Fort Worth’s vegan scene was dealt a major blow Tuesday: Groundbreaking Near Southside vegan restaurant Maiden: Fine Plants & Spirits, Texas’ first plant-based fine dining restaurant, abruptly closed – the latest Fort Worth vegan eatery to shut down.
Opened two years ago by Fort Worth restaurateur Amy McNutt, who also owns the nearby long-running vegan cafe Spiral Diner, Maiden fared well initially but began to struggle in January, she says.
“The economy and just the uncertain state of the world made it difficult to stay open,” McNutt says. “People are just nervous about everything right now.”
McNutt says she’s “devastated” by the closure. “It’s hard for me to process, hard for me to talk about,” she says.
Maiden’s closure was announced Tuesday on its social channels and website via a message that underscores the harsh realities faced by many independent restaurants.
“We’re heartbroken to share that, as of this morning, Maiden has been locked out of our space and is now permanently closed,” the message reads. “Like many independent restaurants, we’ve faced an incredibly tough six months with rising costs, a slower season, and the lasting economic effects that so many small businesses are feeling right now.”
The post says the restaurant was locked out of the space due to falling behind on its rent.
Maiden opened two years ago on 6th Avenue in the newly built PS1200 development between Rosedale and Magnolia. Styled after quonset huts, futuristic, arch-roofed buildings that sprang up around the country during World War II, the development also housed another Nutt concept: a vegan doughnut shop called Dreamboat Vegan Donuts & Scoops. Dreamboat closed in March, with operations moving to Spiral Diner, CultureMap reported.
In the same way Spiral Diner broke ground when it opened in 2002, so did Maiden. As the first plant-based fine dining restaurant in Texas, it was a trailblazer, taking the ideas of traditional fine dining and giving them a sophisticated plant-based spin. Guests could choose to dine at intimate, stylish tables from a prix fixe menu or nibble on small, refined plates such as beer-battered tempura leeks or parsnip fries with serrano-orange aioli at the restaurant’s low-key bar; the restaurant also offered a vegan take on afternoon tea, a onetime staple at high-end restaurants.
Maiden quickly garnered accolades, with Texas Monthly proclaiming the restaurant “creates dishes that are as elegant as they are delicious.” Last year, it was nominated for best new restaurant in CultureMap’s Tastemaker Awards, while Fort Worth Magazine named it one of the best new restaurants of 2023-24.
But critical acclaim couldn’t shield Maiden from the economic headwinds 2025 has brought. Local social media food groups had posted about the restaurant’s struggles over the past several weeks, encouraging their followers to support it. Fort Worth Magazine also featured Maiden in a cover story published this month about fine dining in Fort Worth.
McNutt says that while those mentions helped, they weren’t enough to save the restaurant.
“I think it was too niche for Fort Worth, too hidden,” she says.
Maiden’s closure, sadly, is not an isolated incident within Fort Worth’s vegan dining community. While the city’s plant-based scene once appeared to be flourishing, Maiden joins a growing list of recently shuttered local vegan establishments, including Vice Burger, Pizza Verde, Mariachi’s Dine-In, and the pop-up VBQ Smokehouse.
In addition, two other locations of Spiral Diner – one in Dallas, the other Denton – have closed.
Maiden had fallen behind on rent, according to the restaurant’s post, and was hoping for a renegotiation.
“Unfortunately, those efforts didn’t come together in time,” the post reads. “We weren’t given notice before the lockout, and we’re still processing how abruptly this chapter has ended.”
McNutt says she couldn’t comment on the negotiation efforts.
Maiden employees were offered employment opportunities elsewhere within McNutt’s operations, the post says.
McNutt says that while Maiden has closed, she’s proud of her culinary team and everything they accomplished.
“I’m proud of every dish we made, every meal we served,” she says. “I’m proud of what we built and grateful to everyone who ever enjoyed a meal there.”