Chef Raul Medina is finally taking his vegan Mexican concept, La Venganza, from pop-up to brick-and-mortar. According to a recent report by SF Eater, the Bay Area-based eatery, famous for its take on classics like carnitas and carne asada, is coming soon to 6419 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.
Medina shares on the business’ website that “out of necessity” he developed La Venganza, which began as a pop-up on the corner of 15th and Harrison in Oakland. He writes, “What was missing was a real ‘taco.’ It was salad on a tortilla. Where was the carne asada, the pollo, the pastor?”
According to SF Eater, the menu will offer hard-to-find vegan options, including menudo, beef cheek, tongue, and chorizo — made using ingredients like tomatillo, king mushrooms, and tapioca starch, to name a few, in combination with an assortment of Chinese, African, and Vietnamese spices.
More than just veganism, La Venganza is committed to a cruelty-free operation. Medina shares, “as a culture we define veganism as the attack on animals, but we forget the human suffering that goes to pick our vegetables, and process the world’s meat.”
La Venganza on Telegraph Avenue is slated to debut in late summer 2023. Once open, the restaurant will be takeout-only and open roughly from 11 am to 9 pm.
