Vegans Can Have Wings, Too at Sunshine Vegan Eats

“It’s an amazing day at Sunshine Vegan Eats!” This is how Chef Nikki, a firm believer in spreading kindness and positivity, always greets her customers at her restaurant Sunshine Vegan Eats, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in early March of 2022.

It all began with a car accident that prompted Nikki, born and raised in Buffalo, to try a new diet and lifestyle for 21 days to support her health and healing. When she realized that the 21 days were easier than anticipated, she decided to just keep going. That was five years ago.

Photo courtesy of Sunshine Vegan Eats

Veganism has been on the rise for years, with a variety of vegan restaurants opening all over the country. For vegans, it’s no surprise when they travel to our country’s largest metropolitan areas and find an abundance of vegan restaurants. Chef Nikki noticed this when traveling and realized just how few vegan restaurants we had in Buffalo. Thus, Sunshine Vegan Eats was born.

Her experience with meal prepping for others and juicing made creating a restaurant a natural evolution for Nikki. When she stumbled upon the open space on Jefferson Ave at just the right time, it all came together like it was meant to be.

“I wanted to bring something different to the neighborhood. My goal was to bring something healthy into the neighborhood,” Nikki explained when talking about how Sunshine Vegan Eats came to be.

With fresh juices, smoothies and vegetable-based dishes, the restaurant is certainly full of healthy options. But there’s also so much more than that.

“We’ve got breakfast, we’ve got lunch – we’ve got whatever you want!” Nikki is rightfully proud of what she offers. The extensive menu boasts items such as vegan fish tacos, vegan mac and cheese and even vegan wings that innovatively use sugar cane to act as a fake bone.

The top seller is the Impossible Nayah, a vegan steak hoagie named after Nikki’s granddaughter. Just like Nikki, Sunshine Vegan Eats has a lot of personality, which is evident in the spunky names of all of the dishes and the bright and welcoming décor.

Nikki is proud to be able to stand her ground as a black woman owning a restaurant in Buffalo, and the support she’s gotten from people in the neighborhood has made her feel like she’s doing something amazing – and she is. Sunshine Vegan Eats has become a haven in East Buffalo for vegans and non-vegans alike. It offers something totally new and important to the neighborhood.

Photo courtesy of Sunshine Vegan Eats

“I think everybody, whether you’re vegan or not, should come get vegan wasted,” Nikki says. She likes to refer to eating at Sunshine Vegan Eats as getting “vegan wasted” and has even created the social media hashtag to go with it.

And keep an eye out, because Sunshine Vegan Eats is expanding into a second location at 1412 Fillmore Ave, formerly Mattie’s Restaurant, sometime this year.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get #VeganWasted at Sunshine Vegan Eats.

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Sunshine Vegan Eats, 893 Jefferson Ave, Buffalo | sunshineveganeats.com
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