This beloved vegetarian restaurant in midtown has closed – again

Mother, the vegetarian restaurant that has been a mainstay of Sacramento’s midtown dining scene, has closed. The business announced the closure on its social media Monday.

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“Thank you, Sacramento for the years. Unfortunately we’ve made the tough decision to permanently close Mother restaurant in midtown. Our last day of service was Friday, June 19. 2026. Mother loves you,” read the post.

Owner Robb Venditti had already planned to keep the restaurant closed on Saturday, as he was involved in the American Parkway Foundation’s Summer Solstice Dinner and Auction that evening. He chose not to reopen the doors this week.

Ironically, the restaurant had its first net profit ever in March. Then, Venditti was served with an ADA complaint.

“I got served papers for a couple minor violations, mirror height in the bathroom, paper towel height, I didn’t have a sticker with a handicap symbol on one of the tables, you know, little stuff. I looked into it a little bit, and it sounds like usually these things are just settled for the minimal amount, but after attorney fees and settlement, I’m looking at anything from about 13 grand up towards 40 (grand),” he said.

Disheartened, Venditti decided it was time to let the restaurant go.

“I was just kind of like, I’m already not seeing my kids that are 13 and 11 years old, and this is like the prime time of their lives. I’m already missing that and working myself crazy. It’s already literally killing me,” he said.

“I’ve never had to close a restaurant. It’s just awful, man. It’s just the worst thing. All I can say is the only thing worse would be missing these next couple years of my kids’ lives, not being able to go camping with them and go to the swim meets and stuff.”

Rather than drag things on and potentially dig himself deeper into a hole, Venditti figured the timing was right to take what money was left and exit gracefully.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to tell my employees and purveyors that, hey, sorry, I can’t pay you. I’m going to make sure everybody that matters gets out whole,” he said.

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This is not Mother’s first closure. The current incarnation is a reboot of a previous, and also popular, restaurant of the same name that was on K Street downtown from 2014 to 2020. Venditti rebooted the restaurant in 2023 in its current location at 2319 K St.

Venditti opened the restaurant with funds from the sale of his catering business. He launched the business with his friend, chef Mike Thiemann at the helm in the kitchen. However, business never quite took off to the point where Venditti could support paying everyone, so he moved from more of an investor role to being hands-on in the kitchen. Thiemann moved to Hawaii not long after.

The menu at the midtown location paid homage to many of the customer favorites from the original Mother, such as the mushroom po’ boy, nut burger and chile verde, but Venditti always puts his own spin on them.

Mother stood apart from other vegetarian and vegan places in that Venditti only used whole ingredients, no alt foods.

“We’re not using plant based proteins, lab meats, you know, stuff like that. It’s pretty much just all natural comfort food, just real ingredients, traditional cooking,” he said.

For now, Venditti is done with restaurant life. He hopes to find something a little more regular to recenter and rebuild resources.

“I wanted to do restaurants because that’s what I love, and I love the energy and the experience, connecting with all the guests day in and day out. I’m going to miss that so much, but it’s just not as much as I miss a life outside of it,” he said.

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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 4:34 PM.