Bar Vegan to close Ponce City Market location

Driving the news: "This chapter may be closing, but the story doesn't end here," the restaurant said Thursday in an announcement on its Instagram. "Stay tuned — there's more coming to Atlanta this summer. Rumor has it, we may just be a part of it."

Zoom out: Bar Vegan's closure comes after Slutty Vegan closed locations this year in Duluth and on the campuses of Spelman College and Georgia Tech, which Rough Draft reported was part of a restructuring of Cole's company.

Context: In an interview with People, Cole revealed the restructuring began in February and resulted in her temporarily turning over ownership.

• "I fought it for a long time, to be honest, and I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to face the public scrutiny," Cole told the magazine.
• She said in the interview that she was able to buy back her business in late March and is eyeing expanding into the hospitality arena with her husband, Big Dave's Cheesesteaks owner Derrick Hayes.

Flashback: A former employee sued Bar Vegan in 2022 alleging that Cole and her business partners did not pay them for tips and overtime and did not meet the federal minimum wage requirements.

• A settlement was approved in December by a federal district court judge, but lawyers for the plaintiffs told a judge last month that the defendants have not paid up, the AJC reports.
• However, Cole told the court she no longer owns the restaurant, which she said in a statement is under the control of another entity.