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The West End’s Soul Vegetarian, Atlanta’s Oldest Black-Owned Vegan Restaurant, Bids Farewell

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3 months ago

July 18, 2026

Soul Vegetarian was known for its staple meal: macaroni and cheese, candied yams, collard greens, and BBQ kale bone—a dish Chef Pahroosha created herself. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice

Just days before the closure of Atlanta’s oldest Black-owned vegan restaurant on July 12, TheAtlantaVoice visited Soul Vegetarian as it prepared to close a chapter in its rich history. A woman who had been coming to the restaurant since she was a child fellowshipped over a meal with her teenage son, reflecting two generations that the West End institution has fed. Farouq Dawud, a customer since the restaurant opened its doors, sat in a dedicated corner with a boxed plate of food in front of him.

While the longstanding customers bid their last goodbyes through patronage, Chef Pahroosha Israel cracked open a photo album she’d discovered the day before that chronicled 47 years of Soul Vegetarian. As Israel placed photo after photo on the table, depicting when the restaurant was nothing but an empty building with newspapers across the windows, powered by the vision of members of the African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem, a smile lit her face. The photo album was a parting gift that gave a glimpse of the legacy that she and many others have built.

“We’ve been in the building 47 years, but until you actually see where we came from, you don’t understand,” Israel said.

Since 1979, the goal of Soul Vegetarian has been to bring a healthier diet and lifestyle to the world. For nearly five decades, they’ve done just that, becoming a neighborhood staple and treasured hub where food, health, education, faith, and community thrived. The restaurant first opened at 625 Peachtree St. before later relocating to the West End in 1982. When the vegan eatery opened its doors, it was one of the first businesses to make a home on Ralph David Abernathy and the first of its kind along the corridor. It then became the backbone of the West End, inspiring many vegan journeys and many of the Black-owned vegan restaurants that now dot the city.

“The West End is a very historical place in Atlanta, and we’ve been on this corner and been a part of this community when there was nothing in this community,” Israel said. “There was nothing on these blocks when we got here. Definitely not Black-owned… We are from the Hebrew Israelite community, and in our community, one of the things that we were always taught was to serve and to give, and so that’s what we have done, and whoever caught on, took it further. Forty-seven years is a long run.”

(Left to Right) Saint Mica’el and Chef Pahroosha Israel have seen Soul Vegetarian through its decades of bringing healthy food and healthy living to the Atlanta community. They called the closure a “conclusion” and “completion.” Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice

The restaurant announced its decision to cease operations in June. Israel revealed that the decision to close ultimately came down to the building’s aging infrastructure and rising operating expenses, the latter a reality that has plagued many of the city’s restaurants.

“It was a hard decision, and it’s a very emotional one for us, but we’ve held on for 47 years, and we take that with pride. We did a good job, and if we could stay longer, we would,” Israel said. “We are not saying that we’re never going to open up even a little corner, but right now this is what we have to do.

“They’ve said the West End is going to change in a couple of years; we’re not leaving because it’s going to be changed. We would take on that challenge. The world has changed three times since we opened, and we have weathered that storm.”

When Soul Vegetarian announced its closure, members of the community flooded social media with sadness but also with memories that celebrated the institution. They reminisced on moments such as hearing Honduran herbalist Dr. Sebi speak and meeting India Arie while they grabbed a plate. But more than that, they remembered the comforting food and the good people that they held dear throughout their lives. From the BBQ kale that was a Chef Israel creation to the mac and cheese and collard greens, the soul of the restaurant was carried by its ability to feed stomachs and hearts.

It’s a legacy that Israel refuses to let go of. She has been cooking at Soul Vegetarian since 1987, taking after her mother who cooked at vegan restaurants in Israel and helped jumpstart Soul Vegetarian’s journey. Their goal was to help people live longer and live a healthier lifestyle, and she said she feels complete because so many people now know about veganism.

Saint Mica’el, one of the founding members of the restaurant, shared memories of helping to build the restaurant from the ground up in its early days, from running errands to taking out the garbage . He now lives in Israel, like many of the saints who established the restaurant, and called the decision to close a “conclusion.”

“When we were first built in 1979, the word was that one day we’d come to the restaurant, steam table would be on, food would be in there, and no one would be here to serve the food. That day has come,” Saint Mica’el said.

