Sweet Rose Cafe, the all-vegan cafe and bakery that has served plant-based sandwiches, smoothies and quinoa bowls out of a converted office building on Highland Avenue since 2019, will close for good by September 26. Owner Lisa Normandin announced the closing on social media, telling customers the cafe will keep a limited menu running through that date, staffing permitting.
Normandin's decision comes down to a personal career shift rather than any financial trouble at the business, according to Fall River Reporter, which first reported the closing date. She is returning to teaching, the outlet reports, and chose to keep the cafe's doors open a bit longer so her employees would have time to line up new jobs before the shutdown takes effect.
During this final stretch, bakery items are being scaled back to weekends only, per the same report, while the rest of the plant-based menu — wraps, soups, salads, coffee drinks and vegan baked goods — continues on the cafe's regular Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sweet Rose Cafe has been closed Mondays and Tuesdays throughout its run.
A Pioneer on Highland Avenue
Founded by Fall River native Lisa Normandin, who moved from a teaching background into entrepreneurship before opening the shop, Sweet Rose Cafe became the city's first all-vegan eatery when it held its grand opening at 268 Highland Avenue on September 21, 2019, according to Fall River Reporter's earlier coverage. Normandin named the business after her mother, Rose Normandin, a detail shared during an early community visit documented by the Fall River Garden Club.
Getting there required navigating city hall first. The Highland Avenue building had previously housed a chiropractic practice, a dental office and a real estate office, and converting it into a cafe required a zoning change. Normandin received unanimous approval from the Fall River Zoning Board of Appeals in 2019 to shift the property's variance from office use to a bakery and sandwich shop, a change that allowed for indoor occupancy of 25 to 30 patrons. The site also needed a city Common Victuallers License before it could open.
Regional Recognition and a Loyal Following
The cafe built a following well beyond Fall River in the years since. In 2022, Yelp ranked Sweet Rose Cafe No. 59 overall on its list of the Top 100 New England Restaurants, a ranking based on review volume and ratings gathered between January 2017 and July 2022, according to WBSM. Sweet Rose Cafe was one of 40 Massachusetts establishments to make that regional guide, which spanned six northeastern states, and one of just two SouthCoast eateries to land on the list that year.
The cafe also broadened its reach with online ordering and third-party delivery through services like DoorDash, offering the same lineup of smoothies, coffee, wraps and gluten-free items to customers who couldn't make it in for dine-in service.
Not Necessarily Goodbye for Good
Even as she winds down full-time operations, Normandin has left the door open for the Sweet Rose name to return. She noted on social media that she has not ruled out bringing the cafe back on a seasonal basis during future summers, according to Fall River Reporter's account of her announcement — a possibility that softens what is otherwise the end of a seven-year run for one of the city's more distinctive dining spots.
