[EXCLUSIVE] Trendy Plant Based Restaurant Calls It Quits in Atlanta

Just over two years after its Atlanta debut, trendy plant-based restaurant PLANTA has closed.  The restaurant, located at Krog Street Market (99 Krog Street) in Inman Park, debuted June 30, 2023, and was soon joined by a sibling restaurant PLANTA Queen, an Asian influenced fellow plant-based eatery, on December 26, 2023.

The Buckhead location had been listed for sale for several months before its abrupt closure this past April, just fifteen months after its opening.  

The Krog Street restaurant reportedly closed at the end of dinner service July 29.  The Krog Street Market restaurant is not yet marked "permanently closed" on Google but it is no longer mentioned on the Planta website.    

PLANTA was the third full-service restaurant to occupy the roughly 3,500 square foot space at Krog Street Market.  Eli Kirstein's The Luminary was first (08/2014-03/2017), followed by Watchman's Seafood & Spirits (06/2018-02/2022).    

Shortly after the Buckhead closure, the entire Planta company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  In the filing, the company indicated that it was, negatively impacted by increased labor and food costs and a subsequent dip in customer traffic among other issues.   According to its bankruptcy filing, Planta owed between $10 million and $50 million to its creditors. 

Founder and CEO Steven Salm and Co-founder and Executive Chef David Lee created PLANTA in 2016. In the years since, the duo expanded the brand to more than a dozen restaurants and multiple concepts across New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, and DMV (D.C., Maryland & Virginia).  

In May, the company closed South Florida restaurants in West Palm Beach and South Beach.  

At its peak, the company operated eighteen restaurants throughout the US and Canada, with twelve still operating as of July 30 according to its website.    

Although Planta has now closed both of its Atlanta area restaurants,  metro Atlanta still has plenty of great plant-based restaurant options including Mamak Vegan Kitchen (2390 Chamblee Tucker Road) in Chamblee, Cafe Sunflower (2140 Peachtree Road) in Buckhead, PlantBased Cafe (4338 Paces Ferry Road) in Vinings, La Semilla (780 Memorial Drive) in Reynoldstown, and RHW Retail & Vegan Cafe (371 Boulevard) in Grant Park.    

Did you ever dine at PLANTA?  What is your favorite plant-based restaurant in Atlanta?  What would you most like to see open in place of PLANTA  in Krog Street Market?      

Please share your thoughts below.