Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole parodies her bankruptcy filing on Instagram

Pinky Cole, the founder of vegan burger chain Slutty Vegan, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

It’s the latest in a tumultuous period for Cole’s businesses. Last year, she lost Slutty Vegan because of mounting debt, but subsequently reacquired it.

Cole initially filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 21, a filing that was later withdrawn. Then, on Feb. 12, she filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, typically a business filing. She owes $1.2 million to the Small Business Administration and $192,000 in state taxes, according to court documents.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle was the first to report the news.

Cole and Slutty Vegan did not respond to requests seeking comment from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On Tuesday morning, about a day after the news first broke, Cole posted a video on social media poking fun at the situation subtitled “What people think happens after you file bankruptcy.” In it, she wears a Versace bath robe and carries her French bulldog and luggage out of a house onto a darkened street.

In the caption, she wrote: “damn that’s crazzzzzzzzzyyyyyyyy.”

Cole founded Slutty Vegan in 2018 as a food truck, but quickly grew it to a national phenomenon. At its height, Slutty Vegan had 14 locations across the country, hourslong lines out the door and was valued at $100 million.

Then the company hit troubled waters.

Before Slutty Vegan was restructured in early 2025, it was $20 million in debt, Cole told the AJC last year.

In various interviews, Cole said she had stepped away from the helm of the company and in that time the corporate overhead ballooned.

In February 2025, Slutty Vegan went through a state-level alternative to bankruptcy called an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. Slutty Vegan’s board was formally dissolved, and control of the company and its assets went to an estate administrator.

Cole bought back the company the following month and had been building it back as “Slutty Vegan 2.0.” But the financial troubles continued.

In April 2025, plaintiffs in a case against Bar Vegan, also founded by Cole, said a settlement over unpaid wages had not been paid. Then last fall, Cole and her current and past entities were named as defendants in a lawsuit over alleged unpaid rent for the Edgewood location. Cole’s businesses also have faced lawsuits in Maryland and New York regarding alleged unpaid rent and credit card charges predating the business overhaul.

But Cole worked to rebuild her restaurant empire. Last summer, she opened a new vegan hoagies concept, simply called Voagies, in the Westview neighborhood. A few months later, she announced she would franchise Slutty Vegan.

It’s unclear what this bankruptcy may mean for Slutty Vegan or Cole’s other businesses. Slutty Vegan and associated businesses were listed in her financial disclosure as part of the bankruptcy.