An East Sacramento vegan comfort food restaurant is leaving its brick-and-mortar location and joining a nearby ghost kitchen next year.
Pure Soul Plant-Based Eats currently operates a location in a strip mall at 715 56th St. The vegan restaurant's menu features burgers, sandwiches, burritos, tacos, salads, wraps and more.
The restaurant recently announced it would move to a nearby ghost kitchen in early January. A ghost kitchen is a facility where food is prepared for delivery or takeout, rather than for in-person dining.
"This move will allow for us to continue to offer your favorite items for takeout and delivery as well as attend more events around the greater Sacramento area and keep up with the catering demand," the announcement stated.
Owner Jamie Cavanaugh said the restaurant has been in search of a larger dining location but has struggled to find the right spot. Facing staffing challenges since the pandemic, she felt the move to a ghost kitchen would provide the business with more flexibility to continue providing services to the neighborhood while also focusing more on catering and pop-up events around the area.
Pure Soul's last day of operation at the 56th Street site will be Dec. 24. The business will then move to a new ghost kitchen called The Line, which opened in August about a mile away from the vegan restaurant's current location.
"Everything at The Line is completely brand new and maintenance is covered, so it relieves a bit of stress for me," Cavanaugh said. "Plus, we like how close it is to Sac State. They also plan to open a beer garden at the site next year that will have an outdoor dining area and special events, so we are looking forward to it."
The Line, at 6415 Elvas Ave., includes 10 commercial kitchens inside a 5,045-square-foot building. The virtual kitchen allows food industry operators to lease out 200-square-foot kitchen suites. The Line's online ordering system also allows customers to mix and match their orders from the various restaurant tenants, and orders can either be picked up at a walk-up window or delivered through a third-party service.
Adam Ono, general manager of The Line, said several other local food industry operators have also signed on to join the facility, including Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, Gondo Fusion, Nash & Proper, Hao Bao Dumplings, Binchoyaki and Sac City Brews.
Cavanaugh said the hope is to be moved into the new space in early January. She's still in search for a brick-and-mortar location. With a growing number of vegan options in the Downtown Sacramento area, she is focusing her search more on the outskirts in areas like Roseville and Folsom for potential locations. She said there's also the potential to establish an operation at another ghost kitchen concept in Southern California.
Pure Soul is also in the process of setting up pop-ups around town at breweries looking to offer food options. Cavanaugh said the business will regularly update its social media accounts as those events are finalized.
Ghost kitchens are an emerging trend in the restaurant industry as they allow food businesses to serve customers at a lower cost compared to traditional brick-and-mortar locations. The concept grew during the pandemic, when restaurants were forced to limit their dine-in service and more consumers ordered home-delivered meals. Other ghost kitchen concepts are in the works throughout the area, including in Midtown Sacramento and at a Folsom Boulevard site.
Pure Soul was named as a semifinalist in the 2018 Calling All Dreamers contest, which helps its winner open a business in Downtown Sacramento. The 56th Street location opened in 2020 and has 4 1/2 stars on Yelp, following 259 reviews.
