The group’s UK arm confirmed to The Sun that its restaurant in London’s Islington will close at the end of June following a decision not to renew its lease on the site due to an increase in fixed costs, including business rates.
A spokesman for the brand said: “We want to thank the restaurant manager and all of his team for all of their hard work delivering great entertainment night after night.
“People don’t understand how hard it is to run both a restaurant and a theatre simultaneously, especially in such fierce trading conditions.”
It comes after Viral Ventures UK, which operates Karen’s Diner in the UK and is owned by Australian parent company Viral Ventures Global, was ‘forced into liquidation’ in September last year amid ‘mounting financial pressure’.
In June last year the group rowed back on plans to expand in the UK having closed all restaurants except its site in London’s Islington.
Accounts filed to Companies House last year showed Viral Ventures UK owed more than £400,000 to creditors.
Karen’s Diner, whose name and concept is inspired by a pejorative stereotype of a white, 1970s-born woman who is prone to asking for the manager, has often courted controversy since arriving on UK shores back in 2022.
In March last year, the group’s restaurant in Prestwich hosted a guest appearance by controversial far-right commentator Katie Hopkins, which led to police being called to ‘monitor’ a ‘small number of protesters’ after demonstrators from organisations Stand Up To Racism and Unite Against Fascism gathered outside the restaurant.
Traces of drugs including cocaine, heroin, MDMA and ketamine were found in the group’s Brighton restaurant the same month, which led to its closure.
According to The Sun, Karen’s Diner is now looking to establish pop-up venues across the South of England.