Vegan protesters storm Melbourne steak restaurant

Dozens of vegan protesters have stormed a Melbourne steak restaurant, which was packed with patrons enjoying dinner.

Close to 40 protesters from activist groups Direct Action Everywhere and Melbourne Cow Save marched into Rare Steakhouse restaurant on Kings Street in the CBD on Saturday night.

They held up graphic posters of cows in the slaughterhouse and chanted with megaphones.

Stunned customers looked on as the group walked around the two-level restaurant for some time.

“This is what happened to your steak, this is what happened before their flesh ended up on your plate,” one activist can be heard yelling, with much of the protest captured on camera and posted into social media.

“In order to create change in our society, we must challenge current belief systems and force people to take a side; oppression or justice, cruelty or compassion,” Melbourne Cow Save wrote on its Facebook page.

“There is no humane way to kill someone who does not want to die.”

The restaurant’s media manager said customers and staff were “shocked” by the protest.

"Our senior staff members identified who they thought were the ringleaders of the group and approached them and asked them to please leave because they were obviously unwelcome and entered the restaurant with the purpose of disrupting the peace," Chrissy Symeonakis told The Age.

"When they refused to leave, the police were called."