Pingala Cafe

10/18/2023

✨NEW MENU & OTHER UPDATES ✨ as some of you may have noticed, we recently launched a new menu. On it you’ll find a new burger (hello onion rings & BBQ sauce!), a larger kids menu (inspired by friends & fam), a daily soup 🍲 and a few new twists on beloved classics; the Crunchwrap Supreme gets crunchier with cabbage slaw and a suuuuper tasty cilantro-crema ☀️ and the Caesar-ish salad is topped with a dusting of Everything seasoning etc.
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You’ll also notice that some things have left the menu, Mac’n’cheese, nuggets, Frank’d up broccoli, French toast, etc. Why you ask?There are many, mannnny considerations that go into a restaurant’s menu (ie reliable sourcing, training new staff, prep, etc), and many ingredients in every dish that make things special and tasty. As we continue to get busier every year (thank you! ❤️) we want to serve all of you the best food and service that we possibly can. We’ve realized that in order to do that successfully, we need to simplify.
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The objectives for this new menu are to simplify our internal systems, streamline consistencies between two locations, and reduce ordering paralysis for customers (we saw this alottt), all of which should help us reach our main goals: provide the best food and service we possibly can AND to create enjoyable and sustainable kitchen jobs- because let’s be real, this ain’t easy. A smaller menu enables us to do more with less and really lean into the things that shine 💛 …more specials will be on the board more regularly, menu items that are now missed will make appearances here and there, and so on. To those of you upset by some of these changes, we’re sorry, please know our intentions are rooted in the right place and we can promise you, good things will come of this 🥰
Oh, one more thing: ***we dropped our prices on all sandwiches because we dropped our chips included program**** this program worked okay, but a lot of folks didn’t get chips that wanted them, others took too many. Now our system is similar to other places: if you want chips, add chips for $1.
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LASTLY, this menu change takes us across the finish line for re-opening North Ave, first day back open is TOMORROW! 9am-3pm 🍁💛 Let’s gooo!!

09/19/2023

🍕PIZZA POP UP 🍕 YO - We are suuuuuper excited for this. Pingala Cafe is partnering up with Li'l Nonna's / Big Nonna's Vegan Pizza & Ice Cream to bring THE BEST PIZZA we have ever tasted (seriously!) to Burlington 🔥 True story.. when Trevor took a bite of this pizza at Green River Festival in June this summer, he was instantly brought back to his childhood; he would go to this pizza joint in Cambridge MA for slices with his Auntie ‘Joanie pepperoni’❤️ Turns out Robbie from Nonna’s had his fair share of pizza from the same spot, and decided to build a vegan version inspired by the Cambridge spot when he opened up Nona’s. Trevor geeked out on this and said Burlington has to try this. The old pizza spot is long gone, but memories remain, friends are made, and pop-ups happen! Trevor and Robbie star crossed pizza lovers??! Maybe probably definitely. Here’s the scoop:

🍕 When? Fri Sep 22- Sun 24 | 5pm-9pm, all three days
🍕 Where? Pingala Cafe NORTH AVE
🍕How? Secure your pie by pre-ordering (link below) or pop on by! Limited pies and slices available day off.

Pizza party let’s goooo!!

Pre-order link (select Pingala Pizza by Li’l Nonna location): https://pingalacafe.square.site/?location=11ee556cfdd87cb9949d3cecef6dbac6

08/20/2023

Yo. Here’s some important news.

We are pausing operations at North Ave momentarily. To be ultra clear: this is not permanent, and it’s not because the sales are not there (thank you all SO much for such a solid first year). Chase Mill location to resume operations per usual and will keep on truckin’. Why you ask? Here’s the scoop:

We have a staff of 26 people. 10 of them are leaving to go back to school. When 40% of your team comes off the schedule, it’s really tough trying to fill those holes. We’ve looked at it from all angles, been trying to hire, and no solutions at this time. We are hiring, email [email protected] so we can get closer to reopening.

Chace Mill location is stupid busy - it’s an all hands on deck situation. Thank you for the love and support.

We need to rework our menu. We make an enormous amount of made from scratch components, and when a second location comes into the mix, it’s not as simple as upping the volume. We also want to serve the communities where these restaurants are, and we feel that we could add more value by changing up and simplifying our menus.

Our beloved Conor and Alejandra (GM team), who run daily operations, and most everything, are having a baby soon! So we need to make sure they get the time off that comes with that. One busy restaurant is more than enough for them to keep up with for now.

Broccoli Bar season is still in full swing for another month, so we have that to keep up with.

AND, More exciting news on Broccoli Bar to come…🥦🧱🎓🔊🫧✨🏴‍☠️…stay tuned.

