Jyoti-Bihanga Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurant has occupied the corner of 3351 Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, San Diego since 1986, making it the oldest continuously operating vegetarian restaurant in the city. The building dates to 1928, originally constructed as a bank that never opened, and its vaulted ceilings and tall storefront windows define the dining room's character. The vegetarian dining landscape along Adams Avenue in the 92116 ZIP extends east into Kensington and includes Plumeria Vegetarian Restaurant on El Cajon Blvd, another plant-based kitchen drawing from Asian culinary traditions. Owner Mahiyan and the staff are students of Sri Chinmoy, the Indian-born spiritual teacher who named the restaurant — Jyoti-Bihanga translates to "The Soul-Bird of the Absolute Light Supreme" — and encouraged a menu reflecting vegetarian principles drawn from meditation practice. The kitchen's rotating specials pull international recipes from other Sri Chinmoy-inspired restaurants worldwide, alongside house staples such as the Neatloaf (available vegan), the Yoga Bowl with quinoa and beet hummus, the Shiva Wrap, and a raw vegan gluten-free chocolate cake. The restaurant operates a connected meditation center and runs community events including the Sri Chinmoy Peace Garden race on Adams Avenue and weekly meditation classes at Noble Learning next door at 3333 Adams. Restaurants in Normal Heights span a corridor of independent kitchens running from the North Park border west to Kensington east, and Jyoti-Bihanga's 38-year tenure anchors the vegetarian end of that spectrum. The house Chai tea is blended from a proprietary spice recipe and brewed with black tea, served hot or iced with a vegan milk option, alongside organic coffee and a rotating selection of loose-leaf teas.