Worcester Vegan Restaurant Closes, But New One Planned

WORCESTER, MA — The owners of the local Vegan Nest restaurants are closing their downtown Worcester location, but a new café will soon take over the space.

Vegan Nest owner Nicole Broushet said Monday the Worcester café along Waldo Street has closed so she and her staff can focus on the Vegan Nest restaurant in Clinton, which opened in town's downtown in 2021.

"[B]usiness has been expanding so much in health education, catering and at our location in Clinton that we had to shift our focus to best serve our community and efficiently manage the growth of the business," she said. "We saw that many of our customers in Worcester were willing to come to Clinton so the best way for us to do that without putting a strain on our staff was to consolidate our restaurant operations to the Clinton location for now."

Broushet said Vegan Nest will still serve corporate clients in Worcester, and plans to host popups in the city. The restaurant opened in Worcester in 2017 after popup events at the Out To Lunch festival and New England VegFest.

On Thursday, a business called Not Ya Mama’s Vegan Café will go before the Worcester License Commission to request a license to operate in Vegan Nest's 6 Waldo St. location.

The restaurant's food was available at New England VegFest this spring. Owner Gary Young has been renovating the new Waldo Street location since June preparing to offer his "classic comfort food full of flavor for the soul."

Broushet said she's looking forward to the new café, which will be "an awesome addition to the Worcester foodie scene."