Syracuse’s best-known vegan cafe to launch its first out-of-town location - syracuse.com

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Vegan milkshakes and more are headed to Buffalo.

Strong Hearts Café, which introduced Syracuse to the seemingly endless possibilities of plant-based, vegan food when it debuted in 2008, plans to open a location in downtown Buffalo by early summer.

Strong Hearts co-owners Joel Capolongo and Nick Ryan have been considering an out-of-town location since they moved their main Syracuse shop to its current spot at 900 E. Fayette St. down the hill from Syracuse University in 2020. The idea grew after they closed a former satellite location on Marshall Street in 2021.

“Once we settled in here (East Fayette Street) we began to look at other cities with the idea of replicating what we do here,” Capolongo said today.

The Buffalo location will be in a mixed residential-commercial neighborhood at 295 Niagara St., on the west side of downtown. It’s just off the “190″ expressway, about four or five blocks from Buffalo’s City Hall, and not too far from Buffalo State University.

“When we closed Strong Hearts on The Hill in 2021, we said we would focus our efforts into growing elsewhere,” Strong Heart posted today on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. “Well, say hello to elsewhere.”

While the Buffalo area has a few other vegan-exclusive eateries, Capolongo said the combination of the Strong Hearts’ menu and the downtown location will set it apart.

“We definitely feel there is room for another vegan option in Buffalo,” he said.

The Buffalo café will have a “similar look, feel, and functionality” to the Syracuse location, according to the Facebook post. But Capolongo said the menu will start off a little “pared down at first.” Eventually, it may offer some “Buffalo exclusive options,” he said.

Syracuse’s East Fayette Street location replaced the original (and smaller) Strong Hearts at 719 E. Genesee St., which opened in 2008. The East Genesee location was Syracuse’s first restaurant dedicated exclusively to vegan fare, in keeping with Ryan and Capolongo’s health-conscious philosophy and animal rights activism.

In a January 2022 review of the Syracuse Strong Hearts, syracuse.com restaurant critic Jared Paventi noted that the menu includes references to items like chicken, bacon and milk, although all are actually plant-based alternatives. The café’s offerings can sound a bit like many other fast-casual places in town, with “BLTs,” “chicken wings” and “milkshakes.”

“Veganism has transitioned from niche lifestyle to mainstream diet,” Paventi wrote. “Restaurants like Strong Hearts have normalized what once was relegated to college students and animal rights activists. Rather than allowing itself to be pigeonholed, Strong Hearts expanded and, judging by the diversity of its guests during our visit, it has become just another dining option in Syracuse.”

Capolongo said Strong Hearts will “see how it goes” in Buffalo before venturing into other possible locations. That includes potential moves to other cities or even more locations in Central New York.

“We have a strong following in the region,” Capolongo said. “We think we can build on it.”

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Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

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Syracuse’s best-known vegan cafe to launch its first out-of-town location - syracuse.com
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