A Vegan Market and Takeout Counter Opens This Week at Ponce City Market

A location of LA-based vegan market LaRayia’s Bodega opens Friday, December 3, on the first floor of the central food hall at Ponce City Market, next to Batter Cookie Dough and Saint-Germain Bakery. It’s the first location of the vegan market outside of Los Angeles.

Owned by LaRayia Gaston, founder of nonprofit organizations Love Without Reason and Lunch on Me, expect a takeout menu here focused on vegan versions of overnight oats and parfaits in the morning, with dishes like Jamaican jerk jackfruit tacos and vegan ceviche and chili and bean dips during lunch and dinner. Look out for the occasional soup and salad special, too. Some dishes on the menu contain edible glitter.

In addition to food, LaRayia’s Bodega serves organic teas, such as Moon Tea (a vegan take on Thai tea), a selection of fresh juices, and lemonades, like Black Girl Magic with activated charcoal.

Alex Kim Kenealy

Prior to opening her first location of LaRayia’s Bodega in 2019, Gaston worked in film and spent 43 days living on Skid Row for a documentary she directed. The experience prompted her to found non-profit, Love Without Reason. Part of the non-profit’s work includes serving 10,000 organic meals a month to unhoused people on Skid Row through the organization’s Lunch on Me program. Continuing her philanthropic work here in Atlanta, Gaston plans to provide free vegan food at Woodruff Park downtown every Friday.

LaRayia’s Bodega joins two other vegan restaurants at Ponce City Market. In February, Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole opened restaurant and cocktail bar Bar Vegan on the second floor of the central food hall. Then, in March, Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks owner Derrick Hayes, along with Cole, opened Dinkie’s inside Bar Vegan, serving vegan versions of Big Dave’s cheesesteaks and egg rolls.

The first new food stalls, part of a $175 million expansion of Ponce City Market, began opening at the end of November, including a rotisserie chicken stall from Chai Pani and Botiwalla chef Meherwan Irani. Vietnamese food and pho stall Vietvana should open in December, with Irani’s first permanent location of spice market Spicewalla and a Korean food and drinks stall from Poke Burri co-owner Seven Chan opening in early 2022.

LaRayia’s Bodega, Monday - Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Public transit information: Ponce City Market is accessible via MARTA bus #2 and #100 on Ponce De Leon Avenue and MARTA bus #899 on North Avenue. Bike racks and bike valet just off of the Eastside Beltline trail.

• The First New Restaurant Stalls Begin Opening in the Expanded Ponce City Market Food Hall [EATL]
• Atlanta’s Great Food Hall Boom [EATL]
• Bar Vegan Brings Cocktail Theater to Ponce City Market When It Opens This Weekend [EATL]
• Ponce City Market Now Includes a Restaurant Serving Vegan Cheesesteaks [EATL]