Peace, love and salads? Nope, this new vegan restaurant in Fresno has a heavy metal vibe
A big ol’ juicy burger is on the menu at this new downtown restaurant – complete with melty American cheese, crispy bacon, onion rings, mayo and a creamy barbecue sauce.
All of it is vegan.
Plant Slayer, a vegan comfort food restaurant, opened late last month in The Galleria, part of Civic Center Square, the downtown building home to several restaurants at Kern and N streets. The restaurant took over the space once occupied by Oriental Express, whose owners retired.
Plant Slayer started in 2020 as a mobile food pop-up with a tent and then graduated to a food trailer. (The owners funded it in part by hosting 90s and “Y2K dance nights” at Strummer’s.)
The food truck got its start parking outside a Tower District record shop and a downtown coffee shop. The lines were long enough some people would see them and walk away. So owners Gina Perez and Jeremy Brownstein decided to try opening a restaurant.
It’s been busy ever since.
“Typically, when people think of vegan food or restaurants, they think of peace, love and rainbows and such – and salads,” Brownstein said.
That’s not Plant Slayer.
“We actually tried to sell salads once. They were not popular,” he said.
If you want really healthy vegan food, go next door to Raw Fresno and order a wrap that has a collard green instead of a tortilla and comes with house-made sauerkraut.
Plant Slayer is more about the comfort food: cheeseburgers, bacon-ranch chicken sandwiches, milkshakes, and animal fries smothered in a sauce made with Thousand Island dressing, American cheese and and grilled onions.
“It’s kinda like unhealthy healthy food,” Brownstein said.
The eight burgers on the menu can be made with either a Beyond Burger or an Impossible patty. The campfire burger (which is their take on Red Robin’s campfire sauce) mentioned above is one of the most popular.
The milkshakes are made with ice cream made from cassava flour.
Most entrees range from $10 for a breakfast sandwich to $16.50 for a loaded burger with fries.
Not just vegans/vegetarians
Although they’re tapping into the vegan part of the downtown office worker and residents crowd, not all their customers are vegan or even meatless.
Co-workers and family members of vegans are coming to the restaurant with them. Also, they get customers looking to eat less meat, who are avoiding dairy, looking for more compassionate or sustainable options.
Plant Slayer is open for lunch and dinner, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
On Saturdays, it’s open for brunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Brunch offerings include breakfast sandwiches, chicken and waffles. Plant Slayer also carries bagels from local Clovis baker Blue Seal Bagels.
The switch from food truck to restaurant has allowed them to hire an additional eight positions. Perez recently left her full-time job as a hospital unit secretary, though Brownstein still works as a psychotherapist and community college instructor.
Why Plant Slayer?
The name Plant Slayer is a nod to the heavy metal band Slayer. Both owners are fans.
Their logo is a parody of the band’s logo. They are slaying vegetables and deep frying them, for example.
And it’s why you’ll hear heavy metal music at the restaurant. They keep going with the heavy metal vibe, offering cans of Liquid Death with skulls on the label. (It’s actually just water.)
A few other things to know about Plant Slayer? It doesn’t take cash, though it does take cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Cash App.
All its utensils and food wrappers are compostable. Food waste can also be thrown in a bin to be composted by a local community garden.
Details: Plant Slayer is at 2405 Capitol St. #101. 559-262-7752.
