Tanya Barnett already has a job. If you call her, you’ll hear a voicemail that identifies her as a realtor. When she got the idea to start Midtown Vegan Deli and Market, it was out of a desire to make veganism more accessible — for meat eaters and die-hard vegans alike.
Maybe that’s why the headliner menu items coming out of her kitchen do not sound like typical vegan fare: you’re more likely to find a reuben or Buffalo-style tater tots than a quinoa green goddess salad (though Barnett would happily find you a recipe and ingredients for one, if you’d like). “The Buffalo fries have my heart,” she said — many times — during our interview.
Since Barnett first embarked on vegetarianism nearly two decades ago, meat and dairy alternatives have exploded in popularity. Now, many non-vegans prefer oat milk lattes; many Sonoran hot dog stands carry veggie dogs. These ingredients, now mainstream, are only the tip of the iceberg.
Eerily flesh-like jackfruit is now transformed into pulled pork or birria; the founder behind Beyond Meat has recently developed rice-and-pea-protein-based pork rinds; Miyoko’s makes fish-free lox cream cheese out of cashew milk and seaweed. Midtown Vegan carries all of these products and aspires to be a one-stop shop for vegans accustomed to sourcing their groceries from a patchwork of stores.
Midtown Vegan Deli and Market aspires to be a one-stop shop for vegan food.
“When I got the idea for Midtown Vegan, I posted on our ‘Vegan Tucson’ Facebook page. I asked them, ‘What are your must-haves? What’s hard to find?’ We wanted to get all of them in one place,” Barnett said. She made a spreadsheet of every ingredient suggested and added them all to her first order from her distributor.
Midtown Vegan opened last week at 5071 E. Fifth St., with hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily — but this isn’t the final schedule. Once Barnett finalizes her staffing situation and menu, she hopes to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Those hours are intentionally built around brunch. “I’m really looking forward to getting our liquor license. Many people don’t know that most champagnes use animal byproducts in their process. It’s actually kind of gross. So I’m going to be offering vegan mimosas and other classic Tucson drinks like Bloody Marys and micheladas,” Barnett said.
Midtown Vegan Deli and Market wants to make veganism more accessible for all.
Barnett got the idea for Midtown Vegan during the pandemic. When so many bad things — from COVID to climate change — felt like emergencies out of her control, she returned to veganism as a diet that allows one person to make a real difference in humanity's carbon footprint, in changing our agricultural systems in the direction of less suffering.
“I started Midtown Vegan so I could make a difference. I want to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce animal suffering, help people eat healthier. If you’re just appealing to vegans, they’re already on board. I want to show meat eaters how delicious vegan food can be,” she said.
While she thinks of her vegan community with many details — for instance, keeping a diverse rotation of specials so the deli menu never gets too repetitive for eaters used to only having one vegan option at a restaurant — she also wants to show people how they can take baby steps towards veganism, like she did once.
Maybe for you that will mean trying local wizard Plant Butcher’s shredded chicken in a Philly chicken steak, and incorporating that into your regular diet, or asking Barnett for an Alfredo recipe that uses mild cashew milk.
“I chose to be kind to myself and go vegan over time. Then I woke up one morning and I realized I had cut out all the animal products in my life,” Barnett said. “Encouraging is what affects change — if that’s the best you can do today, that’s the best you can do today. At Midtown Vegan Deli, we’re never going to judge you.”
