Seven months ago

Strong Hearts Cafe Owner Announces New WNY Location Strong Hearts Cafe Owner Announces New WNY Location

Co-owner dishes on the new location.

By Colette Jones

COLETTE JONES: Strong Hearts Cafe is a vegan restaurant that offers sandwiches, burgers, milkshakes, desserts and more. Co-founder and co-owner Joel Capolongo recently announced that the 14-year-old cafe is expanding outside of Syracuse.

JOEL CAPOLONGO: We did our research on other places in Upstate New York, and we really fell in love with Buffalo. The community seemed to be very welcoming and open, and they wanted us to be there. And there’s just a lot of opportunity in Buffalo. It’s the second largest city in the state, and we felt it was very underserved in the vegan market.

JONES: The new Western New York location is expected to open in June of this year and will feature new menu items that will only be available in Buffalo.

CAPOLONGO: I think we’re gonna do like uh Buffalo Bleu Chicken Sandwich, which is like a Buffalo wing type chicken sandiwhc with bleu cheese dressing, which I guess is like very popular out there that we don’t do here, but by and large it’ll be very, very similar things that we do here.”)

JONES: Capolongo say he isn’t yet sure if the restaurant will continue expanding past Syracuse and Buffalo, but after almost 30 years of being vegan, he says his reason behind owning a vegan restaurant hasn’t wavered.

CAPOLONGO: For me personally, it’s all about the moral and ethics of choosing not to eat animals because they suffer and feel pain just like our pets do. Like the chickens and turkeys and pigs and cows that I don’t eat feel the same pain and pleasure that cats and dogs do, so I choose not to inflict those things upon them because I don’t have to.

JONES: After having to use books and pamphlets to research how to transition to a plant-based diet back in the early 90s, Capolongo recommends.

CAPOLONGO:…the internet, you know. The website tryveg.com is a really great resource. Veganoutreach.org. Those are two websites I recommend people go to if you just want basic, introductory knowledge of how to transition away from meat and dairy into a vegan lifestyle. And it gives like step-by-step instructions how to meal plan, how to shop, where to shop. All the information is out there, and it’s really easy to find.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — “We did our research on other places in Upstate New York, and we really fell in love with Buffalo,” Joel Capolongo said.

Strong Hearts Cafe is a vegan restaurant that offers sandwiches, desserts and salads. The co-founder and co-owner, Capolongo recently announced the 14-year-old cafe is expanding outside of Syracuse for the first time.

“The community seemed to be very welcoming and open, and they wanted us to be there,” Capolongo said. “And there’s just a lot of opportunity in Buffalo. It’s the second largest city in the state, and we felt it was very underserved in the vegan market.”

Capolongo and his business partner, Nicholas Ryan, are planning to keep the menu items the same, until they are ready to start exploring items that will be exclusive to the Buffalo location.

“I think we’re going to do a Buffalo Bleu Chicken Sandwich, which is like a Buffalo wing type of chicken sandwich with bleu cheese dressing, which I guess is very popular out there that we don’t do here,” Capolongo said. “But by and large it’ll be very, very similar things that we do here.”

They plan to open the Buffalo location in June, and will be one of the restaurants featured at the Syracuse and Western New York VegFests, festivals that exclusively offer plant-based food options, coming later this year.

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