After more than a year in the making, an innovative new vegan restaurant has opened on Greenville Avenue in Dallas: Project Polloa young, growing chain from San Antonio, celebrated a soft opening Feb. 26-27 at its first Dallas location at 4814 Greenville Ave., aka the former Start.
Long under construction, the restaurant has been so overwhelmed by enthusiastic diners that it will close its doors on Monday February 28 and Tuesday March 1 in order to catch its breath.
And on Sunday, the second day of opening, they temporarily reduced the menu to make things more manageable.
Staff were quick to accommodate demand, but the sheer volume resulted in waits of over 30 minutes, with cars envelope around the drive-thru lane.
“A huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our very first day in Dallas yesterday,” the restaurant said in a statement. “Our team worked hard to serve you all and the crowd definitely showed up!”
Project Pollo was founded in San Antonio in 2020 and is growing rapidly, with locations in Austin and Houston as well. Founder Lucas Bradbury was inspired to create the concept after encouraging his parents to adopt a plant-based diet for health reasons.
It’s on a mission to make plant-based foods more accessible to everyone, regardless of income bracket, and plans to open many more locations across Texas in 2022, including Corpus Christi, which is slated to open in April.
It also prioritizes fair wages – employees receive double the minimum wage plus benefits – and sustainability; all packaging used is compostable, story Fast casual magazine that, “At the end of the day, we’re 100% in saving the planet. Saving animals is a happy by-product of that.”
The company takes a flexible approach to locations, often reallocating buildings that other operators overlook. That was the case in Dallas: They originally planned to open in a weird little building at 6857 Greenville Ave. But their progress on that space has been hampered by delays, due to Dallas’ delayed clearance process.
The location at 4814 Greenville Ave., now decked out in their red and white color scheme, is a much larger space and has ample parking and drive-thru.
The Pollo project inspires passion because it’s food is a compelling and affordable counterfeit of regular fast food, with lush bold flavors you’d expect from a regular fried chicken sandwich or burger.
“No-chicken” fried sandwiches are their trademark, such as the Spicy Project, with breaded fried chicken with spicy garlic buffalo sauce and ranch, served with a pickled jalapeño. They make their own vegan chicken using a proprietary blend of textured soy and plant protein.
Chicken is also a star in a Caesar wrap and in nachos, with house-made tortilla chips topped with crispy chicken, red onion, jalapeños, Credo Foods queso and a cilantro and cream sauce. lime.
In the summer of 2021, they added a trio of burgers, using Impossible patties, including the Backyard Burger, with bacon and cheddar cheese; a tender pâté on toasted sourdough bread; and the “Mushroom Impossible”, a decadent burger with caramelized onions, beer-marinated mushrooms, smoked Provolone cheese.
Everything, even their macaroni and cheese, made with vegan cashew cheese, is plant-based, although a significant percentage of their customers also eat meat.
People are raving about their shakes, made with creamy Oatly soft serve cream and topped with Reddi-Wip Almond Milk Whipped Cream, in the following flavors:
- strawberry shortcake
- mint chocolate
- Double Chocolate
- red velvet
And on March 7, they’ll introduce a limited-edition Shamrock Shake, a Double Chocolate Mint shake with Oatly soft-serve, double chocolate chip cookies from San Antonio-based Southern Roots Vegan Bakery, mint and whipped topping.
An article from the Dallas Vegan Roundup sum it’s rising:
“Y’all. Thanks to Project Pollo, there’s an all-vegan drive-thru in Dallas! I mean, a vegan burger, toddlers, and a drive-thru milkshake, they?! Not only is their food delicious , but they are a great friend to the surrounding communities they serve. We already have an amazing range of vegetarian and vegan restaurants here, but this is definitely a great addition to the area! Soft opening this weekend, with a grand opening shortly after. Welcome to Dallas!”
On Thursday, March 3, they will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Dallas Chamber and the weekend will include opening events. Hours from Thursday to Sunday will be from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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