Your Vegan-Friendly Guide to Food At Coachella

Author: Jasmine Lowe

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music festival held over two weekends in Indio, just east of Palm Springs. Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. It is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. The festival is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world, with numerous vendors, restaurants, and food available for purchase. Last year in 2022, I was able to try several vegan food vendors that were absolutely amazing. This year, Coachella will have some other tasty treats to try that are vegan or vegan-friendly!

Last year, I had the privilege of attending both weekends of The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as a brand ambassador. I rode the giant Ferris wheel and watched Billie Eilish, 88rising, Daniel Caesar, and Tokimonsta, among other amazing artists. I was also able to try several vegan eateries. The food looked amazing, was animal-free, and was insanely delicious. Here’s what I found and some of what I tried at Coachella.

Monty’s Good Burger 

I love a good vegan burger. I’ll choose a great-tasting animal-free burger and fries over anything if it’s made well. Monty’s definitely delivers when it comes to a good plant-based burger. The Monty’s vendor booth was located in the Terrace at Coachella and had long lines of veg-curious festival goers wanting a burger that moved quickly. Monty’s offers burgers, as well as piping hot fries, tasty tots, and delicious and creamy plant-based shakes.

Monty’s Good Burger was founded in the summer of 2018 in Southern California. They have now served more than 2.5 million+ Impossible burgers, fries, tots & Organic Oatly Oatmilk Shakes, according to their website.

Cena Vegan

I found Cena Vegan inside the Indio Central Market. The food vendor offers delicious plant-based Mexican food. Their extended menu includes a wide range of authentic street food, from tacos, burritos, and tortas, to nachos, caseras, agua frescas, and flan.

Carmen Santillan, Gary Huerta, and Mike Simms founded Cena Vegan Plant Ranch, a company that does authentic Mexican plant-based meats. They launched Cena Vegan in 2016 as a taco cart in East Los Angeles and expanded into a plant-based meat manufacturer under the Plant Ranch brand. Cena Vegan’s mission is “to celebrate and unify the community by providing delicious plant-based food that fuels the ‘Sí se Puede dream,” according to their website.

Ramen Hood 

Festival-goers can order hot and chilled vegan ramen and spicy togarashi tater tots from Ramen Hood. They were also located inside the Indio Central Market. The vendor sold some of their more popular ramen bowls to hungry festival-goers that were absolutely delicious.

Ramen Hood was developed by Chefs Ilan Hall and Rahul Khopkar. The restaurant, located in Downtown LA’s Grand Central Market, features an array of soups and noodle bowls topped with faux eggs made with soy, sprouts, black garlic, and sunflower seed broth. They also create fusion dishes such as banh mi poutine and tofu al pastor tacos.

Slutty Vegan 

If you’re into a slightly messy but delicious plant-based burger, then Slutty Vegan is the spot for you. The food vendor was also located inside the Indio Central Market at Coachella. They offered some of their more popular burgers made with Impossible or Beyond Meat that made your mouth water.

Pinky Cole is the CEO and Founder of The Slutty Vegan. The restaurant is Black-owned and serves some of the best vegan food. Slutty Vegan is all about opening the conversation on vegan food options for people who have never considered them. They are also invested in the community to tackle health concerns such as the rising numbers of hypertension, cholesterol, obesity, and other food-related ailments. 

They currently have physical locations in Atlanta (ATL),  Jonesboro, Athens, Duluth, Atlanta Edgewood, GA; Birmingham, AL; and Brooklyn, NY. They are planning to open two more locations in Harlem, NY, and another in Columbus, GA.

Coachella had plenty of other vegan-friendly options at the majority of their food vendor spots. There were a lot of places where you could easily substitute an animal patty for a meat-free and 100% vegan one. This year, Coachella’s two-weekend event will take place April 14th through the 16th and April 21st through the 23rd. You should be able to expect even more great plant-based food finds at the popular festival that is vegan and gluten-free. In the meantime, check out the Vkind app at Vkind.com to find some vegan eats near you!