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Vegan International Co. in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\nVegan International Co. in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
Vegan restaurants face an uphill battle, but the challenges aren\u2019t exclusive to the meatless crowd.<\/p>\n
Nick Alami, owner of Vegan International Co. in Tampa<\/a>, also sees plant-based restaurant closures as an indicator of a broader issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople forget that this is not a vegan problem; this is a restaurant problem in general,\u201d Alami told CL. \u201cThe vegan industry just happens to be highlighted because everyone just wants to poke fun and people are just waiting for another vegan restaurant to close.\u201d<\/p>\n When Alami opened Vegan International Co. in 2018, he realized that he had to think outside the box and break some conventional rules of restauranteering to stay open.\u00a0<\/p>\n Starting with the menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n As its name implies, Vegan International Co. offers Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, Trans-Asian and American classics with a vegan spin, pushing back against the trope that long menus equal bad food.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Alami, most of Vegan International\u2019s customer base is not vegan or vegetarian, which is a market he loves to serve and where he sees some meatless restaurants go wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to create food that everyone can enjoy,\u201d Alami said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a science experiment. This is food\u2026. You have the opportunity to really showcase it\u2019s not that complicated, it\u2019s not that crazy, it is delicious, it is affordable, it\u2019s convenient and we\u2019re here for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the cracks that Alami sees in the meatless restaurant industry\u2014the options, the affordability\u2014he tries to remedy in his business approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cVegan franchises don\u2019t work,\u201d Alami said. \u201cStreamlined concepts don\u2019t work for veganism. Options do, big menus do\u2026 unique concepts do.\u201d<\/p>\n Alami notes that politics will always impact the meatless food industry, but says trends like MAHA shouldn\u2019t stop a successful vegan business.<\/p>\n He ultimately wants his food to speak for itself.<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer to use food as my preferred form of activism,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can preach no meat, no dairy till the end of days. Without providing the alternative, it\u2019s moot.\u201d\u00a0<\/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