Cardiac arrest put SLO High grad in a coma. Now she has her own vegetarian food truck

At age 16, Ivy Alvarado’s life changed. In fact, it nearly stopped.

While working at a Subway restaurant in San Luis Obispo in 2008, Alvarado experienced a cardiac arrest that sent her into a coma. Doctors told her parents that if she woke up, she wouldn’t be able to recognize her family or even move.

“But I proved them wrong,” Alvarado said with a smile.

Alvarado and her mother, Melinda, recently opened Plant Ivy, a food truck with an entirely plant-based menu.

Alvarado, a San Luis Obispo High School graduate, has been a vegetarian on and off since she was 5 years old. She said her love of animals came from her mother, who worked at a wildlife rehabilitation facility when she was young.

The mother-daughter duo began selling a vegetarian menu out of a pop-up tent at local events in August 2018, and upgraded to a food truck in October 2019.

SLO County food truck sells Impossible Burgers

Plant Ivy’s menu is centered around the Impossible Burger, a plant-based burger made to taste like meat.

The food truck sells four burgers using Impossible Burger patties — such a burger paired with fig chutney, cheddar cheese, grilled onions and lettuce, served with herby smashed potatoes or delicata squash bites

Plant Ivy also offers nachos featuring tortilla chips, black beans, olives, onions, Kacey’s Jalapeno Cheese Sauce and Impossible Crumbles.

Alvarado said the food truck uses as much locally grown produce as possible.

“I love seeing people, meeting people. I love the excitement of where am I going to go next,” Alvarado said. “How people respond to the burgers is a major plus.”

For every burger Alvarado sells, she said she donates $1 to Alternative Neurological Solutions, a neurological treatment center that focuses on wounded veterans. Alvarado said it was one of the nonprofit organizations that helped her.

SLO teen recovers from cardiac arrest, coma

But Alvarado’s journey from coma patient to business owner was not easy.

“The doctors told us that if she woke up that she probably wouldn’t know or recognize us and that she’d be a vegetable,” her mother said.

When Alvarado woke from the coma, her mom said, she couldn’t speak or eat. She had to go to speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy once to twice a week.

Melinda Alvarado said many of the treatments that helped her daughter were not covered by her insurance. But a local band, Unfinished Business, helped raised $60,000 for Ivy Alvarado.

A year after her cardiac arrest, with the help of therapists and special education tutors, Alvarado graduated from San Luis Obispo High School. She then began taking classes at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.

Alvarado’s short-term memory issues made school a challenge. But after taking an entrepreneurship class with Cuesta College professor Neil Higgins, who is now one of her business advisors, something clicked and she was inspired to start her own business.

Once Alvarado tried the Impossible Burger, she said she knew she wanted to share it with the local community. She also wanted to be able to support herself, so she created Plant Ivy.

“Its really exciting,” Alvarado said. “It’s just, I’ve succeeded.”

The Alvarados partnered with Courtney’s House restaurant in Templeton to use their commercial kitchen when prepping for events.

Alvarado’s food truck was made by LA Custom Food Trucks. Food Trucks typically aren’t allowed to have a stationary seat in them, Melinda Forbes said, but because of her daughter’s disability they were able to install one.

“It’s really quite a feat and the whole journey to get to it has really been amazing,” her mother said.

Speaking about her long-term plans, Ivy Alvarado said, “I’d like more trucks and be able to go more places and do a couple events a day and hire staff like me working as a cashier.”

Where to find Plant Ivy

Plant Ivy food truck can be found every Monday at the Wee Shack parking lot in Morro Bay.