Plant-based eaters, rejoice—we are in the Golden Age of plant-based dining in San Diego.
San Diego has always been a great place to be vegetarian or vegan. Plant Based News ranked us the fourth most vegan-friendly city in the U.S. after Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; and Orlando, Florida. The sheer number of restaurants catering exclusively to both diets and those offering vegetarian options alongside meat means it seems easier than ever to accommodate diners of all dietary persuasions.
Still, despite our plethora of plant-forward plates, only four percent of Americans identify as vegetarian and only one percent call themselves vegan. But local chefs Katherine Pacheco and Ricardo Lona hope to keep changing hearts and minds through stomachs with their experiential pop-up and private dining series Pixán.
Pixán, which means “soul” in Mayan, was initially launched as Flavor Lab before rebranding in October 2024. “Pixán is a plant-based food concept born with Mexican and Central American roots,” explains Lona. “We specialize in traditional and nontraditional dishes hyper-focused on quality of ingredient[s], sustainability, and artistic expression.”
Pacheco and Lona are San Diego natives and have worked in kitchens for much of their lives, utilizing their families’ heritages to inform their techniques. Pacheco says through Pixán that they hope to broaden people’s perceptions of vegan and vegetarian cuisine and what it can be. “Plant-based food has a side to it that not many people know about,” she says. “It may take a bit more experimentation and creativity, but you can do some really amazing things with the abundance of ingredients available to us.”
Today, the specialized culinary pop-up series collaborates with chefs, farmers, artists, and other local businesses to help build the future of plant-based food through experiments with fermentation and local ingredients. Some of their most popular dishes include a “fysh and tripa” taco, tetelas de mole negro, and tostadas de tinga, as well as beverages like barrel-aged tepache and kombuchas.
While Pixán doesn’t have a permanent location (yet), Lona says popping up at places like Coffee & Tea Collective in North Park and Provecho Coffee in Barrio Logan helps introduce both small businesses to each other’s audiences. After all, collaboration is the word of the year for San Diego dining. Perhaps next year’s will be plant-based. We’ll all have to stay tuned.
Those interested in checking out Pixán can catch them at a few upcoming pop-ups this month, including Saturday, December 7, at Cafeina Cafe from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday, December 14 at Pixley’s Oddities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Wednesday, December 18 at Legacy Apartments from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Beth’s Bites
- I didn’t need another sign to say it was time to book a seat at Kinme Omakase in Bankers Hill, but Yelp has decreed it as the fourth-best restaurant in the country. Sometimes, Yelp gets it right!
- At long last, China Max is returning to Convoy this month! After being completely destroyed by a fire in 2020, the Cantonese restaurant has new owners, a completely renovated dining room and private event space, and plenty of dim sum on the way.
- The Philly-inspired ice cream and “water ice” chain Broady’s House of Flavors, which already has a location in Chula Vista, is opening at Seaport Village shortly. I have no idea what water ice is, but I’m intrigued to find out more…
- In what is possibly the cutest named expansion happening in San Diego, Sisters Pizza is opening not one, but two concepts in North Park called Little Sisters and Twin Sisters. Twice the pizza, twice the adorableness.
- MammaMia Sicilian Deli & Market opens on Friday, December 6 at 4231 Spring Street in La Mesa. Rumor has it there will be a special guest in attendance!
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
