There's a new place to get vegan food and great coffee in Fort Worth: Called Von's Coffee Shoppe, it's a virtual restaurant operating out of Fort Worth Food Works, the restaurant hub at 3004 Cullen St., where it's serving vegan pastries, omelets, burritos, wraps, and soups.
UPDATE 9-4-2023: Von's has relocated to Orlando, Florida.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Von's was founded by Monique Farrell, a food & beverage veteran with more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry who is taking her first step into entrepreneurship.
A New Orleans native, Farrell worked in the hotel industry after college, including the Roosevelt New Orleans as well as a Hilton property in Orlando. She came to Fort Worth because her mother lived here.
They both adopted a vegan diet to combat illness.
"Working in the restaurant industry is not always healthy," Farrell says. "You're always busy and you're often eating food that is not good for you. I developed a lot of illnesses including Crohn's disease and colitis, and choosing vegan food helped counteract that."
They began plotting the idea of using their combined experience to open a place of their own.
"I still wanted to sit down and enjoy a pastry and and a cup of coffee," she says. "So my mother and I said, 'Let's open our own vegan coffee shop.'"
Sadly, Farrell's mother had pancreatic cancer, and passed away a few months ago. But that only motivated Farrell to finally make it happen.
Monique Farrell (right), with her mother and inspiration.Von's Coffee Shoppe
"I decided I was doing it — I said, this is for my mom," she says.
Her menu includes:
- pastries - bagels, croissants, chocolate chip cookies, bundt cakes, macarons, scones
- omelets - Just Egg with vegan sausage, or with vegan spicy hot sausage
- wraps - make-your-own, choosing from ingredients such as spinach, mushrooms, sausage, Just Egg, and dairy-free cheese
"We have so many people who love our omelets," she says.
Bundt cakes are another bestseller, and there's a full espresso bar as well as a large selection of coffees, teas, and specialty drinks such as EggNog Latte, Matcha Latte, and Peppermint Mocha, as well as herbal and chai teas.
She recently introduced a "Big Vegan Brunch," available Fridays-through-Sundays, perfect for holiday spreads, with a bounty of items including choice of omelet or pancakes, with eggs, sausage, two Bundt cakes, and two drinks for $60.
"You can feed the entire family with this feast," Farrell says.
Eventually she hopes to have her own storefront, but this ghost kitchen is her start, and is serving 7 days a week.
"I love it when people say, 'Oooh a white chocolate mocha, can you make it vegan?' — because everything comes vegan," she says.
