Complete with a marching band and a pop-up flea market, Slutty Vegan opened in Baltimore Peninsula over the weekend, bringing a Baltimore restaurateur back to Charm City.

On opening day — even though it overlapped with a highly anticipated match-up between the Ravens and Steelers — the restaurant served about 1,200 people, said Pinky Cole-Hayes, Baltimore native and founder of the plant-based burger chain with a cult following.

“It was bananas. There were so many people,” Cole-Hayes said. “The line was down the block and around the corner in 30-degree weather. It just showed me that people really love this brand.”

But the celebration isn’t finished.

On Jan. 7, starting around 4 p.m., Cole-Hayes will be hosting another grand opening event next door for her newest location of Bar Vegan, which features a unique selection of vegan eats and a signature cocktail menu.

Cole-Hayes said she was initially planning to open both eateries in January, but she was ready to open Slutty Vegan — her first brick-and-mortar location in her hometown — before year’s end.

“I wanted to be intentional. I said, ‘Let’s just open it up,’ ” Cole-Hayes said.

There is one new menu item at the Baltimore shop, which Slutty Vegan fans won’t be able to find at the chain’s other locations in Georgia, New York and Dallas. It’s a mushroom sandwich, topped with a vegan crab sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.

“That’s been a big hit,” Cole-Hayes said.

The chain advertises inconceivably meat-free burgers topped with everything from vegan cheese and vegan bacon to sweet jerk plantains. Each creation has a bawdy name attached, from the “One Night Stand” to the “Fussy Hussy.” The racy vocabulary was meant to attract attention to the concept, Cole-Hayes says. It seems to have worked.

After its humble beginning as a food truck, the business was valued at $100 million as of 2022, with locations near the Atlanta Braves stadium, Spelman College and Georgia Tech, among many others.

Cole-Hayes has also authored a vegan cookbook, which was released in 2022, entitled “Eat Plants, B*tch,” featuring 91 recipes for meals like avocado egg rolls and a black pea cauliflower Po’Boy.

Next, Cole-Hayes is eyeing a location near Baltimore’s Morgan State University, she said. Her website advertises that opportunities for franchisees to open Slutty Vegan restaurants could be in the works next.

Growing the business has been an interesting challenge, Cole-Hayes said, mostly because she cannot be in each of her locations at once.

“I also know that I gotta let go, let them be great and trust that they’re going to do the right thing,” Cole-Hayes said.

The Baltimore shop, located along Mission Boulevard in the rapidly developing neighborhood formerly known as Port Covington, features bright red and yellow decor often emblazoned with thick black lettering, which among other things, advises diners to “EAT MORE PLANTS.”

There’s a large sign depicting the restaurant’s Slutty Fries with the message “And yes, they’re vegan.”

“I always have to deal with fries not being vegan,” said Cole-Hayes, who is also a vegan. “It was really a good way for me to show people that you can have vegan fries for the fry-lovers, and it can be made in an oil that’s vegan that doesn’t have any meat attached to it.”

The restaurant has been open for business since Saturday’s festivities, and customers have continued to flow in.

On a chilly Monday, the burger shop filled about 100 orders in its first few hours of operation, Cole-Hayes said. It will close briefly for Christmas, and then continue serving up plant-based patties with Slut Sauce.

Cole-Hayes said she is still basking in the joy she felt Saturday, thanks to the show of support from Baltimoreans.

“It was just — I’m on a natural high,” she said. “Oh, it was just so beautiful.”

Have a news tip? Contact Christine Condon at chcondon@baltsun.com, 667-256-6883 and @CChristine19 on X.