Beyond the Bell: Vegan “Taco Bell” Pops Up in Detroit

Street Beet founders are plotting a six-course vegan dinner at Nosh Pit, too.

Courtesy of Street Beet

Click on the audio player to listen. CultureShift airs weekdays at 12 p.m. 

Vegan food in metro Detroit is more accessible than ever and foodie culture has opened the minds of many who would not have tried it before.

Street Beet is a vegan pop-up that’s encouraging those still on the fence about trying something new by recreating the Taco Bell menu — except all vegan.

WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper speaks with Street Beet founders Nina Paletta and Meghan Shaw to learn more about the vegan pop-up.

Paletta says they both essentially stopped going to fast-food restaurants “many years ago, but when we did accidentally go…we would typically substitute the meat for beans.” 

“After posting about it online….we found out that many other people were doing the same thing,” she says. 

Shaw says some items they use, such as the Gordita shells, actually come from Taco Bell.  

“(Some Taco Bell items) are kind of hard to recreate,” says Shaw. “We drove around for hours one day looking for flat bread that even mimicked it and we just couldn’t find it.” 

Street Beet’s next Vegan Taco Hell pop-up event happens at PJ’s Lager House on September 18th.

They’ll also be hosting a six-course of vegan fare at the Nosh Pit in Hamtramck. Tickets are available here.

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.