Romeo’s Vegan Burgers is converting carnivores

Why it matters: Charlotte’s vegan scene is still small, but growing. Romeo’s gives those on a plant-based diet a ‘fast-food’ option.

Driving the news: The food truck draws hundreds of customers each time it parks in a new spot.

Co-owners Tigo, a local recording artist, and Lamont Heath stopped posting the truck’s schedule in advance to temper crowds. They’ve already been asked not to return to a few parking lots because of the traffic they attract.

Check Romeo’s Instagram to see where they’ll be next.

The menu includes burgers, shakes, fries, cookies, and a kale salad and wrap for good measure. Popular items include:

• Where art thou Romeo burger: house sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, cheese, pickles. ($9.99/$12.99 combo)
• Romeo Mac burger: onions, mac sauce, cheese, pickles. ($14.99/$16.99 combo)
• Chili cheese fries: cheese, vegan chili, onions. ($6.99)
• Oreo plant-based shake. ($6.99)

Romeo’s target audience doesn’t just include vegans. In fact many of the truck’s customers aren’t vegan.

• “So what we wanted to do was create something that would allow people who are still used to the omnivore diet to cross over and say, ‘Hey this tastes great,’ and have them consider going vegan,” Tigo said.

Background: Tigo and Lamont started the food truck in November after spending months testing plant-based burger recipes. Both are vegan and wanted to show how flavorful and fun vegan food could be.

• “We’re both health-conscious people but we understand that the illusion is vegan food doesn’t taste good. But in reality there are only two types of food: good food and bad food,” Tigo tells me.