Britain’s ‘best street food start-up’ to open York restaurant

Is York ready to Humpit?

That’s the question being posed on Church Street right now, as hummus and pita bar Humpit prepares to open a branch there.

Humpit is a Yorkshire-based vegan food business which serves “great-tasting, down-to-earth hummus, falafel, salads and drinks”.

The restaurant in the former Trade Nation store on Church Street will be its fourth – there are already two in Leeds and one in Sheffield.

Three ways to Humpit

You can choose three sorts of meal, all priced at £4.50.

A hummus bowl comes with whole chickpeas, parsley, olive oil and a fresh pita.

The loaded pita includes hummus, falafel, fresh salads, pickles and sauces. And with the salad bowl you can build your own with a choice of salads, hummus and falafel.

You can add extra toppings and sides, and choose drinks including juice of the day and fresh lemonade.

Diners can pre-order their lunch by phone, or have the food delivered via Deliveroo.

Growing number of vegans

Humpit is the brainchild of Leeds entrepreneur Jonathan Phillips.

A year after he launched the business, inspired by the food of the Middle East, he won the Street Food category in the 2015 Virgin Foodpreneur awards.

After securing investment from a private fund, the business is aiming to open six new restaurants in the next two years.

The vegan restaurant caters to a growing number of diners. One in five people aged between 16 or 24 now identifies themselves as vegetarian or vegan according to the animal protection group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

And The Vegan Society says the number of people identifying as vegan has more than tripled to more than half a million since 2006.

The York branch is hiring – if you’re interested, email [email protected]