Clover Food Lab In Brookline Village Is Closing

BROOKLINE, MA — If you're in love with the breakfast popover sandwiches or the rosemary french fries or the Impossible Burger or that cup of George Howell pour over coffe at Clover in Brookline Village, you better get your fill soon. The Clover Food Lab in Brookline Village is closing up shop.

According to the owner Ayr Muir, the vegetarian fast food restaurant is set to close April 20. Although the Brookline location always had a constant flow of customers, it still wasn't quite fitting the vision for the local chain that stresses using organic, seasonal and local foods.

"When we opened five years ago there, we were testing out different formats. Looking back it all seems more clear now in terms of what we do. At that point in time we were still exploring and didn’t know as much," he said. "We were curious about trying a take out version."

The vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurant and only take-out only space in Brookline was the Cambridge-based farm to table's tiniest Clover - it used to be a Papa Gino's pizza shop.

"Take-out might be something we come back to at some point, but the other models work better for us," said Muir.

He said he tried to work with the town to rezone the restaurant for seating, and even had approval from one of the boards, complete with paperwork that prompted them to bring in a table and some stools, before that was vetoed. He hired lawyers but it just didn't work out, he said. Patch is reaching out to the zoning board for comment.

"It was a very complex, challenging process with the town and we’re closing without seating," he said.

• Read more >> Brookline Officials Supported Restaurant's Bid For Seating

Right now there are no plans to look for a new spot in town. At some point he might look to set up shop in other Brookline locations again, he said, but it wasn't top of his list at this point.

"With some of these things you have to make the decisions at a high level, but hopefully people will stay in the Clover family and come see some of the staff they've come to know over the years working at our other locations," he said.

The closest Clover after this one shutters will be the Longwood Clover, which has seating but no street parking nearby, but is pretty close to public transportation - something Clover can get behind.

So what's next for Clover?

The chain is upping its coffee game, increasing the number of local roasters, adding brewed coffee to the line up of pour over options as well as a Cafe au lait with in-house-made syrups and a chicory cold brew coffee with nitro. The new coffee program will be rolling out a the South Station location, Kendall Square and the LMA location this week, complete with free coffee in the morning for folks who are interested in giving it a try.

Clover also just released an order ahead app that they've been working on the past five years that is flexible enough to change as their menu changes with the seasonal food from local farms.

One more thing: For those Brookline residents who are bummed that their CSA is about to end, there's a special Meet The Farmers event happening at the Longwood location in the coming weeks. The event is a chance for folks to meet the local farmers who supply the food that the chain uses.

Look for a new organic seedling CSA, too, he said.

While you still can until April 20:

Brookline Clover is at 6 Harvard Street across from the Caffe Nero and next to Dunkin Donuts. It's open:

• SUN: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• WEEKDAYS: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• SAT: 9a.m. – 8p.m.

Next closest:

The Longwood Clover is at 360 Longwood Ave. Boston. It's open:

• SUN: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• MON – SAT: 6:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Clover Food Lab was founded by MIT alum and environmentalist Ayr Muir in 2008 as a food truck. Clover’s mission is to address global warming by building a better food future. With the help of fans, it expanded to 13 restaurants sourcing much of its menu from local farmers.

What's next for the space?

No word yet, but it is up for rent for $3,744 a month.

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch