Clover Food Lab warns it could lay off 182 workers at Boston-area vegetarian restaurants

Clover Food Lab, a vegetarian fast food restaurant chain in the Boston area, has let the state know it may have to lay off 182 workers as ownership seeks to sell the business.

The filing says the date of the layoffs would be May 29, 2026.

The Cambridge-based company told WBZ-TV it is currently seeking a buyer for its restaurants, but could not comment further on the sales process.

"We are required by Massachusetts law to file a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act report in the case that we do not finalize the deal; we simply want to comply with all regulations in the case of a change of operations," the company said in a statement. "We are optimistic that Clover will continue to serve our locally sourced farm-to-table fast food in Clover's next chapter."

Clover began as a food truck on the MIT campus in 2008. It now has 11 restaurants, including one at the just-opened Eastern Edge Food Hall in Kendall Square.

Clover filed for bankruptcy in 2023, writing that "COVID changed everything for restaurants like us." The company sold meal boxes during the pandemic to get by, but even when restaurants did reopen, sales remained below pre-COVID levels.

The Boston Globe reported that Clover emerged out of bankruptcy in 2024 and even had plans to expand. The company reportedly had plans to add up to 50 more restaurants in New England over a five-year span.