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Sandra Cason inside WeVegan Cafe in Tampa, Florida on June 25, 2026. Credit: Ray Roa \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\nSandra Cason inside WeVegan Cafe in Tampa, Florida on June 25, 2026. Credit: Ray Roa \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
WeVegan<\/a> Eats owner Sandra Carson is proud to have celebrated the cafe\u2019s fifth anniversary this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still here right now,\u201d Carson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. \u201cAnd I\u2019m just continuing to keep my blinders on and keep going and keep pushing\u2026 making sure I\u2019m providing something to our customers that I know that they want to have.\u201d<\/p>\n To Carson, the cafe\u2019s niche is maintaining affordable prices while replicating classic flavors in a wide variety of specialty baked goods and savory breakfast and lunch items.<\/p>\n At its cafe in South Tampa (South of Gandy, for the real ones), WeVegan Eats most popular items are the Big Mac crunchwrap, Tampa Cuban, banana nut bread and ube, chocolate chunk, and red velvet flavored specialty cookies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as you come in and you want to enjoy a good cup of coffee, a good sandwich,\u00a0 a good environment, a good conversation, this is your place. I\u2019m not trying to change the world,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Carson, a majority of WeVegan Eats\u2019 clientele do not follow a plant-based lifestyle, an element that Carson says has made the cafe\u2019s surrounding community more receptive to plant-based foods. And since she started selling plant-based cookies at markets five years ago, the cafe has only experienced growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Part of the cafe\u2019s traffic can be attributed to the matcha craze the food industry has seen in the past few years, which she thinks could also be an indicator that the pendulum is swinging back.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMatcha is one of our best sellers,\u201d Carson said. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely one of the trends, I think, recently that has really affected us in a good way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For Carson, it\u2019s important to emphasize that WeVegan Eats can make plant-based alternatives that taste identical to the real thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our thing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just making salads.\u201d<\/p>\n This blog is part of a story highlighting three Tampa Bay vegan concepts staying alive in tricky times.<\/a><\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in July 23 \u2013 29, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t\t\t