Slutty Vegan’s Third Location Opens in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Childhood Neighborhood

This weekend, Slutty Vegan will open its third restaurant location in the Edgewood neighborhood in Atlanta, GA—known as the childhood neighborhood of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Entrepreneur Pinky Cole first launched the business as a food truck in August 2018, selling provocatively named vegan burgers made with an Impossible Burger patty that is stacked with various toppings and slathered with a secret sauce. After the truck drew five-hour lines of more than 500 hungry guests waiting to be “sluttified,” Cole opened her first brick-and-mortar location in Atlanta in January 2018—attracting 1,200 customers on opening day. In July, Cole opened the second Slutty Vegan location in Jonesboro, where 1,000 customers were served on opening day. The Edgewood location will feature a market and expanded menu that includes vegan milkshakes and desserts. 

“We are thrilled to move into the historic Edgewood District of Atlanta,” Cole said. “Edgewood is the exact neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up, and with his birth home being located directly behind Slutty Vegan, I know he has my back. It’s a true blessing to continue opening new locations when there are so many other small businesses whose doors have closed during the global pandemic. I want to empower those business owners to never give up on their dreams and continue to fight for what they love and what I know they too can accomplish.”

In addition to expanding her vegan business—which will soon open another location in Birmingham, AL—Cole gives back to her community through her nonprofit The Pinky Cole Foundation. In recent months, the entrepreneur has helped to feed essential workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; partnered with Clark Atlanta University (her alma mater) to fund college scholarships for the four children left fatherless after the death of Rayshard Brooks—a Black man killed by police in an Atlanta Wendy’s parking lot in June; and helped Americans register to vote through a national campaign backed by music legend Jermaine Dupri.