Two downtown locations of a popular casual breakfast chain have closed their doors permanently.

Former owner of a 277 Wellington St. W. location of Cora's at Blue Jays Way and Wellington David Bagley reports that his location as well as a location at Carlton and Yonge have closed.

The Montreal-based breakfast restaurant chain is known for serving morning staples like pancakes, eggs benny and smoothies. The Wellington location has been around for at least a decade.

"My location shut down at the end of March. It was a combination of a huge rent increase the year before and COVID. I presented the landlord a proposal at the start of COVID to try and lower the rent but they would not even look at it. The rent went from $14,000 monthly to $24,000 monthly," alleges Bagley.

"So with COVID, doing takeout only, there was no way to keep the business open. I have since sold my house in Toronto and moved back to Orillia where I grew up and in the home I inherited from my parents. It's still too early for me to retire so until more jobs become available I have been doing Instacart delivery orders to keep me busy." 

The Carlton location shut down a few months later according to Bagley, who knows the owner. The lease was up and the owner decided not to renew, choosing instead to concentrate on another location.