Plant-based restaurant chain PLANTA has permanently closed its two remaining Canadian locations, ending its presence in the city where the brand was born a decade ago.
The Yorkville and Queen West restaurants in Toronto shut on May 19, 2026. The company cited sustained financial pressures in the Canadian market as the driver, stating it is concentrating resources on its US operations, which run under a separate corporate entity.
A turbulent two years
The closures follow a difficult period for the chain. PLANTA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States in May 2025, attributing the filing to the economic slowdown that followed the pandemic and to overexpansion, having built roughly 12 locations over three years while accumulating significant debt. At the time of filing, the company reported liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million against negligible monetary assets.
In August 2025, lender Anchorage Capital Group acquired the business out of bankruptcy for $7.8 million, largely through debt-to-equity conversion. The deal initially preserved eight locations, but subsequent litigation involving former directors and officers pushed the case into Chapter 7 proceedings, with a bankruptcy judge approving the liquidation of 12 restaurants earlier this year.
US locations showing signs of recovery
Five US locations now remain open: New York, Washington D.C., Bethesda (Maryland), Los Angeles, and Chicago. Dan Moody, the chain’s chief operating officer, told Nation’s Restaurant News that sales at some of those locations are up as much as 20% so far in 2026. Moody has indicated that further expansion is possible, though likely not before early 2027 and at a slower pace than the chain’s earlier growth push, with a preference for second-generation spaces over costly new builds.
In a statement on its website, the company acknowledged the financial difficulties that made the Toronto closures unavoidable. “Despite every effort to continue forward in Toronto, our Yorkville and Queen West restaurants ultimately reached a point where it was no longer financially feasible to sustain operations,” the company wrote.
Moody said the company is rolling out a more globally inspired menu this summer while retaining core items, and described Planta as remaining committed to its 100% plant-based positioning.
