Planta closes all Toronto locations permanently amid bankruptcy filings

Plant-based restaurant chain Planta has officially closed its two Toronto locations amid bankruptcy filings, while all of its U.S. restaurants remain in business.

When the doors of the first-ever Planta location opened at Bay and Bloor in 2016, Toronto had never seen anything like it. There, local culinary icon David Lee (then of Nota Bene fame) performed daring, dazzling acts of alchemy, all without the use of meat, dairy or eggs.

Poof: what was once a carrot is now a hot dog, and tastes like one, too! Hocus pocus, watermelon? Think again: ahi tuna. At Planta, Lee lifted the ceiling of what was possible in vegan cuisine so high even card-carrying carnivores couldn't see it.

While it's all too common for Toronto to become a landing pad for Canadian branches of American chains, it's less likely — almost entirely unheard of, for that matter — for the opposite to be true. But it was for Planta.

Before too long, the business spawned outposts south of the border in Florida, Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles and D.C., while Toronto served as a test ground for other plant-based Planta-branded experiments like Planta Cocina and Planta Burger. The city that incubated the concept later got a second Planta location on Queen West.

The proverbial veggie patch was blighted in May of 2025, however, when the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Just under a year later, in March 2026, the chain was approved for liquidation, leaving many to wonder what the future held for the chain.

With the publication of a notice on Planta's website, we finally have our answer: both of Toronto's remaining Planta locations have shuttered permanently as of Tuesday, May 19.

"PLANTA began in Toronto nearly ten years ago with a simple belief: plant-based dining could be vibrant, craveable, community-driven, and worthy of celebration. What started here grew into something far bigger than we ever imagined, and we are incredibly grateful to every guest who supported us along the way," the letter reads.

"This journey has also come with operational and financial challenges. 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 and officially closed as of May 19, 2026."

The notice goes on to confirm that Planta "continues to operate and grow across the United States," encouraging its fans to stop by the next time they visit our neighbours to the south. Who knew betrayal tasted so much like cauliflower steak and tofu?

Toronto's Planta locations were formerly located at 1221 Bay St. and 180 Queen St. W.