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About Pinky Cole
A trifecta of community, commerce and compassion, Pinky Cole is a serial entrepreneur, brand strategist and founder & visionary of Bar Vegan, Slutty Vegan ATL – a nationally acclaimed, Atlanta-based burger joint offering creative takes on plant-based burgers with racy names like Sloppy Toppy, Fussy Hussy and One Night Stand – and The Pinky Cole Foundation. Born and raised in East Baltimore, Cole started her entrepreneurial journey early through creating business plans and side-hustles with friends and family members during high school. She moved to Atlanta to attend Clark Atlanta University, and while she quickly became enamored with the city, she decided to pursue acting in Los Angeles upon graduation and later worked as a successful television producer in New York City and Connecticut.
She eventually made her first foray into the culinary world with her popular restaurant, Pinky’s Jamaican and American Restaurant, in New York, which tragically burned down. Pinky relocated to Atlanta and came up with Slutty Vegan ATL during a late-night craving for mouthwatering vegan fast food in Atlanta. From there, she started cooking vegan burgers in a shared kitchen in August 2018, and the Slutty Vegan empire was born. The wildly popular, game-changing concept has not slowed down since opening. Known for its standard two-hour line to pick up made-to-order food, the company’s revenues grew to $4 million within the first six months of its grand opening. In just three years, Cole has created a game-changing empire that’s dedicated to reinventing vegan food culture, where vegans and meat eaters alike can break free from kale and quinoa salads.
Slutty Vegan’s crave-worthy, indulgent menus and joyful customer interactions draw locals and visitors to enjoy creative takes on vegan creations donning racy names like the ONE NIGHT STAND loaded with vegan bacon, vegan cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato & Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun and the HEAUX BOY featuring vegan shrimp tossed in a New Orleans style batter, loaded with lettuce, tomato, pickle & Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun. Sluttified fans include celebrities Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Jermaine Dupri, Taraji P. Henson, Tyler Perry, Tiffany Haddish, Queen Latifah and many more.
Slutty Vegan has four brick-and-mortar locations including Jonesboro, Georgia and Duluth, Georgia plus outposts in Atlanta’s Edgewood and West View neighborhoods, with more to come including Birmingham, Alabama and Athens, Georgia. The brand’s “Big ‘Ol Slut” food truck pops up in neighborhoods across metro Atlanta and in cities across the country to share its famous burgers and fries with fans near and far.
In February 2021, Slutty Vegan’s team debuted Bar Vegan in the Central Food Hall at Ponce City Market. The latest concept from Pinky serves a vegan food menu paired with beer, wine and experience cocktails made tableside.
Defying the odds is in Pinky’s DNA. The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Cole learned the value of hard work, serving the community and giving back from her mother, who worked four jobs to support their family and her father. Although he was sentenced to Federal Prison the day she was born, Cole’s father provided business strategy guidance that’s instilled in her today from behind bars. One of his greatest lessons was to create your own opportunity.
Cole does just that, pouring all her love, experience and talent into a recipe for success. While restaurants are closing, Slutty Vegan ATL has opened two locations with socially distanced lines down the block. While record numbers of people are unemployed, Slutty Vegan ATL is providing sustainable employment.
Though, Cole’s impact does not stop there. In May 2019, Pinky Cole, CEO and visionary behind the acclaimed Slutty Vegan ATL, established The Pinky Cole Foundation with a mission to empower generations of color to win financially in life and in the pursuit of their entrepreneurial dreams while building generational wealth in the Black community. Using grassroots and hyperlocal efforts to empower young people of color to leverage economic opportunities, successful risk-taking and innovation, the organization’s entrepreneurship and financial literacy-focused education initiatives specifically target teens and young adults ages 13 to 22 in the U.S.