According to The Fayetteville Observer, The Vegan Spot owners, married couple Yoniara Montoya, 35, and Robert Harris, 32, plan to open the eatery on Jan. 17 at the Murchison Marketplace shopping center. The couple also opened a food truck under the same name in 2021 that offers vegan comfort food.

The pair had separate journeys toward veganism before becoming entrepreneurs. For Montoya, she transitioned to a vegan diet in 2016 after being diagnosed with acute heart failure. Since then, she made the necessary changes to lead a healthier lifestyle.

“Seeing the benefits made me want to share it with my community,” the 35-year-old said. “I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.”

Montoya did just that. She started a blog, then came a food truck with her husband, and now they will have a restaurant in Fayetteville’s historically Black corridor, per the newspaper.

The Vegan Spot will be the third vegan restaurant in Fayetteville and the only one in the Murchison Road area.

Montoya looks forward to serving the community through her vegan food and expects the restaurant to be filled with customers once it opens.

“I feel like we’re waking it up. We’re going to have it jumping as soon as we open,” Montoya said.

The food truck, which follows a military theme, will be an addition to the kitchen in the parking lot. However, the new restaurant’s items are named after historical landmarks in the city.

“The food truck was for the military, the restaurant is for the city,” she explained.

The menu will include pizza with plant-based toppings such as pepperoni, sausage, shrimp or chicken over a house cheese blend. Additionally, the establishment will have pepperoni croissants, garlic knots with a marinara sauce and a deli stocked with plant-based ham, turkey, salami and buffalo chicken.

While Montoya hopes to add wine to the menu, the eatery will offer cold-pressed juices, smoothies, sparkling water, soft drinks and iced tea, per the Fayetteville Observer.

After their highly anticipated grand opening, the couple is already planning for the future. They want to create a hub in Fayetteville for vegans to feel like they belong in the community.

“We need a place for us vegans to hang out,” Montoya said.