Despite community support, struggling Orlando vegan restaurant, V's Diner closes the doors permanently

Several days after asking the local community to support them, and despite customers turning up in large numbers to help, V's Diner in Casselberry has closed.

Sad news from Casselberry as vegetarian restaurant, V's Diner, located at 908 State Road 436 has permanently closed its doors despite locals answering a call to help the diner stay afloat.

V's Diner which began life as a popular pop-up and food truck business. opened their bricks and mortar location on August 19, offering scratch-made 100% vegan diner classics including burgers, wraps, subs, sandwiches, and more.

V's Diner was originally set to open in the near100 year old Fort Pitt building at 5565 Old Cheney Highway, and they did open at the location as a pop up in late 2019, but after issues with the buildings owners, they moved on, with V's Diner finally finding a home in Casselberry.

Fast forward several months to March 14, and the owners of the vintage1950s styled diner announced that the business was struggling financially, and in need of a miracle to keep the doors open.

Taking to social media to explain the restaurants dire situation, the owners blamed the delays in opening for their current financial situation. "When we signed our lease we had budgeted for a build out within a 4 month timeframe. Ultimately that ended up being 18 months and over five times the cost, six times after including rent."

The owners also admitted to having experienced consistency issues and staffing issues, but assured everyone that these problems were resolved, commenting that declining sales was now the issue, and short of someone coming in to buy the entire company, the owners say that all they can do is hope for an increase in sales to see them though.

They asked people to do what they can to support the diner, and the community responded in their droves, with the restaurant selling out in the days that followed. But, despite the huge outpouring of support it has proved not to be enough to save the business, with the owners calling it quits, and announcing the permanent closure of V's Diner on Sunday, Mach 24.

The announcement was made on social media:

"It is with the utmost regret that we announce the closing of V’s Diner in Casselberry. While we can look back and theorize at all the things we could have done differently or did not do, we want to use this opportunity to focus on the many things we did accomplish. Although ultimately not financially successful, we were extremely successful in numerous other ways. In creating an amazing space for our community, a fully house-made hand-crafted vegan meat program, a world class vegan bakery program, a reliable daily solution for guests at every different step on their journey towards veganism, and at times over-the-top hospitality to create some amazing experiences. We don’t know yet what the future holds for V’s Diner. Thank you for all the support, ideas, offers, well wishing, and most of all, from the bottom of our hearts, for letting us serve you over the years. It has truly been an honor."

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