A Group of Austin Vegan Restaurants — Serving Burritos, Pizza, and Pasta — Have Closed

A trio of vegan restaurants — Mission Street Burrito, Fair Game, and Pinsa Palace, and — closed in mid-March, under the Vegan Citadel umbrella. The first two restaurants shuttered within the Austinite Market at 3318 Harmon Avenue in Hancock; the latter within Buzz Mill Coffee at 1505 Town Creek Drive in Riverside, all as of March 17.

The last remaining restaurant within the group, Mission Burger Co., will remain open inside the RiverCity Market at 209 South Congress Avenue in Travis Heights.

Vegan Citadel co-founders Mike Limongelli, Isaac Paul Mogannam, and Errol announced the closings on Instagram. The post explained that the current economic climate is what spurred the decision. “Severe inflation, the rising cost of goods, the challenges of paying people a fair and living wage, and the supply chain issues have made it impossible for us to be profitable and sustainable,” the statement said.

It continued, stating that in order for those three restaurants to continue operations, the scope of the way the group conducted business would need to change drastically. “For us to continue to exist, it would mean compromising our standards and values on pricing, portion size, and how we pay and treat our people. Making smaller portions, with high-priced food, and menial sub-living wage labor is something we are not willing to compromise. It’s not fun, and we don’t believe in it.”

In the future, Mission Burger Co. will put some of their favorite dishes from Mission Street Burrito on the menu for a week. The same weekly specials could also bring meals from Fair Game to the menu.

Fair Game and Mission Street Burrito were located at 3318 Harmon Ave at the Austinite Market. Fair Game was an Italian pasta restaurant with Mission Street Burrito selling burritos and other Mexican-American fare. Pinsa Palace, a pizzeria, was located at 1505 Town Creek Drive. All restaurants specialized in plant-based options.

They opened Mission Street Burrito as a food truck on East Riverside Drive in February 2020, serving vegan burritos and Mexican American fare. It expanded with a ghost kitchen operation in December 2020, (which closed in April 2021) and the food truck relocated into Buzz Mill in December 2020, took a summer break in 2021 and reopened within the Austinite Market in April 2022. They opened Fair Game, focused on vegan Italian pastas, in August 2022. That was followed by vegan pizza truck Pinsa Palace in January 2022.