Early Bird Vegan in Tempe to close Sept. 27, seek new location

🚫 Early Bird Vegan, one of the Valley’s top plant-based restaurants, announced it will close Sept. 27 when its lease runs out on the northwest corner of the 101 and Broadway in Tempe.

‘‘Our lease is coming to an end, but that does not mean we are going anywhere,’’ owner and chef Krystal Harris says in a social media video. ‘‘We are actively looking for a new location, a new space for us so you guys can still enjoy our amazing food.’’

Harris also disclosed she would be announcing an online store later this month.

Harris launched the Trash Panda Vegan food truck in 1999, then her first brick-and-mortar restaurant at Broadway and 16th Street in Phoenix in 2020 – at the start of the covid pandemic.

She added the Tempe location in 2022. Ebony magazine named it one of the 45 best Black-owned restaurants in the country.

The Phoenix location closed last year.