Cambridge-based Food Company Gets Second Chance After Planned Closure

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A vegetarian-centric, fast-food company announced some of its locations will remain open less than a week after saying it had to cease operations entirely.

The business told Patch that it then secured a deal with an investor that will allow the company to remain open.

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“We didn’t plan this. We couldn’t have. And we’re still figuring it out—but it’s true,” Clover said in a statement.

Clover’s said that it received an unexpected public showing of support from its customer base in the form of purchases, social media posts, and artwork.

“Former staff who moved away traveled hours for a final popover. Toddlers in strollers clutched their last containers of hummus,” Clover said in a statement. “Someone biked all around Cambridge to visit as many locations as she could. People took to Reddit to share a romesco recipe from Veggie Monster.”

Clover’s relaunch is slated for Tuesday, June 9 and will apply to its Cambridge and Boston locations. It said that it intends to return to its previous operations, however it expects some changes due to ongoing challenges that still remain despite its newfound resources.

“Inflationary pressures on our industry remain an issue, of course, and we are now working hard on implementing operational changes to ensure the financial sustainability of Clover,” the business told Patch.

The vegetarian restaurant chain was founded in 2008 by MIT and Harvard Business School graduate Ayr Muir with the goal of serving fully organic and plant-based items. What started out as a food truck turned into 12 brick-and-mortar locations. In November 2023, Muir filed for bankruptcy and turned operations over to Julia Wrin Piper. The business’s name was simplified from Clover Food Labs to Clover in early 2024 as part of a semi-rebrand and restructuring. In addition to its locations, Clover offers meal boxes with ingredients customers can prepare on its own as well as catering services.

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