Protesters took over my Los Angeles restaurant angry over vegan menu change: owner
Vegan protesters took over a former vegan restaurant on Sunday, the owner told Fox News Digital, angered by meat and dairy are added to the menu of the Los Angeles announcement last month.
Owner Mollie Engelhart told Fox News Digital that she called police after protesters showed up at Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery, but claimed they didn’t show up for three hours. Customers quickly sold out and Engelhart said she was forced to close on Father’s Day.
“On Father’s Day, I’m trying to focus on my husband and kids and providing good customer service to other families who have chosen Sage for their Father’s Day experience,” she told Fox News Digital. “These people came into my restaurant, harassed my customers, harassed my employees, vandalized my restaurant and openly said they would like to put me out of business.”
Engelhart also lamented the state of crime in Southern California, which he told Fox News Digital has made it difficult for his small business to survive in recent years.
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Mollie Engelhart and the sidewalk of her restaurant. (Mollie Engelhart)
Sage Plant-Based Bistro became Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery last month after Engelhart announced the animal-based additions on social media, sparking a backlash from the vegan community. Since May 29, Sage has been serving items such as beef, bison, cheese and eggs.
On an Earth Day instagram message, Engelhart explained that the restaurant’s menu would shift its focus toward foods grown using regenerative farming methods, an approach to farming that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity and natural processes, according to the America’s Regenerative Farmers.
“I think there are other places they could put their passion,” he told Fox News Digital. “There are more pressing issues than my restaurant. This is all very disappointing. We are a small family business trying to make it. California is the hardest place to do business.”
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Vegan protesters in front of Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery. (Mollie Engelhart)
“Friday night there was a stabbing right outside the restaurant,” Engelhart said. “The neighborhood already feels chaotic and scary without this added stress. It’s illegal what these people are doing, harassing customers and staff inside the restaurant, and the police didn’t show up for three hours.”
After customers left because of protesters, Engelhart said she was forced to close and send her staff home. She said police never show up in response to crimes in the area.
“It’s very, very disappointing not to have support from the city, but this is not new,” he said. “On Mother’s Day, a man was completely naked and screaming, and the police never came. Just a social worker for the ‘homeless distressed person,’ but the police never came.”
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Engelhart said the restaurant’s neighborhood, Echo Park, is plagued with crime. She and her family sold her farm in California and were forced to flee the state during the COVID pandemic. They now run a ranch in Texas and visit California to check out the restaurants she still owns in town.
“We’ve come full circle,” he told Fox News Digital. “When I moved to the Echo Park neighborhood, there was a lot of crime, but there was order, and then the neighborhood became very expensive and beautiful and saw a lot of investment.”
“Now we have a lot of crime again,” Engelhart continued. “Two of the three pharmacies in the neighborhood have closed due to theft. My building is half empty and the block is half empty.”
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Fox News has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.
