Meet Toriano Gordon of Vegan Mob in Oakland

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m from an area in San Francisco called the Fillmore, but we call it Fillmoe. I’m a rapper who changed is his life. 10 years ago I almost lost my life from drugs and alcohol and from that point on I knew God kept me here for a reason. Fast forward to 10 years later. I was driving Uber and going to graduate school to become a therapist just about 11 months ago. I did some soul searching and realized I didn’t want to become a therapist anymore. I asked myself what would make me happy and the three things that came up were a restaurant, music and social media. These are the things I enjoy and like so I said to myself I’m going to create my own plush lifestyle. January came along and the idea of Vegan BBQ dropped in my head with a little inspiration from my wife. She’s the dopest wife in the world!! I then spoke with a friend of mine by the name of Evan Kedara who owns Senor Sesig and he said go for it, it’s dope. From that point on I’ve been grinding. A big part of my success is due to the law of attraction. I prayed and I put this in the universe. Everything I asked for I am getting. I started delivering plates out of my trunk in April, I went on to do pop-ups and the Farmers Market and by October of the same year, I had my own Brick and Mortar. It’s a dream come true.

Has it been a smooth road?
To be honest, the road has been as smooth as can dream of it being. There’s of course things that I encountered but I’m a fast learner so I was able to tackle the problems and keep it moving with strong faith and belief.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Vegan Mob – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We serve Vegan BBQ and soul fusion. It’s my own Genre of food, “Soul Fusion”. Soul Fusion- Is soul food mixed with different styles of food across the world. For instance, Mexican and Asian styles mixed with soul food. We specialize in great food, great service and loving energy. I think it’s important to serve love when we serve food. All of our dishes are unique and a lot of them derive from my family recipes. I’m proud of are growth and are beautiful team we have. I love our customers. I feel like they’re apart of the Mob as well. Our food sets us apart from others, our energy, our spirit our genre. I’m a rapper and I incorporate my authentic spirit, authenticity  into the company and that’s what sets us apart from the rest.