Popular midtown vegan fast-food joint expanding to Davis near university

Burger Patch is betting that students at one of the country’s largest agricultural universities want plant-based fast food.

The all-vegan burger joint at 23rd and K and streets in midtown Sacramento is expanding to downtown Davis, it announced in a Twitter video Tuesday night. The video shows an employee riding a bike with a Burger Patch flag across the Yolo Causeway to the restaurant’s new Davis Commons location, then says it’ll open in 2020.

The opening was further announced in a subsequent press release Thursday.

Phil and Danea Horn opened Burger Patch in May after running a series of highly successful pop-ups and a stand at Golden 1 Center. Phil left his job as a Sacramento Kings senior vice president shortly after the brick-and-mortar opened, while Danea is an agricultural and research economics PhD candidate at UC Davis.

“Davis was a special choice as our next location for me. I’ve been pursuing my PhD at UC Davis for the last (three) years and I just love the community,” Danea Horn said in the press release. “We’re exploring new ways to scale this and bring our plant-based goodness and mission to more people. The creativity is endless in such a rapidly growing space and we’re excited to be at the forefront of it.”

Tenants in the Davis Commons shopping center, located at 500 First St. near an entrance to the university arboretum, have struggled to keep pace with rising downtown rents. A vacant cornerstone location once held a Borders, then a Whole Foods. The 7,200-square foot Gap closed a year ago and Bath & Body Works did the same this summer.

The video indicates Burger Patch will move into the unit vacated when Solomon’s Delicatessen closed in August shortly after opening in downtown Sacramento. It’ll be next to Halal Guys, another student-friendly casual dining option.

The Horns plan to open additional Burger Patches throughout Northern California, the Sacramento Business Journal reported.

Burger Patch’s recently launched its “Gril Power” initiative challenging local restaurants to make their leadership staff or skilled positions at least 50 percent female. The new location will hire about about 25 full and part-time employees starting at $16/hour, according to the press release.

This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 12:03 PM.