By Nate Abraham Jr.
BUSINESS OF THE WEEK South Carolina has a new spot for people to enjoy healthy, vegan meals. The new restaurant is called More Vegan Café. It was founded by Robert Green.
Green, a New York native, has over 10 years in the restaurant business. He says he wanted to provide diverse plant-based options to Columbia residents. More Vegan Cafes menu includes plantbased dishes infused with Italian, Caribbean, American, and Asian influences that cater to a wide range of tastes, ensuring there’s something for everyone.
In addition to plant-based options, the menu also consists of raw dishes that are uncooked or heated to preserve enzymes and nutrients. The food is prepared through blending, juicing, dehydrating, and marinating and these foods consist of salads, raw pizza, and wraps.
Ironically, Green says that his dog is responsible for his adoption of a vegan lifestyle. The dog caught a squirrel and ate it in front of him. Watching the dog consume it turned him against eating meat.
Robert soon discovered the health benefits of the vegan lifestyle and wanted to share it with others. With the launch of the More Vegan Café, it is his mission to provide tasty, healthy meals to the community – meals that even people who are not vegans will love
and enjoy. The cafe aims to bring health and wellness to the community through education and awareness, providing a space for people to learn about and enjoy healthy food.
“Here at More Vegan Café, we specialize in bringing health and wellness to the community,” said Robert. “The name of the restaurant is called More Vegan Cafe because we want to give them more options to eat more healthy. We’re real big on health, healing, longevity and preserving our lifespan. That’s our mission — to teach and educate the importance of eating healthy. Eating healthy saves you from having to go to the doctor and having to be on all these pills.”
Robert said that the staff at the More Vegan Café is so committed to its mission that it plans to grow their own food.
“We started our own garden,” he said. “We’re growing food in the back, and next year we’ll have ‘farm-toeat’. We will grow the food ourselves and then actually serve it.”
More Vegan Café also offers catering services anywhere in the state of South Carolina.
“We do catering,” Robert said. “We do birthdays, events and pop-ups. We cater within the state of South Carolina. So as long as you are within the state of South Carolina, we
can get you. So if you are in Charleston, Sumter or even as far away as Beaufort, we can come to you.”
Although More Vegan Café does not currently operate a food truck, Robert says that it is something they are considering for the future. “We don’t have a food truck,” he said. “We are working on it and hopefully by next summer we will have a food truck.”
Carshawn Holliday is a co-owner and serves as More Vegan Café’s master chef. He is the person behind the wide variety of dishes featured in
the restaurant. He is particularly proud of the sushi, which is entirely plant-based.
“I feel like the sushi is the best that everyone loves when they want to eat something light,” Carshawn said. “They also like dishes like kale, kale salad and tuna salad — stuff that’s just raw that you don’t have to cook.”
Christian Arto is also a partner in the restaurant.
“I’m also a co-owner of More Vegan Café,” said Christian Arto. “My priority role is manager. I make sure everything is in order. I make
sure that the events are running properly and the food is restocked properly. I take care of everything on the back end.”
More Vegan Café is located at 4622 North Main Street, across the street from Columbia College.
“Our hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 12 pm to 8 pm,” Robert said. “Our website is MoreVegan-Cafe.com. You can find us on social media at More Vegan Cafe. We can be reached by phone (803) 995 5046.”
