Gracias Madre, the plant-based restaurant at the corner of Dover and Westcliff drives in Newport Beach, closed its doors for good on Saturday, May 4. According to the restaurant’s communications team, a lease expiration prompted the vegan pitstop to say adios to its sole Orange County location.
“We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the Newport Beach community for their support over the last eight years and to our team members who have been the heart and soul of Gracias Madre,” said Lisa Bonbright, partner and co-owner of LSR (Love Serve Remember, the parent company of both Gracias Madre and Cafe Gratitude), in a released statement. “It’s been a good run.”
Opening in 2016, the eight-year-old organic dining outpost (founded by Matthew and Terces Engelhart, who, in 2009, started a small chain in the Bay Area serving plant-based and organic foods) was originally known as Gratitude Kitchen and Bar before its owners rechristened and retooled the eatery into Gracias Madre in 2019. The restaurant focused on vegan plant-based dishes with a Mexican-American bent, like potato and zucchini enchiladas and jackfruit tacos.
With roughly 4,300 square feet of space, an enclosed patio with landscaping to shield diners’ eyes from a nearby parking lot, a private dining room and valet service, the luxe 215-seat restaurant arrived shortly before the plant-based food movement took root in Orange County.
“Gracias Madre isn’t just for health nuts, vegans and fringe diet folks, it’s for everyone,” co-owner Ryland Engelhart told the Orange County Register in 2019.
Gracias Madre’s flagship restaurant, located in San Francisco’s Mission District, closed in 2023 after 13 years in business citing economic factors and deteriorating neighborhood conditions.
Love Serve Remember, which runs Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre, continues to operate locations in West Hollywood, Larchmont and Venice Beach.
