{"id":254646,"date":"2026-04-06T21:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254646\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:41:07","slug":"vegan-eatery-millennium-to-close-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254646\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan eatery Millennium to close in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long-treasured haven for upscale plant-based cuisine<\/a> is closing in Oakland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Millennium<\/a>, located at 5912 College Ave. in the Rockridge District, announced the news late last week on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s clear to us right now that this isn\u2019t financially sustainable for us anymore. We just aren\u2019t busy enough to keep operating this way,\u201d co-owner Alison Bagby said in the video.<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s<\/a> last day is scheduled for May 16. The restaurant is encouraging its fans to come try their favorite dishes, and financially support the staff, before the lights go dark.<\/p>\n

Millennium debuted in 1994 in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin neighborhood, back when vegan cuisine still seemed edgy and different. Bagby and executive chef Eric Tucker later assumed co-ownership and moved to the restaurant to Oakland in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It aimed to be a \u201cvegan restaurant that has food that omnivores love \u2014 which I can\u2019t say as much about the other places I\u2019ve worked,\u201d Bagby told production company The RV Project<\/a> the year it moved. \u201cEric just knows how to make plants taste delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu is inspired by global cuisine and farmers markets throughout the Bay Area. And it gained a fervent following. Over the years, Millennium snatched a Bib Gourmand award from the Michelin Guide and rose to the top of local and national food lists for plant-based restaurants.<\/p>\n

\"PicturedPictured in this 2015 file photograph is the Red Lentil Lemongrass Coconut Curry, with jasmine rice cake, Asian vegetables, kohlrabi, Blue Lake green beans, gai lan, anise glazed yuba, ginger-black bean oil, Thai basil, spicy plum and shallot sambal at Millennium in Oakland. (Aric Crabb\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the pandemic took its toll, and crowds have thinned in recent years. This January, the restaurant started offering free crusted oyster mushrooms as a promotional deal, posting online<\/a>: \u201cWe won\u2019t be busy enough to stay open past 7:30 tonight, and tomorrow is looking similarly slow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike so many independent restaurants, the years since 2020 have been incredibly hard,\u201d Bagby said in the latest Instagram post. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing our best. The lack of sufficient business really tells us it\u2019s been hard for everybody. And we get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagby thanked the restaurant\u2019s customers for their support and the staff for their years of service. And the co-owner extended a sprig of hope, saying that the Millennium team hopes to put together \u201csomething small, intentional and sustainable after this current chapter closes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The date for that unspecified dining project is the end of May, Bagby added, \u201cso please stay tuned for updates.\u201d<\/p>\n

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