Vegan restaurant forced to close after furious customers attacked it for putting meat on the menu

A vegan restaurant chain has been forced to close for good following furious customers criticizing them for putting meat and cheese on the menu.

Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery closed down on Sunday (January 5), with both its restaurants in Echo Park and Pasadena, California, ceasing operations.

The restaurants were co-owned by Mollie Engelhart and her husband, Elias Sosa.

The owners told Eater that the business had been financially suffering, having been behind on rent and taxes by 2023, so the couple looked for ways to pump more money into the restaurants - even going so far as to selling their California home.

In May 2024, they decided to create more business by introducing meat and cheese to the menu for the first time.

The meat products were produced using 'regenerative farming', which, according to The New York Post, is said to have less impact on the environment than traditional farming methods.

Engelhard told Eater: "I thought maybe we could merge these two things, my restaurants and my passion for regenerative agriculture, and come to some new pathway."

However, this decision faced a lot of backlash from vegan diners and animal rights groups.

Customers flooded to review sites to leave a critical comments about the restaurant, with one person claiming on Yelp that they were 'sure y’all lost a lot of your vegan base when you added meat'.

Protesters also showed up at the restaurant, with one protest causing the restaurant to close early, FOX 11 Los Angeles reports.

This ultimately led Sage back to where they'd previously started, with Engelhart telling Eater: "Now we just find ourselves in the exact same position, deep in debt and unable to make payroll, bouncing checks to vendors."

She continued: "I think that Sage closing is a reflection of how disconnected we are from our food systems," adding that it was a 'sad victory' for those who'd protested against the menu change.

On January 2, Sage announced their closure on Instagram, writing on the social media site: "It is with a heavy heart that we close the chapter on Sage."

The statement continued: "We all poured our passion into shifting the concept to regenerative agriculture, but despite our efforts, we find ourselves in the same predicament today.

"Sunday, January 5th will be our final day of service. We invite you to visit us during our last week. Thank you for 14 incredible years of support.

"With love from the Sage family, Mollie & Elias, we say goodbye."

With the restaurant's closure, Englehart and Sosa are focusing on their regenerative farm in Texas, Eater reports, with Englehart adding: "I hope that customers choose farmers, choose local, and choose the highest quality ingredients."

She also said that she was 'incredibly grateful to have been able to serve the LA community for so long'.

UNILAD has reached out to Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery for further comment.