The West End’s Soul Vegetarian has closed, but its second location, Soul Vegetarian No. 2, is still open at 652 North Highland Ave. NW. Israel promised the community that while Soul Vegetarian has closed, it still lives on.

“Even though we’re leaving the area, we’re not done yet. Don’t count us out,” Israel said. “Soul Vegetarian was a gift that we gave the community, gave the world, gave Atlanta, and gave Georgia.”

The post The West End’s Soul Vegetarian, Atlanta’s oldest Black-owned vegan restaurant, bids farewell appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

Based on reporting by Atlanta Voice.

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Community

Mayor Barbara Lee Holds Special State of the City Address in Deep East Oakland

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14. The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highli

Published

1 day ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, left. moderated a community chat with (l.to r.) Selena Wilson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center; Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO of the Black Cultural Zone; Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of Roots Health Center and Greg Hodge, CEO of the Brotherhood of Elders.

By Special to The Post

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14.

The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highlight the work underway, and look ahead to what neighbors, local businesses, youth, funders, community organizations, and partners can accomplish together.

Held at the Roots Community Health/Parker Elementary School Campus at 7929 Ney Ave., the event was emceed by special guest Mark Curry, Oakland native, comedian, and actor.

Lee shared how Rise East and the 40×40 Council have brought together the knowledge, relationships, and resources of people and organizations committed to East Oakland.

Residents bring lived experience, community organizations bring trusted relationships and philanthropy, and businesses bring resources and opportunity, she said, then turned to the government’s role: public investment, services and policy.

But, Lee intoned, City Hall has a responsibility to help connect those efforts.

“I am committed to listening to residents, working across departments and sectors, and helping open doors to opportunity. We must connect neighborhood priorities to the decisions we make about housing, economic development, safety, health and our young people.

City Hall “must be accountable for the results,” Lee said. “The measure of success is what families experience: greater stability, more opportunity and a stronger sense that they belong and have a future here.

“Tonight is an opportunity to listen to the leaders doing this work, learn what is making a difference and identify where we can do more together,” the mayor said.

Lee went on to moderate a ‘fireside chat’ on the theme: Building Oakland’s Future Together — From Neighborhood Investment to Community Empowerment with:

Selena Wilson, CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center
Greg Hodge, CEO, Brotherhood of Elders
Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO, Black Cultural Zone
Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO, Roots Health Center

Mayor Barbara Lee’s media relations department provided this report.

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Black History

Practitioners of African Traditional Spirituality Offer Ancestral Reverence Ritual Oct. 31

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence will host “Ancestral Souls Rising” from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, featuring a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion. Led by elders and priests across the African diaspora, the seventh annual ritual honors those lost without traditional rites while addressing current social challenges. This year’s event connects ancestral wisdom with contemporary issues, including a two-day conversation inspired by Afro-Beat music focused on Black community solidarity and the sacred importance of voting. Read more for details on the ritual schedule and participants.

Published

1 day ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland native Nedra Williams writes sacred symbols on the ground in San Leandro. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence (C4GAR), a group of elders who practice African traditional spirituality, will lead a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion from Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Called ‘Ancestral Souls Rising,’ the council members and 21 priests will lead the prayers from many parts of the African diaspora: Africa, Portugal, and across the U.S. from Maryland to the Bay Area.

Now in its seventh year, the annual ritual began during the 2020 pandemic when hundreds of thousands of people died alone and were buried in mass graves without rites and rituals according to loved ones’ traditions.

This prayer event was and is intended to give peace to the departed and comfort for the living who still mourn. Each year, we gather names of new ancestors from living elders to elevate them into the “Great Hall of the Titans.”

In ensuing years, C4GAR added themes to the prayer gathering that referenced current events. In 2024, before the consequential presidential election, C4GAR called on people to vote, invoking the memory of Civil Rights Movement heroes and heroines like John Lewis, who urged “Good Trouble,” and Fannie Lou Hamer, who famously declared that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The day of global Prayer on Oct. 31 will be followed by a two-day conversation inspired by “The Blueprint,” an Afro-Beat song by UyiosaEl, to write our new blueprint that supports solidarity and action in the Black community.

“Our elders have, for many generations, known the power of prayer, ritual and breath,” the council said in a statement.

