Candle Cafe, a beloved New York vegan institution and the last remaining restaurant under the Candle name, is set to close.
In August 2026, chef Jorge Pineda announced on Instagram that the newest incarnation of Candle would close at the end of September, citing a difficult economic climate and mounting debts.
It’s a familiar story right now, as multiple vegan restaurants across the country have been forced to take similar action.
“As you know, times are hard, especially for a Latino,” Pineda said in a video posted to Instagram. “I don’t have private investors. I don’t own the name, so I can’t get one. Things are hard.”
“Things are very expensive now,” he added. “Food, gas, employees. I just want to say thank you to everybody, thank you for all the support. But sadly, we have to close. September will be our last month; we can’t afford any more.”
Candle Cafe
Candle’s legacy in New York City
Candle has a lot of history in the city. In the early 1990s, Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza famously won more than $50,000 in the New York lottery and used the money to help open Candle Cafe on Third Avenue. The inspiration for the name came from the Healthy Candle, the couple’s vegetarian health food store.
A decade later, in 2003, they followed Candle Cafe (later known as Candle Cafe East) with the upscale Candle 79. In 2012, they expanded again with Candle Cafe West.
For decades, customers flocked to the Candle restaurants for their elevated take on plant-based cuisine. There, diners could tuck into dishes like seitan chimichurris, vegan piccata, and raw lasagna years before vegan dining became mainstream.
But in 2019, unresolved building safety issues saw the closure of Candle Cafe West, and then real estate developments forced Candle 79 to close, too. In 2020, Candle Cafe East’s building was sold, and it, too, had to shut its doors for good.
Candle 79
In 2023, there was a beacon of hope when longtime Candle chefs Pineda and Angel Ramos brought the restaurant back to life at a new location on Third Avenue. The restaurant was a hit, thanks to its star-studded menu, which merged together all of the former chain’s most beloved dishes.
At the time, Pineda told VegNews: “Candle has meant so much to so many over the years, and since its closing, it has been a dream of mine to one day create a ‘Candle for the people.’”
“We’re serving past favorites alongside an expanding palate of foods that always remains true to our values of nutritionally elevated food and an uplifted and welcoming space,” he continued.
Now, just three years after its return, Candle is preparing to close once again. However, Pineda, who has devoted nearly three decades of his life to the restaurant, isn’t totally giving up. He ended the video by saying: “I just want to say thank you, and we’ll see where life takes us. Hopefully, we’ll see you soon.”
VegNews has reached out to the Candle Cafe team for more details on its impending closure.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.