THANK YOU to the Pingala staff, patrons, and community for being absolute heroes in putting delicious food out there. Overflowing with gratitude and honor.

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We also want to take this opportunity to gather feedback: please click the link below to tell us your thoughts. What do you want to see at Pingala North Ave? Is it Soup? Ice cream? Pizza? Ramen? Less on the menu? More on the menu? Earlier hours? Later hours?Muffins? Meal kits? Market? This is a great time for us to hit a refresh button, let’s do it together.

https://forms.gle/UpGwtgGtdcH8xmLA8

02/13/2023

This year is the last year that Pingala Cafe’s age is in the single digits. Today marks 9 years! The amount of content, creativity, smiles, cries, and community this place has had stuffed into it blows my mind. It’s hard to wrap my head around it. Here are a few fun photos, and figures that help capture some of the journey. Pingala opens February 12, 2014 in a 230 sq.ft. kitchen in the Chace Mill. We currently operate out of just over 5k square feet, between two locations. In our first year we had 5 employees, now we have close to 30 with our mobile opps. We had about 20k transactions in year one, now that number is around 200k per year. What we did in a whole day in sales when we first opened now happens every 15, minutes all day long. Guy Fieri came through in 2019. I literally only watched cooking shows on Food Network for about a decade and in the blink of an eye, Guy is standing next to me at Pingala. I have always been deeply, madly in love with food, taste, and the experience of eating something delicious. My nickname as a kid was ‘Trevvy chow-chow’. The photo of me on my dad’s moped (aka ‘Mopey’) is the first photo on my phone - it’s as far back as it goes. That’s me transporting focaccia from the Chubby Muffin to the mill in the early days. Before Instagram was even a thing. We made it through the hard times, we continue to thrive in the good. What the Pingala staff pulls off everyday is utterly impressive. First dates and get togethers for lifelong relationships happen here. Excitement around vegan food is what manifests. So many wonderful people are part of this place. I feel incredibly grateful to be doing this work. Thank you all. Here’s to many more meals and good times. Truly, we’re just getting started…
❤️Trevor

12/12/2022

Now accepting pre orders for our Italian Holiday Feast!

To order, visit https://pingalacafe.square.site/ and select our North Ave location. Pick up will be available on 12/23 between 9am-5pm from Pingala Cafe North Ave. Gluten-free and gluten-full options available.

11/28/2022

*Extended Hours* North Ave location will open 11am-7pm SEVEN DAYS a week starting December 1st 2022!
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We hear you- you all want dinner hours! And this THURSDAY it’s happening 🪩 Scoop up a Crunchwrap, some broccoli bites, and a mac n cheese for the fam- maybe even a cupcake for your neighbor just because? New North End, you have that neighborhood vibe and we love it. Whatever you’re feeling- we’ll be here rocking out until 7pm 🔥
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Chace Mill location will remain open 10am-4pm everyday 💛

11/21/2022

*Holiday Hours* We will be closed Thursday & Friday this week 🍁
Pssst…!! We just dropped 8 more Thanksgiving take home meal kits. Available to order online through our North Ave online store 🔥

11/21/2022

Thanks for the shout out

Find a community of plant-based eaters. We narrow down options for vegan-only, vegetarian, and veg-option restaurants in New England.

08/10/2022

Burlington Free Press came out to our new location in the NNE to scope things out- check it out!
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Thank you so much for all the love and support we’ve received in the NNE 💛 we appreciate you all so much.

Owners Trevor Sullivan and Lisa Bergstrom bought a house in the neighborhood in 2020, fell in love with the area and decided to open a cafe nearby.

08/10/2022

Thank you so much for the love and recognition,
Vermont 💛 - grateful to be honored for our intensely hard work. And a massively huge shoutout (and so much love) to our crew- the talent density at Pingala is real- we feel incredibly fortunate to work with all the wonderful people we have around us. And WE feel so blessed to be spreading the vegan love.
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Also, very heartfelt shout out to all the other nominees, and non-nominees: we see you and feel you. It’s mutha-truckin’ hard work this food and beverage industry. You deserve this just as much as us or anyone else in this game - just keep doing your best, improvise, pivot, trust, and make it slap.
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Now let’s keep this ship sailing and sling that dank!
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https://m.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/best-vegan-fare/BestOf?oid=36121373

07/29/2022

Starting August 1st Pingala Cafe NORTH Ave will be open Thursdays through Mondays 10am-4pm (closed Tue & Wed).
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Since August 1st falls on a Monday, we will kick off next week with a BANG being open that Monday, then back to it on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday Monday… and so on! ☀️