Angel Everett has graduated from pop-up markets for her vegan food to a brick and mortar restaurant at 1696 Knox Ave. in North Augusta, S.C.
The restaurant is marketed as “a vegan burger joint that will be positioned as a family fun takeout and delivery restaurant, bringing a creative approach to the vegan food community,” on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Everett is an Augusta native who, after completing her service in the military, moved back home with hopes to be closer to family and share vegan cooking with the community.
“I became vegan in 2017, and it’s hard to find choices down here,” she said. “I decided it was time for a bit of change. My parents are vegan, and so is my family. I want to share that with the CSRA and show people you can eat mostly the same food, just with different ingredients.”
Everett started out selling her food at pop-ups in markets around town.
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“We hit all the local events; Saturday markets, the farmers’ market in Augusta. That’s what we have been doing since early this year but the original goal was to open the restaurant,” she said.
Everett said a location in the Augusta Mall was a possibility, but “they weren’t ready for [us] quite yet.”
The veteran-turned-restaurateur said converting people in the area will be a big hurdle.
“Trying to convince people in the CSRA to try it will be the biggest issue,” she said. “We also had to make sure we have the vendors that can supply us with all our vegan products, too. The bread, cheeses and oils that we use. We found some great vendors to help with that, but we had to go through a few hoops to find them.”
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The grand opening will take place at the end of November, but the burger joint is open now in a soft open capacity each Thursday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. They are closed Sunday to Wednesday.
In March of 2022, Everett plans to restart her presence at the local markets in addition to the restaurant.
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She said, “You have a lot of split couples. One person says they are scared to try it, and the other one wants everything vegan. Most of our customers are first-timers, and they’re becoming return customers, and we are happy about that. You just have to step out there.”
In terms of selling meat-eaters on a vegan burger, Everett said the results speak for themselves.
“All of our food is fresh and cooked to order and we want to ensure you enjoy every bite,” she said. “My kids don’t miss meat with the way I cook our food.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com
