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Travis Barker is best known as the drummer for Blink-182, but he’s also become something of a wellness icon. A longtime vegan, Barker is vocal about his healthy lifestyle – free from alcohol, full of meditation, and yes, fueled by plant-based food. His diet is a mix of expensive LA eats and protein-packed vegan staples. So when YouTuber and plant-based personality Merle O’Neal decided to eat like him for a day, we had to watch.
O’Neal is known for her down-to-earth food content and hilarious commentary. She’s tried everything from “what I eat in a day” celebrity videos to budget cooking challenges, always with a vegan twist. In this episode, she dove headfirst into Barker’s bougie world, saying: “I’ve known Travis Barker was vegan for quite a while now. It was always one of my favorite celebrity fun facts.”
Crossroads chicken & waffles: worth the hype?
O’Neal kicked off her day at Crossroads Kitchen, a high-end vegan restaurant Barker frequents. First on the list? His favorite: chicken and waffles.
“This is the best vegan fried chicken I have ever had in my life,” she said. “This is so beautifully crispy, the inside is just… it’s so chicken-like.” The maple syrup? “Tastes like it was taken from The Giving Tree.”
The only downside? The price. “$24… that makes each one of these breasts like $12 bucks.” Still, she admitted, “This is phenomenal.”
Read more: ‘5 Whole Food, Plant-Based Meals I Eat Every Week’
Protein shake, banana bread vibes
Next, she recreated Barker’s go-to protein shake at home, using oat milk with added pea protein, bananas, chia seeds (in place of flax), protein powder, dates, and cinnamon.
“It tasted like banana bread,” O’Neal said post-workout. “Cinnamon was a very nice touch as well.” She rated it a 7.8 out of 10, though noted it was “very thick” and would benefit from being thinned out.
Sausage muffin breakfast sandwich
Barker’s favorite at-home meal is simple: an English muffin with a Just Egg folded patty and an Impossible sausage. O’Neal recreated it and added vegan cheese and Sriracha.
“I’m learning that Travis Barker loves processed food,” she joked. “It’s a little bit of a junk food vegan, and that’s fine.” She gave it a 7.8 and described it as “a nice breakfast treat, maybe like a weekend treat.”
Erwan: the most expensive bowl of broccoli ever?
O’Neal headed to Erewhon (pronounced “air-won”), another Barker favorite, for a turmeric smoothie and a vegan meal. Barker’s go-to – beefless broccoli – was sold out, so she settled for a vegan short rib with sides.
The smoothie? “$13… It looks like a sunset in a cup.” She gave it a B+, noting, “It’s pretty good… but not worth 25 minutes and $13.”
As for the food: “The broccoli… boring. The beans… good. The short rib… a D.” She added, “This meat substitute… tastes like weird bread. There’s a cardboard aftertaste.”
Dinner at Crossroads: pizza, pasta & dessert
O’Neal ended the day with a takeout feast from Crossroads: gluten-free pepperoni pizza, pasta Bolognese, and a sundae.
The pizza was a hit: “The pepperoni is kind of amazing… tastes the most like pepperoni of any vegan pepperoni I’ve ever had.” The gluten-free crust was “a little dry, but very good.” She gave it an A.
The pasta impressed too: “It does not taste like any different than regular pasta… for a gluten-free option, I wouldn’t even feel like I’m missing out.”
The sundae, however, didn’t blow her away: “It was very good… but $12? That just doesn’t make any sense for me to do that.”
You can find more of Merle O’Neal’s recipes and videos on her YouTube channel.
Read more: ‘I Tried Making Vegan Chicken from Scratch – Here’s What Happened’
