The Vaughans’ new Middletown project marks a change in format, not an abandonment of their vegan businesses. Allison and Calvin Vaughan plan to open Pinky’s Up Sports Lounge & Grill in the former Moose Lodge space at 605 Saybrook Road, pairing traditional chicken wings with plant-based appetizers. The holiday season is their stated target, but an exact opening date has not been announced, according to CT Insider.
The lounge is intended for vegan and non-vegan customers alike. CT Insider reports that the menu will focus on appetizers rather than full entrees, with craft drinks and draft beer alongside the food. That puts the planned venue in a different lane from SoulFully Vegan, the Vaughans’ New Britain restaurant, their two food trucks, and the vegan cafeteria they operate at Connecticut State Community College at Middlesex.
A different model from campus dining
The college cafeteria is part of the couple’s established vegan operation. CT State Middlesex says the Vaughans first launched SoulFully Vegan as a food truck on the Middletown green in May 2021, and the college has described Allison Vaughan, a 2017 graduate, as its food-service provider for the campus’s vegan cafeteria. An Ellafi Federal Credit Union profile describes that cafeteria as all-vegan and says it held its grand opening in Founders Hall on October 13.
That all-vegan setup is not the same as offering vegan choices within a broader dining program. A 2016 Wesleyan University Magazine article, for example, described a vegan and vegetarian station at the Marketplace at Usdan, with vegan options at every meal. The example shows a different approach to serving plant-based food; it does not establish a wider trend or predict how Pinky’s Up will fare.
Expansion beyond the vegan menu
The Vaughans’ business grew from their food truck into a sit-down restaurant in New Britain and the Middlesex cafeteria. CT State Middlesex documents the truck’s May 2021 debut, while CT Insider has reported on the couple’s later restaurant and food-truck operations. Pinky’s Up extends that experience into a sports-lounge setting, where the planned menu is designed to accommodate customers seeking either conventional wings or plant-based bites.
The plan is specific about the address, the broad menu format and the seasonal opening goal, but it does not yet provide a confirmed launch date. Until the couple announces one, the holiday-season timeline remains a target rather than a scheduled opening.