It was and is their intention, then, to use the cultural wisdom, the gift of prayer “and the most sacred thing we have, our breath, to send energy into the world that invokes and honors our ancestors,” the council statement continued.

“Doing this creates a vibration that protects us and employs their ancient wisdom for the well-being of our communities,” the elders said.

The councilmembers, all over the age of 60, recognize that what is now history for so many was once their lived experience. And that history, those joys and sorrows, are now in their bodies.

To them, the uttered prayer and the sacred breath are oaths to an unfolding future that people can still shape.

The council members are Dr. Iyabeji Cathy Royal, Iyalocha Jennifer Dillard, Manbo Charlene Desir (Florida), Nana Sula Spirit (Louisiana), Baba Obafemi Feyemi, Ohen Nedra T. Williams, and Iyalocha Wanda Ravernell-Stewart Emeritus (Oakland).

This year, they also encourage everyone within their reach to VOTE because it is not only a secular and political act, but a sacred one. Remember, the ancestors were denied that right and died for it.

For tickets, go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/council-for-global-ancestral-reverence-presents-ancestral-souls-rising-26-tickets-2003127345814?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Community

It’s Time to Lose Weight Before the Holidays

Licensed internist Dr. H. Geoffrey Watson has joined gastroenterologist Dr. Ralph Peterson at Oakland’s MacArthur GI to address the rising obesity epidemic. With U.S. obesity rates reaching 42.4%, the clinic offers supervised weight-loss programs and screenings for fatty liver disease. Treatments include dietary counseling and various medications, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which regulate digestion and appetite. As certain populations continue to be disproportionately affected by chronic health conditions, medical experts are highlighting new tools available to help patients reach their goals before the holiday season. Read more.

Published

1 day ago

October 19, 2026

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By Special to The Post

Dr. H. Geoffrey Watson, a licensed internist, has joined renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Ralph Peterson at MacArthur GI in Oakland to address obesity, provide supervised weight-loss programs including GLP-1 therapy, and screen for and treat fatty liver disease.

The Obesity Epidemic

Obesity is associated with numerous chronic health problems, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, asthma, depression, joint disorders, fatty liver disease, and high cholesterol. Its causes include genetics, environment, stress, medication side effects, hormonal imbalances, and other factors.

Since 1999, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has risen from 30.5% to 42.4%. Childhood obesity rates are also climbing, with approximately 19.3% of children and adolescents now affected.

Measuring Obesity: Body Mass Index

Obesity is measured using a formula called the Body Mass Index (BMI). You can calculate your own BMI on most smartphones by searching “BMI calculator” and entering your height and weight. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is classified as overweight, and a BMI of 30 or greater is classified as obese.

Populations Disproportionately Affected

Obesity affects certain populations at higher rates. Among U.S. adults, obesity prevalence is 49.9% in Black adults, 45.6% in Hispanic adults, 41.4% in White adults, and 16.1% in Asian adults.

Treatment Options

A variety of treatments are available for obesity, including dietary counseling, exercise programs, bariatric surgery, and anti-obesity medications.

Common oral medications include:

• Adipex (phentermine): A stimulant that works by suppressing appetite.

• Contrave (bupropion/naltrexone): A combination of an antidepressant and an anti-addiction medication that helps control appetite and cravings.

• Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate): A combination of a stimulant and an anti-seizure medication that reduces appetite and cravings.

GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Therapy

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists were originally approved to treat type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 is a hormone produced naturally by the body that regulates digestion, blood sugar, and appetite by communicating with GLP-1 receptor cells throughout the digestive tract. These medications reduce cravings, appetite, and food intake by influencing the hunger hormones ghrelin, which stimulates hunger, and leptin, which signals fullness.

What We Offer

Drs. Peterson and Watson provide FDA-approved tirzepatide injections, a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication indicated for weight management. Each patient receives a comprehensive history and physical examination to ensure the safety and appropriateness of the medication as part of an overall weight-loss protocol. Dr. Peterson also offers ultrasound screening for fatty liver disease.

We look forward to helping you reach your weight-loss goals and feel your best this holiday season.

H. Geoffrey Watson, M.D., runs the MacArthur GI Clinic at 10520 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA. He can be reached at (510) 562-7467.