Golden Vegan is bringing vegan comfort food to Baton Rouge college campuses this fall.
After quietly opening its second location at LSU’s Student Union in March, owner Neisha Rowe plans to start serving plant-based cuisine at Southern University’s Student Union on Sept. 16.
The first Golden Vegan restaurant in Zachary opened in 2022 at the Zachary Commerce Center on Main Street. Since then, Rowe has been on a mission to expand her business and reach new audiences.
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“My goal is to put Golden Vegan in college dining halls across the country,” Neshia Rowe says. “I emailed my business proposal to various dining departments at different universities one morning. Southern called me 30 minutes after I sent the email. Apparently, they had been looking for vegan options for a while.”
Rowe’s expansion model got its start in 2021, when she was contacted by the LSU Dining department about establishing a franchise agreement for LSU to serve Golden Vegan dishes on campus. She had never imagined serving her signature vegan dishes at universities. Now, she’s diving into college dining halls head first.
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A few months after opening the LSU location this year, it closed for the summer with plans to reopen again in August at the start of the fall semester. While she still plans to oversee operations at all locations, she will be most hands-on at the Zachary and Southern University restaurants.
“Most unions have super unhealthy foods,” Rowe says. “The students need food to help fuel them and focus since they are going out into the world as the next generation.”
This story originally appeared in a July 23 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.