The results are in! ChattaVegans have voted once again for their most loved vegan and veg-friendly spots. While there are some surprises, many longtime favs remain in the top tier. One thing that’s abundantly clear is that there are so many new options in 2019.
But who are ChattaVegans these days? We’ll dive into specifics soon, but since our last formal results readout in 2017, the ChattaVegan population has nearly tripled in size! In one short year our community has championed restaurant after restaurant to offer incredible, animal-free options. And over that course of time we’ve gone from 80% of folks considering Chattanooga to be veg-friendly all the way to 95%! We dare you to find another city with those numbers, especially in the South.
But enough with the overview. Let’s jump right in to the good stuff, shall we?
Favorite Vegan Restaurants
The streak lives on! Cashew holds the number one spot with Sluggo’s closer behind than any year before. Plant Power, Real Roots, and The Green Tambourine round out the top five.
It’s worth noting that Your Local Seitanist is a vegan business that received tons of love in the survey, but since they aren’t technically a restaurant (yet), they were not eligible for this question.
Favorite Veg-Friendly Restaurants
Holy guacamole our list has grown! In the interest of tidiness, we’re only going to present the top 30 results of the 1,000 votes we received here. It will probably come as no surprise that Mojo Burrito has also held on to their top spot with Home Slice Pizza hot on their heels. The almost entirely vegan Southern Squeeze rounds out the top three.
Newcomers Hi-Fi Clyde’s and Fat Boy’s Roadside Eats are quickly starting to climb with their amazing offerings, while coffee shops Sleepyhead and The Mad Priest have also broken through in their first year eligible.
Is Chattanooga Veg-Friendly?
95% of respondents believe so, our highest result yet!
Demographics
Keeping in mind that most of our respondents found the survey via social media (an already skewed dataset), we still have some serious outreach opportunities. White women make up 68% of our respondents, so finding avenues for ChattaVegan and vegan businesses to engage men and people of color will be huge going into 2020.
A new question this year sought to measure the overlap of our local vegan community and our local LGBT+ community. We knew there was a strong correlation between these two social justice movements, so it was no surprise to us that nearly 20% of respondents considered themselves a part of the LGBT+ family. This is considerable since TN only has 3.5% of it’s population identifying as LGBT+.
Quick Bites (of data)
Do ChattaVegans have kids under 12 in their household? Most (74%) do not.
Do ChattaVegans prefer vegan items in their own section of a menu or interspersed and marked with a symbol (V or plant icon)? It’s close, but 53% prefer them interspersed. This is also the best outcome for vegan outreach, as having vegan items quarantined in their own section means they are often overlooked by the veg-curious folk.
What drove ChattaVegans to veganism? Ethics was the primary motivation (43% animals & 11% environment) while personal health was close behind at 40%.
And what factor played a role in that decision? Documentaries and films were a clear winner here (42%) with community also keeping folks on track and engaged (28%).
ChattaVegans still tend to be younger and wealthier than the general population, but again remember that this sample comes primarily from social media, and that plays a considerable part in who is represented.
Give us your feedback
Any surprises? Anything we missed? Please contact us with your favorite restaurants, your most eye-opening documentaries, your stories, and what makes YOU a ChattaVegan.