in San Francisco and Santa Rosa. The menu focuses on vegan soul food and has several fan favorites. These include plant-based spicy fried chicken and brisket. Visitors can also indulge in other soul food favorites including mac and cheese, gumbo, and shrimp po’boys. 

Not only does Gordon have several Vegan Mob locations, but he also has several other ventures. These include a soon-to-be-released cookbook, Vegan Mob: Vegan BBQ & Soul Food. Additionally, packaged foods and drinks from Vegan Mob will be available in select Whole Foods in 2024. 

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