By definition, “slut” is usually an offensive term for a promiscuous woman, often shamed for her “loose” sexual behavior.
Aisha “Pinky” Cole, founder and owner of seven Slutty Vegan locations; five in Georgia, one in Birmingham, and one in Brooklyn sells vegan sandwiches, fries, and desserts with risque names, including sloppy toppy, menage a trois, one-night stand, and Hollywood hooker.
She opened in August 2018 first with a food truck and then expanded to her first brick-and-mortar restaurant. In an interview with NBC News, Cole said 12,000 people supported her grand opening day.
Since opening, Cole’s restaurants have become popular destinations for people to try. The wait time can range from two to eight hours, but that hasn’t stopped customers from coming. Many bring lawn chairs, laptops, and other items to keep them occupied and not fixated too much on waiting.
Cole and her team’s expansion outside of Atlanta, Georgia, and its outskirts and other cities is helping the business grow into a worldwide franchise. One might wonder how Cole determines which cities will have storefronts.
It’s simple. Slutty Vegan’s food truck travels from city to city, parking in parks, in front of Black-owned businesses and more for a day or two. If there’s a successful turnout, which means items sell out both days, then they’ll frequent the city more and more, analyzing if the outcome repeats, and if it does, then that’s usually when they develop a plan for a brick-and-mortar in that city.
Slutty Vegan food truck visited St. Louis on Friday, Sept. 23, in Tower Grove Park for Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck Friday lineup and on Saturday, Sept. 24, in front of Locs of Glory hair salon in the Delmar Loop. On both days, the truck sold out only within an hour of serving.
Vernyll Rue, a north St. Louis county native and Riverview Gardens High School graduate, is working as Slutty Vegan’s prep and catering operations manager and was there both days.
She said she moved to Atlanta seeking change after learning her cousin was relocating to the city.
“I was like ‘Hey, I’m going too,’ so I went and made the change,” Rue said. “I was in retail for the last 15 years. I started working with food and fell in love with it.”
Rue also said she convinced Cole to bring their food truck to her hometown because she finds her boss very inspirational.
“I thought it was important for her to come here so that people could see Blackness thriving; I thought it would be very empowering for our city to see that. We needed some love,” Rue said.
Rue said Cole could not come due to helping with their Brooklyn location’s operations, which opened on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Jasmine Shaw was among hundreds of people who came out to support the Slutty Vegan food truck on Friday, Sept. 23.
“I don’t eat meat, period,” Shaw said. “The fact this is circling our city is exciting. I’m getting the menage a trois and the Hollywood hooker. I’m coming back tomorrow for seconds.”
It remains unknown if or when a Slutty Vegan location will debut in St. Louis. But there have been rumors about the company returning for another visit in October.
Learn more about Slutty Vegan here: https://sluttyveganatl.com/.Â
