Homegrown Smoker’s Vegan Barbecue Takes Over Proper Eats in St. Johns

The popular food cart and trend-setting vegan deli Homegrown Smoker will open a brick and mortar in St. Johns this summer, where the old-school vegan cafe Proper Eats operates today, the O reports. Known for its vegan barbecue meats, Homegrown Smoker serves such mammoth creations as the Mac Daddy, a smoked "field roast" seitan burger bathed in barbecue sauce and topped with vegan mozzarella and "mac-nocheese," as well as platters of “ribs,” “chicken,” and “H-yam” with all the traditional sides — only vegan.

Proper Eats closes for good on April 29, but the O reports Homegrown Smokehouse will add two plates inspired by the cafe to its menu: a shepherd’s pie and a tempeh reuben. An expanded kitchen will appropriately lead to a wider variety of Souther-style vegan plates, including the possibility of weekend brunch.

On its Facebook page, Homegrown Smoker says it plans to open “early summer,” at 8638 N. Lombard St. It will close its downtown location at 1628 SW Jefferson, where it shares a building with Portland’s vegan cheese deli, Vtopia, but it will be business as usual at the North Mississippi Avenue food cart.

• Vegan barbecue Homegrown Smoker will open full restaurant in St. Johns this summer [Oregonian]
• Old-School Vegan Restaurant Proper Eats to Shutter in St. Johns [EPDX]