When a business self-limits its audience, the chances of success become more challenging. Yes, niche groups of people may actively support you, but finding broader support can be difficult.
This is generally the case for restaurants that serve a specific customer base. Whether you’re targeting a kosher, gluten-free, halal, vegetarian or vegan audience, restaurants often need to attract people outside of their core demographic to be sustainable.
Bloomberg reports: “Vegan restaurants face the same difficulties as non-vegan restaurants, including rising rent and operating costs. But these challenges are compounded by limited customers and the high prices of plant-based protein alternatives like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods in some locations.”
According to Gallup, only 1% of Americans consider themselves vegetarian, while the same poll shows 3% consider themselves vegetarian. This means that vegetarian restaurants, unless located in major cities, need to attract non-vegetarian customers.
This significant challenge has recently led to the bankruptcy of many vegan and vegetarian chains. Planta, a pioneer in the vegetarian food space, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The company has now been forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will be liquidated.
Planta’s website makes no mention of any form of bankruptcy but still shows seven operating locations. The chain’s Facebook page also doesn’t acknowledge the filing or the change in bankruptcy status, but documents on PacerMonitor confirm it.
Law360 reports, “A Delaware bankruptcy judge has ordered the conversion of vegan restaurant group Planta’s Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 liquidation after the debtors said they had no other choice.”
The chain has not commented publicly on its move to Chapter 7 bankruptcy and did not immediately respond to TheStreet’s request for comment.
David Carickhof has been appointed interim trustee to oversee Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, according to a notice filed on PacerMonitor on March 9.
According to the USCourts.gov website, “A Chapter 7 bankruptcy case does not involve the filing of a repayment plan under Chapter 13 (or Chapter 11). Instead, the bankruptcy trustee collects and sells the debtor’s nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds from those assets to pay creditors (creditors) under the Bankruptcy Code.”
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Unlike Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the purpose of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is to maximize returns to creditors.
Under the Cornell Act, “the distribution of proceeds is based on the hierarchy of claimants’ rights.”
Planta offers vegan sushi. Planta ·planta
Planta has always faced a challenging market.
The Guardian reported that “despite hopes that burgers, sausages and chicken made from soybeans, peas and beans will curb America’s love of eating slaughtered animals, thereby reducing the deforestation, water pollution and planet-heating emissions caused by raising livestock, these alternatives account for only 1% of the total U.S. meat market.”
plant-based restaurant chainPlanta files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy According to PacerMonitor filings, the company filed the lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on May 12, 2025, through its parent company CHG US Holdings and 17 affiliated entities.
Reported bankruptcy filing Very limited assets, approximately $50,000 to $100,000 That compares with expected liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million, PacerMonitor reported.
The company said the filing was intended to Reorganization operation A drop in consumer spending on dining out has weighed on the business, Reuters reported.
planta Start closing locations As part of the reorganization, locations in West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Los Angeles (Brentwood) and Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood are included, TheStreet reported.
The chain has Rapid expansion after launch in 2016According to Reuters, the company operates restaurants in cities including Miami, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta and Toronto.
company ultimately Escape from bankruptcy by selling assetsThe brand continues to operate with about eight fewer locations, Nation’s Restaurant News reports.
A Delaware bankruptcy judge reportedly moved the Chapter 11 case to Chapter 7 liquidation after vegetarian restaurant chain Planta said there was no remaining path to reorganization. Law 360.
Adding that the switch means a court-appointed trustee will now take control of the case and liquidate remaining assets to repay creditors Law 360.
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden partner Joseph Barsalona, who represents Planta, said the chain’s upscale dining only attracts a limited number of customers. He also pointed to a broader decline in demand for plant-based products, according to Bloomberg.
“Veganism isn’t going away, but it’s not going to be universally accepted by Americans who regularly eat burgers, so some of these stores never even open,” he added.
“Planta has rapidly built 12 restaurants in three years, exacerbating pandemic-induced disruption and other macroeconomic headwinds,” Restaurant Dive reported.
The current operating environment makes an already challenging market for plant-based restaurants even more difficult.
Jason Kaplan, CEO of restaurant and hospitality consulting firm JK Consulting, told Bloomberg Law: “When there’s uncertainty among customers and they’re really focused on every dollar, cost becomes even more important, which puts specialty stores at a possible competitive disadvantage.”
Planta is not the only player in the field facing significant challenges.
Plum Bistro (Seattle, WA): Flagship vegetarian restaurant and Plum Chopped closing in January 2025.
Paradox Cafe (Portland, OR): Long-standing vegetarian restaurant to close in 2025.
it’s clear (Portland, OR): Vegan/pescatarian brunch spot that briefly reopened but then closed permanently in July 2025.
Sage Recycled Kitchen and Brewery (Pasadena and Echo Park, CA): Formerly known as Sage Vegan Bistro; closed in January 2025 after reintroducing animal products.
Vegan BBQ: As part of the restructuring, 12 stores (about 40%) will be closed by 2025.
Pure burger: Backed by Lewis Hamilton and Leonardo DiCaprio : Closes all UK stores in April 2025, enters liquidation in July 2025.
This article was originally published by TheStreet on March 11, 2026, and first appeared in the Restaurant section. Click here to add TheStreet as your preferred source.
