Cafe Gratitude, the popular vegan and organic food counter inside Whole Foods Market on Stelling Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard will close Dec. 28 after its owners made the decision to close all its Northern California locations due to what they call “aggressive lawsuits” by former employees and labor organizations for unfair labor practices.

“Although we believe that we have done nothing wrong and our policies are completely legal, it will cost us too much money to defend them in court,” said owners Matthew and Terces Engelhart in an open letter on the food chain's Web site. “Despite telling the attorneys that brought the lawsuits that the current structure and resources of Café Gratitude are insufficient to sustain and defend our community, they have refused to give up and are forcing us to close.”

Kristen Souders-Gullion, a Sunnyvale resident and longtime regular at the Café Gratitude kiosk inside Whole Foods Market was shocked to hear of the closing, and said she can’t get good quality raw and organic food anywhere else in the South Bay.

“I’m going to miss being able to have prepared raw food that is already made and I don’t have to do myself,” Sounders-Gullion said. “There’s no real raw food community in the South Bay that I know of, and now I have to go to San Francisco to get it.”

Leslie Avantes, a Cupertino resident, said she will miss the friendly and knowledgeable staff that is real passionate about the vegan lifestyle.

“The staff at Café Gratitude is so warm, friendly and passionate about vegan food and culture,” Avantes said. “They were always quick to recommend things and asked questions about what I like and might want to try. They always put in a good effort.”

Café Gratitude line cook Paul Woo said that the local raw food chain is one of the best he has worked for and many customers have already expressed their disappointment with its closing.

“I’ve worked at a lot of different vegan food places over the last 10 years, and this is one of the better ones,” Woo said. “It’s a shame that it’s closing, a lot of regulars are bummed. I guess it comes with the territory of running a business.”

Woo said he will be taking time off to travel after the closing, and many of his fellow employees are optimistic about their employment in the new year.

“Everyone here sees something good coming out of this, and they are excited for the future," Woo said. “Whole Foods has been really generous and good to us, kudos to them.”

Aside from the Cupertino location, Café Gratitude has six other stores throughout the state, including two in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Rafael, Healdsburg and inside an Oakland Whole Foods Market, and has been operating for the past eight years.

According to Woo, the most popular menu item at the Cupertino location is the dish called “I Am Whole,” which consists of sea vegetables and kale with house-made kim-chee, carrots, tahini garlic sauce and teriyaki almonds.