More than a gas station: San Bruno’s Hangry Planet and the barbecue food truck Vegan Mob aim to supply the peninsula with plant-based food and positive change

At a busy intersection across from Tanforan Mall in San Bruno, Hangry Planet gas station and car wash is located at 1199 El Camino Real. While some motorists stop by to fill up their vehicles, other customers are drawn by the many oddities — life-sized merman statues on the roof, eye-catching signs with slogans like “No animals are terrorized here,” and the smell of plant-based barbecue wafting from the green Vegan Mob food truck in the parking lot. When you enter the store, you’ll find rows of plant-based snacks, drinks, sandwiches, and to-go items lining the shelves.

Hangry Planet is not your ordinary gas station or convenience store (C-store). That’s exactly how founder and Iberian Peninsula native Bobak Bakhtiari conceived it after taking over his father’s role as owner of the business in 2013 when it operated as a Shell gas station. The Hangry Planet brand, touted as the world’s first plant-based convenience store, was launched and the gas station switched to vegan products in 2021. Two years later, the company parted ways with Shell after Bakhtiari’s 10-year supply contract ended in November 2023.

Bakhtiari’s own journey to veganism was sparked by the animal rights group Animal Recovery Mission’s undercover investigation into the origins of Coca-Cola-owned Fairlife, a farm that included cases of abuse of its dairy cows.

“It was as if my soul had been struck with a deeply hidden truth: that I had been unknowingly promoting animal cruelty my entire life by consuming dairy,” Bakhtiari said. “(The documentary) was an eye-opener that sparked my transition to a plant-based diet and, shortly thereafter, my c-store’s transition.”

The store is open 24 hours a day and offers customers a wide variety of plant-based products for sale, including Laird Superfood coffee and dairy-free hot chocolate, as well as baked goods from local vegan vendors like Oakland’s Donut Farm and Santa Cruz’ Black China Bakery. Want to buy milk? You’ll only find dairy-free brands like Daiya, Eclipse, Forager and Wicked.

Healthier alternatives to salty snacks, such as Siete Foods grain-free chips and Simply 7 lentil chips, are also available. For those craving a cool snack, an Oatly soft serve ice cream machine is on hand. The Hangry Bliss breakfast sandwiches are also a customer favorite. Made with spices, Just Egg, Beyond Meat and Follow Your Heart cheese, they are made in-house by Chef Joss Montiel. The product offering is constantly evolving thanks to a rigorous Producer Session, where staff evaluate the taste and sustainability practices of the brands stocked in the store.

Grilling, but vegan

To provide his customers with more food options, Bakhtiari recently partnered with Toriano Gordon, founder and CEO of Vegan Mob, a plant-based barbecue and soul food truck. Two weeks after Bakhtiari learned about the place, a partnership was formed and the first Vegan Mob franchise opened in February. The food truck is now permanently located at Hangry Planet and is open Tuesday through Sunday.

Gordon grew up eating Texas-style barbecue, as his grandmother was from Houston. When Gordon switched to a vegan diet for health reasons and later decided to open his own restaurant, his goal was to reinvent his favorite barbecue dishes as plant-based recipes.

While Vegan Mob’s first brick-and-mortar location in Oakland closed in 2023 after four successful years, Gordon has expanded into the greater Bay Area, with a restaurant in Vallejo in the pipeline, in addition to operations in Santa Rosa and at Hangry Planet. So far, the response from the Peninsula community has been welcoming and positive.

“People come and enjoy the location,” Gordon said. “Bobak is a great franchise partner with a great concept in Hangry Planet. It’s a great fit.”

Vegan Mob’s menu features succulent, plant-based barbecued meats like brisket, hot links, grilled fried shrimp and Louisiana chicken, hearty Southern-style sides, tacos, sandwiches and combo meals. Gordon recommends the spicy fried chicken plate for first-timers or the soul rolls, a sweet and savory fried spring roll with candied yams and “smackaronni” (macaroni and cheese). His personal favorite is the lumpia and garlic noodles, all of which are available for pickup and delivery. Parking at Hangry Planet is limited, but customers can also park along El Camino Real.

“A pious nutcase”

In addition to food offerings, Hangry Planet draws visitors with interactive elements. Statues of T-Rex, Poseidon, dragons and giant mushrooms decorate the parking lot. It’s not uncommon to see blaring music from the station’s speakers and visitors posing with a dinosaur statue devouring a statue of a world leader. A dollar-powered fortune teller sits next to the ice cream freezer, and colorful posters with positive messages like “Feel beautiful, not like a junkie” hang at the entrance. At one point, Bakhitiari wanted to put a decorative whale’s mouth at the end of the car wash (but the local planning board stopped that idea).

These quirky details aren’t accidental, Bakhtiari says, and that tone is reflected in Hangry Planet’s branding and his own online presence. An actor with roles in TV series such as “Silicon Valley,” “Scandal,” “NCIS” and “Homeland,” Bakhtiari describes himself on his IMDb profile as a “rustic cherub in human form” with an “unusually hairy chest.”

“At Hangry Planet, we are all about providing cruelty-free foods that will wrap your taste buds in an intergalactic blanket while making our planet feel as loved as a puppy at a belly rub festival,” the store says on its website.

“(The brand) is rooted in a colorful playfulness and a desire to share an appreciation for pushing creative boundaries,” Bakhtiari said. “I’m honored to be called the game’s pious nerd, unconventional clown and wild madman.”

Creating change

This penchant for playfulness is rooted in a desire to create real change and educate the public about the environmental value of a plant-based diet. Hangry Planet donates 11% of net proceeds to various humanitarian organizations, including Moms Against Poverty, which builds schools and orphanages, Food & Water Watch, Animal Equality, and Animal Recovery Mission. All profits from merch purchases also benefit animal welfare organizations. In 2023, Hangry Planet raised over $33,000 for humanitarian causes.

Convenience store staples like lottery tickets, tobacco products and select non-vegan items are also available for now. Looking ahead, Bakhtiari is dedicated to building the Hangry Planet brand as an ethical model for c-stores, car washes and gas stations. Bakhtiari makes it a point to support other vegan businesses and counts South San Francisco’s Sky Cafe and San Francisco’s Phono Bar and Shizen among his favorites. The core of Hangry Planet’s mission is to expand healthy, whole foods and plant-based options on the Peninsula and beyond.

“Investors have approached us about expanding in California and Michigan, but we don’t have any concrete plans for expansion yet,” said Bakhtiari. “I’m excited to grow our education arm around sustainability and raise public awareness about the impact our food choices have on animals and the environment.”

Hangry Planet1199 El Camino Real, San Bruno; 415-752-7488, Instagram: @thehangryplanet. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

VeganMob1199 El Camino Real, San Bruno; Instagram: @officialveganmob. Open Tuesday to Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.