Vertical Diner

Vertical Diner | Vegan Cuisine - Great Food! Great People!

Vertical Diner first started by Ian and Kelsey Brandt as The Greens Vegetarian Food Cart in 1998 at the SLC Farmer's Market. In 1999, Ian and Kelsey started Sage's Cafe at 473 east 900 south in Salt Lake City.

Sage's Cafe was an all vegan restaurant with a focus on seasonal, organic and locally sourced ingredients. Great relationships that were made with local growers at the Salt Lake City Farmer's market helped keep the Sage's Cafe kitchen fresh. Over the years to come, Sage's Cafe had become one of the top vegan restaurants in the US, written about in the Washington Post, Bon Appetit Magazine, Veg News, Sunset, and all of the local papers and press.

In 2007, Vertical Diner was opened in an old 50's diner in a warehouse and industrial district in SLC. The Vertical became very well received and was a nice option for more affordable vegan cuisine with breakfast all day. At the time Sage's Cafe was a bit too expensive and was so vegetable driven that it didn't appeal to all of our guests. Vertical filled this gap perfectly.

In 2007, Cali's Natural Foods opened to support the production of foods at Vertical Diner. Cali's eventually has become a source of vegan specialty products for Vertical Diner and the many other accounts it serves in Salt Lake City. In 2010-2013, Ian Brandt opened Cafe SuperNatural which was a vegan spa cuisine restaurant. It was very well received but just didn't have enough business and closed in 2013. Vertical Diner ended up in the Sage's Cafe's 2nd location at 234 west 900 south.

In 2017, Sage's Cafe moved back downtown to 368 east 100 south. Vertical Diner thrived at this location to a level that we had never seen before. In 2018, a tough decision was made to close down the 20 year old Sage's Cafe. Vertical Diner and Sage's Cafe merged concepts, recipes, equipment and staffing. Vertical Diner became even more popular and successful.

Cali's Natural Foods increased commercial accounts to some noteworthy clients and has become a successful food processor. The next big move for Vertical was on January 2nd of 2019, while living in Eugene, Oregon, Ian Brandt decided it was time to expand Vertical Diner to Portland. Brandt had this plan for 16 years and felt like the timing was right and finally after 16 years of searching found the perfect location. After 6 months of remodeling, Vertical Diner Portland opened on July 8th, 2019 at 8124 sw Barbur Boulevard.

As the name suggests “Vertical Diner“ is unlimited in¬†potential!