Mikail Ali is presiding over what he hopes is the start of something big. The entrepreneur and vegan food enthusiast started a food truck last year just as the pandemic hit. His truck was so profitable he was able to save up money to open his own brick and mortar restaurant on Tucker’s Main Street.
“This is going to be a start for me,” Ali predicted. “There are going to be multiple Papi Ali’s in my future. I want to open up as many of these restaurants as I can to help spread affordable vegan food that’s responsible and healthy for people.”
Named for its owner, Papi Ali’s held a ribbon cutting and grand opening at its location on Main Street on October 15. The restaurant offers plant-based food at affordable prices, something downtown Tucker has never seen before. Ali said his fresh mix of sandwiches, wraps, bowls and smoothies is really a labor of love.
“Papi Ali’s is the fusion of my two great passions…solving problems and creating food,” he explained. “Mostly with vegan food and plant-based food you get a lot of gluten-based items, a lot of things that aren’t healthy for you, so I wanted to bring the same Latin American flavors that I enjoy and I’m passionate about and put them onto fruits and veggies and things like that.”
Based on the business he did with his food truck, Ali estimates that his most popular menu item was a BLT with avocado where the bacon is actually made from mushrooms. He’s banking on Tucker having a taste for mushroom bacon just as his previous customers did.
“I’ve been in Tucker a lot. I’ve run my food truck through Tucker, so I know that the community’s amazing and it was the perfect location and it was the perfect set up,” Ali recalled. “It just seemed like it was destined to be.”
Papi Ali’s is currently open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at their new location at 2323 Main Street in the heart of downtown Tucker. You can see menus and find out more about the restaurant at papialis.square.site or on social media @papialisatl.
