Slutty Vegan’s next Baltimore home will be near, not at, Johns Hopkins’ campus

Baltimore’s next Slutty Vegan location won’t be on the campus of Johns Hopkins Medicine but rather a few blocks away, company founder and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Aisha Pinky Cole Hayes confirmed Thursday.

Slutty Vegan announced in a press release earlier this week that the chain’s Baltimore branch would relocate from its much-hyped outpost at Baltimore Peninsula “to a new location at the campus of Johns Hopkins Hospital on Monument Street.”

But Lisa Burgunder, director of communications for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, said in a statement Wednesday evening that there were “no plans for the restaurant” to come to its campus.

Officials with Baltimore Peninsula confirmed that the restaurant was shutting down at its South Baltimore development, acknowledging “broader challenges taking place within the Slutty Vegan organization.”

Last year, Cole Hayes lost her business, which she said was $20 million in debt, but bought back the name and intellectual property, along with a few locations. The Atlanta-based company closed multiple locations across the U.S. and is now pursuing franchising agreements. Earlier this year, Cole Hayes filed for bankruptcy.

Cole Hayes, who grew up in Baltimore, said in Slutty Vegan’s original statement that the relocation from Baltimore Peninsula to East Baltimore was about “meeting our customers where they are.” The release did not provide an exact address for the new branch.

But when asked about Hopkins’ refutation that the restaurant was coming to its campus, Cole Hayes provided the future restaurant’s address as 2047 E. Monument St. Online property records list the building’s owner as Cedonia Properties LLC of Georgia.

Cole Hayes clarified “that location is not in the heart of the campus but by proximity it is.” Ben Franc, a spokesman for the company, said later Thursday that the error was a “semantic issue” and also a “misunderstanding.”

It’s unclear when the Baltimore Peninsula branch of Slutty Vegan will shut down. Sister restaurant Bar Vegan is currently closed by Baltimore’s liquor board.

The Baltimore Peninsula branch opened in late 2024. Another location planned for Northwood Commons never opened.