Clover to close all its vegetarian restaurants around Boston: "Everyone is getting hit with rising costs"

Clover Food Lab, which has about a dozen vegetarian fast-food restaurants in the Boston area, is closing.

The Cambridge-based company said that after 17 years, Thursday will be the last day of business for its restaurants and meal box delivery service.

"I'm sad. There's not a lot of good vegetarian or vegan food in the city or a lot of places are closing," said Matt Miller, a frequent customer. "Having places that are vegan, vegetarian friendly, it's kind of like a safe place to be."

In March, Clover warned the state that it could close and lay off its 182 employees if it was unable to find a buyer. The company said at the time it was "optimistic" that it would be able to finalize a deal and stay in business. 

But on Tuesday, Clover CEO Julia Wrin Piper explained that "our current situation isn't a unique story."

"Today, everyone is getting hit with rising costs—food prices are up, delivery prices are up, and a hundred other costs are moving in the same direction…even the less flashy things like cardboard and fry oil," Piper said in a statement. "Across the board, our ingredients cost 30-50% more today than they did just 2 years ago."  

She added, "we've raised prices some, of course, but there is a limit—every one of you is likely thinking about how you save and spend right now too."

Clover previously filed for bankruptcy in 2023, but emerged out of it the next year and planned to add up to 50 more restaurants in New England, The Boston Globe reported. 

"I think, we're gonna be seeing increasing number of business bankruptcy is both in the food space and in other areas that are under financial pressure," said Jay Zagorsky from Boston University's Questrom School of Business. "I think we're seeing an increasing number of bankruptcies as businesses and American consumers are becoming increasingly fragile."

Zagorsky pointed to the decline in the number of vegetarians and an increase in the number of people on weight loss drugs as factors, saying "I think we're gonna be seeing people shifting from eating to doing other social activities. And this spells trouble for parts of the fast casual industry."

Clover got its start as a food truck on the MIT campus in 2008 before adding brick-and-mortar locations around Boston. It just opened its newest restaurant at the Eastern Edge Food Hall in Kendall Square.

"I was a student here at MIT, and I remember they had the first food truck, and it was the most amazing food I've ever had. I know, nobody even told me it was vegan. And so every time I come back, this is where I go. So when I come in the future, I don't know where I'm gonna go. This is like my routine," said MIT graduate Lydia Chilton. "I feel like it's gonna hit a lot of restaurants. Maybe it's just hitting them first."