The plant-based dining boom has claimed another casualty.
A once-buzzy vegan restaurant chain with locations across North America is now facing the end after a judge approved the liquidation of its business.
Planta, known for its upscale plant-only menu and stylish restaurants, has had its Chapter 11 bankruptcy converted into a Chapter 7 liquidation in Delaware.
The move means the company has abandoned its attempt to reorganize and will instead wind down the business and sell off any remaining assets.
Planta first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2025 as financial pressures mounted across the restaurant industry.
At its peak, the brand had 18 restaurants across major cities including New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Maryland and Toronto.
The chain built a loyal following with a menu designed to prove vegan food could rival traditional comfort dishes. Signature items included pepper 'steak' lettuce wraps, crispy chick'n cutlets and plant-based sushi such as spicy tuna hand rolls.
But like many restaurants, Planta faced rising rents, higher labor costs and softer consumer spending.
The restaurant chain Planta has immediately permanently closed its locations, including one in South Beach
Planta South Beach offered delivery and takeout options before officially shuttering in March 2026
Some customers took to social media, sharing their shock and disappointment at Planta's shuttering.
'Man, we've only been to the Bethesda location but it's so good,' one Reddit user wrote, with another saying, 'just went for the first time last weekend and it was great.'
'My Favorite Restaurant,' an Instagram comment said. 'So sad they closed they're Florida locations.'
While vegans make up an estimated 1 percent of the population in the US, more plant-based options were added to major chains' menus.
That, of course, includes Burger King's Impossible Whopper, which became a permanent addition to their menu in 2019. In 2022, KFC introduced their Beyond Fried Chicken nuggets and wings only to discontinue them shortly after.
However, Planta wouldn't be the only vegan-only company that's seeing losses in recent years.
Beyond Meat -- once worth $7.8billion -- saw it's stock plummet 50 percent after the company announced it would swap old debt for new loans and issue hundreds of millions of new shares.
'Beyond Meat suffers from taste and texture issues, high prices, and perhaps an "ultra-processed food" image,' Jerry Thomas, the CEO of Decision Analyst, previously told the Daily Mail.
Another massive player in the plant-based meat sphere, Impossible burgers, saw criticism in 2024 for staggering health repercussion.
A study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that people who ate a diet high in vegan meats like Beyond burgers and Impossible burgers had higher blood sugars than those who ate real meat over eight weeks.
'Vegan restaurants face hardships that often mirror those of nonvegan establishments, including rising rent and operating costs,' Bloomberg Law reported. 'But those challenges are compounded by a limited clientele and, in some locations, the high prices of plant-based protein alternatives like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to Planta for a comment.