Thirteen years ago, Steve Key decided to stop eating animal products. Before he flipped the switch, he’d call himself a “wannabe vegetarian,” refraining from meat most of the time but not going against the grain while out to eat with his buddies.
Don’t kale their vibe
Join the Central Coast Meatless Meetup group on Facebook to learn more about future events. Tickets for the dinners cost $25 each and are available to purchase online. The group’s next meetup is at Jaffa Café in Arroyo Grande on May 26 at 6 p.m.
He found it difficult in the 1980s and 1990s to find meatless options on tour as a folk singer. At the time he couldn’t simply search for nearby vegan restaurants on Google.
The musician read The Tofu Tollbook, a traveler’s guide for vegan-friendly spots around the country. It helped him avoid confused looks from waiters when he explained he didn’t eat meat. Key remembered one experience with a waitress clear as day during a Texas road trip.
“She looked at me kind of strangely, and she said, ‘How about turkey?’” Key said. “So, I guess it’s kind of misunderstood by a lot of people.”
In 2026, he doesn’t have to deal with that sentiment nearly as often in part thanks to a club he founded. Earlier this year Key and his wife, Bonnie Nelson, started a Facebook group called Central Coast Meatless Meetup to gather like-minded and curious folks.
Once a month, they eat at a restaurant that provides a preset plant-based menu. Instead of having to explain veganism or ask wait staff about ingredients and cooking methods—à la, ‘How about turkey?’—these diners are relieved to know their meal has been vetted.
Coming up is a dinner at Jaffa Café in the Village of Arroyo Grande on May 26. A combo plate costs $25 (sent to the restaurant) and includes the eater’s five out of 10 menu items. Choose from the likes of falafel, pasta, dolma, and soup. Beverages and gratuity aren’t included.
The founding couple will greet guests as they walk in, and Nelson will handwrite nametags for everyone. Diners can mingle and claim their seats to place an order for drinks and dinner. In between bites of Mediterranean cuisine, folks will spend the next two hours in dynamic conversation.
The group’s first meetup in March was at a community favorite, Klondike Pizza, in Arroyo Grande where they sampled eight pies and three salads. Shortly after, a crowd of 35 celebrated taco Tuesday in April at Humdinger Brewing in Arroyo Grande, which stacked plates with refried beans, Spanish rice, and three tacos: mushroom, roasted veggies, and Beyond Meat.
‘I’m just trying to share with people my enjoyment of food that tastes good and also happens to be free of animal products.’
—Steve Key, organizer
“One of the motivations for doing this Meatless Meetup once a month was at least we have once a month where we know we can go out and have 100 percent plant-based food,” Key said.
Everyone has their own guidelines when it comes to food, and so do people with plant-based preferences. Vegetarians typically eat dairy and eggs. Pescatarians eat fish and seafood. But most plant-based eaters avoid anything from an animal, and vegans may choose to extend that philosophy into the clothing they wear and the products they use.
It seemed simple to Key and Nelson. After completing a 30-day vegan challenge, they didn’t want to eat animal products anymore.
The couple continued researching vegan recipes and how meat and dairy consumption impacts the world around them. Key started looking into things he’d never thought about before. How we clear land to grow crops. How we feed crops to animals. How we eat animals.
“The way livestock is raised in slaughterhouses and the pig farms and chickens. I mean, it’s just horrendous,” Key said. “I got to feeling compassion for the animals as well as concern for the environment. … The facts just started compiling to the point where I thought, ‘I don’t really want to participate in that anymore. I’d like to do something different.’”
Key has lived on the Central Coast for nearly 20 years, but he hasn’t noticed much improvement in the plant-based scene. In his early days living here, Key saw a lot of “token” dishes on menus, like primavera pasta or a portobello mushroom burger. Then it was a Beyond Meat patty or an Impossible Burger.
By organizing Central Coast Meatless Meetup events, he hopes to expand possibilities at local restaurants and broaden the horizons of skeptics who have preconceived notions of vegan food.
“I’m just trying to share with people my enjoyment of food that tastes good and also happens to be free of animal products,” Key said.
The other component of the group is making new friends. Breaking bread is always more enjoyable with good company.
Leslie Kasanoff attended for the first time in April at Humdinger Brewing. Besides the tacos, she said she enjoyed talking with others who are conscious of the environment and the treatment of animals.
The Santa Maria resident identifies as pescatarian. Originally from a small town in between Boston and Cape Cod, she can only go so long without her favorite seafood.
Her lifestyle switch flipped after a seminar about living to 100 years old. Then, at 52, the health coach thought, “I’m only halfway done.” Kasanoff believes eating mostly a plant-based diet is setting herself up for a long, healthy life.
As far as attending the next Central Coast Meatless Meetup at Jaffa Café, Kasanoff said she’s already made plans to be there. ∆
Email Sun Staff Writer Madison White, from New Times’ sister paper, at mwhite@santamariasun.com for her favorite tofu recipes.
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2026.