Texas' only all-vegan brick-and-mortar grocery store has arrived in Austin. Rabbit Food Grocery opened the doors of its new storefront on South First Street in early February after three successful years of online orders and pop-up shops.
"This process has been three years in the making — doing pop up shops around town —and it's really exciting to have a storefront to walk in to," says co-owner Jessica Morris who, along with Gabriel Figueroa, realized the dream of a fully operational grocery store catering to vegan needs with the help of a Kickstarter campaign.
The journey began in 2012 when Figueroa and Morris launched the Rabbit Food Grocery website allowing locals to make food orders online and pick them up during scheduled pop-up shops at various restaurants and festivals. The venture has since expanded to include out-of-state delivery and the full-fledged storefront.
While Austin has long been home to the likes of Mr. Natural, Wheatsville Food Co-op and other veggie-friendly stores, Rabbit Food Grocery is the first completely vegan store of its kind. The newly minted shop offers a variety of vegan goods, from pantry staples and alternative meal options to more indulgent treats and material items.
"We've got some fun, harder to find things like vegan Twinkies and lots of different sweets," says Morris. "We've also got some boutique-like items, like jewelry, cologne, cute little rings, mugs [and more]."
"We envision the space as being a central hub for all the vegan goings-on in town," Figueroa and Morris said on their Kickstarter page. "We want to utilize a portion of the space for parties, animal rights meetings, food tastings, potluck dinners, book signings, movie screenings [and more]."
Rabbit Food Grocery is located at 2210 S. First St., across from End of an Ear. Patrons are invited to check in with the company's Facebook page for updates.
Rabbit Food Grocery offers a variety of vegan goods, from sweets and treats to alternative meal options.
