Hometown Eats: Queen’s Vegan Cafe

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - No meat, no problem.

“98 percent of my customers are not even vegan. They just like good food,” said Queen’s Vegan Cafe owner Shaqueen Snyder, aka Chef Queen.

Good food is exactly what you’ll find in Queen’s kitchen. She’s been in the West End Community Market kitchen since 2018. She’s has a few reasons as to why she made this lifestyle change. She wants to get healthy, fresh foods in the hands of people in the Black community.

“People are dying in their 40s and 50s and I think that’s several years too young,” said Snyder.

She’s a single mother, so her son, who requires extra care with a health condition, is the other.

“I did try different types of diets to lose this weight, but it wasn’t coming off. I wanted to make sure I was going to be here long enough to provide care for my son. I wasn’t going to become a statistic,” said Snyder.

That decision lead her down a path to create Queen’s Vegan Café, a meal service educating people to benefits of a plant-based diet.

“Once I saw how I felt, I was like, this is what you’re going to do!” Snyder exclaimed. After one look at some of the Queen’s creations, you might be thinking the same.

“Everything is 100 percent plant-based,” said Snyder.

Take the Jackfruit, for example; it’s what we’re eating the most of today, seasoned with a Jamaican Jerk sauce and topped with a mango slaw.

“Jackfruit, first and foremost, already has a meat-like consistency, so it’s easy to play around with, but if you’re a seasoned chef, you can make it more meat-like,” explained Snyder.

She has a FULL MENU to order from and she has plans to get a food trailer to pull around to different events and festivals, so be on the lookout for that soon!

Queen’s Vegan Café, a healthy and educational hometown eat.

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