EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Hart’s New Restaurant Is Designed To Feed Your Plant-Based Obsession!
At first glance, the Hart House looks a lot like most fast food restaurants. A little over a mile from Los Angeles’ LAX airport, the new quick service restaurant from Kevin Hart is brightly lit with a cheery color palette (vibrant green) and staffed with smiling employees standing behind the gleaming counter.
Although it might seem like your average fast food experience, a quick glance up at the menu above the counter will reveal something different about the offerings: they’re entirely plant-based.
“This is about having the option,” Hart told BET.com at a recent soft launch/open house for the media and friends. “[For] people who have curiosity about plant-based foods but don't necessarily have the locations to go for it or know where to look, Hart House gives you the options.”
Hart House Westchester is located at 8901 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in California. The location is the first of the brand, with three other locations in Los Angeles coming soon and plans to expand to other cities in the future.
Hart decided to launch Hart House in 2020, during the fiercest days of the pandemic. The self-proclaimed health nut spent more than a year with a team of experts in food, marketing, customer service, and more relevant fields getting details right.
“You're not just tasting a bunch of food,” Hart said while noshing on tater tots. “You’re trying to get the right feel, the right tone, the right colors.”
He personally sat in focus groups to hear early feedback. He also attended new employees trainings and orientations. “Nothing was easy. Nothing was quick. We went over the presentation of our burger, the packaging. How neat does our product look? Is it sloppy? Is it too sloppy? The dressing for my salads, the shakes. Everything was a process,” Hart explained.
It’s a concept that’s both right on time and ahead of its time, particularly for Black consumers. Black Americans are the fastest-growing vegan demographic in the U.S., outpacing the general population in adopting a vegan diet. (For the record, Hart House doesn’t bill itself as vegan. According to CEO Andy Hoover, the brand wanted to be respectful of people who think of veganism as a lifestyle as opposed to just a dietary choice.)
Hart House is further proof that Black entrepreneurs remain ahead of the curve in trends and in business, much like vegan stars Tabitha Brown and Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole.
“This is radical,” says Mike Salem, Head of Culinary Innovation for Hart House. Previously at Burger King, Salem says other fast food spots, Burger King in particular, have tried to enter the plant-based space but haven’t quite succeeded, partially because plant-based products take more time and “crafting” to create. The Hart House menu—entirely free of cholesterol, antibiotics, hormones, artificial colors, preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, or trans fats—is the result of lots of thought, trial and error, with all the "meats” made from scratch by its vendors (as opposed to existing brands like Impossible.)
“When you’re trying to match chicken or beef, a lot of companies do that quickly without sight towards the true animal protein they’re trying to mimic,” Salem said. “We took a lot of time to get it right.”
Hart House’s menu is intentionally small—a single patty burger or a double patty one, three types of “chick’n” sandwiches, two salads, nuggets, tots, fries, and shakes—so the shop could focus on doing a few things well rather than trying to do everything.
The result? Pretty spot on.
This writer sampled the double burger—a mix of soy and chickpea proteins blended with coconut fat to bind it together—and is already thinking about the next visit.
Though not vegan himself—he’s mostly plant-based, but enjoys chicken from time to time—Hart sees his spot as an opportunity to reach a growing market, to give people options, and a way to give more people the opportunity to feel good, especially since going meat-free is good for the body and good for the planet.
“I’m most excited about the feel-good component,” Hart said. “That’s what people are gonna take away from the feeling of Hart House. There’s a nice mood, a nice energy in the air. The food is great, you’re going to love it. This is something I'm hoping will sit alongside the big conglomerates over the course of time. I’ve never done anything halfway.”
Editor’s Note: This story/interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
