The menu items at this fast-casual vegan joint may be hip and trendy, but there’s a good amount of history behind the beginnings of the brand. After enduring both a lengthy lawsuit and bankruptcy, the owners of By Chloe sold to investors who plan to rebrand the restaurant to Beatnic.

The History of By Chloe

By Chloe was founded in 2015 by celebrity vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli alongside partners at ESquared Hospitality. The goal was to create a vegan version of Shake Shack, but by 2016, Coscarelli was pursuing a lawsuit against ESquared Hospitality as the group allegedly tried to open non-vegan restaurants under her name. Shortly thereafter, Coscarelli was let go from the business, but ESquared continued to use her name and grow the brand.

At its peak, there were 14 By Chloe restaurants across the United States, Canada, and England. Last year, three of the US brick-and-mortars were closed, but locations remained in New York, Boston, Providence, and Los Angeles.

In December of 2020, the parent company of By Chloe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to financial struggles relating to the pandemic. That same month, Coscarelli tried to win back ownership of the company and was successful in acquiring 50%. At that point, she sought new business partners and investors to avoid total liquidation of the chain and complete shutdown.

By Chloe’s New Investors

This March, it was announced that a new set of investors would purchase the By Chloe brand and assume its debts and that Coscarelli wouldn’t be involved. The group of investors (Qoot International UK, Bain Capital Double Impact Fund, Kitchen Fund, Lion Capital LLC, and Simple Capital Management LLC) all agreed to take over the chain under the condition that they’d rebrand it within six months.

Chloe Coscarelli’s lawyer shared, “Chloe is pleased with the court’s ruling that the company may not sell Chloe’s name through the By Chloe trademark. Chloe otherwise looks forward to concluding this proceeding, so she can focus on pursuing her passion of bringing more creative, colorful, and delicious vegan food to her fans and friends.”

By Chloe to Beatnic

This month, the investor group released the news that they will be rebranding By Chloe to Beatnic. The new name is inspired by the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City and the “beatnik” community the area was formerly known for.

In addition to the name change, the restaurant team shared their new slogan—“100% Vegan, 100% Delicious.” Other rebranding efforts include a refreshed logo as well as packaging, signage, and digital platforms. As for the menu at Beatnic, it will feature a mix of re-imagined favorites from the OG By Chloe days as well as new dishes like a Toasted S’mores Bar that sounds divine! Rebranding should be complete by September.

“From our management to our store teams to our investors, we’ve assembled the most agile team in the company’s history, and we are all fiercely committed to delivering a bold product. We have the benefit of rebuilding from the insights of this past year of pain points as we tighten up our business model and enhance all elements of the experience,” shared Beatnic president, Catey Mark Meyers.