Monday, March 12, 2012

Where do Vegans EAT?


A very good friend brought up a great question to me today, after hearing that my husband and I got voracious food poisoning after eating salads at the Cheesecake Factory.  What he wanted to know was (in a polite way), what the heck was a vegan doing eating in a place like the Cheesecake Factory???

His points were many – the name supports the dairy industry, the chain preys on Americans’ health with gluttonous platters of disease-causing food, vegans should support vegan restaurants, etc etc.  I actually agreed with all of his points.  But my husband and I had found ourselves in a conundrum:  We were in Palm Springs area for a tennis tournament this weekend, the only fully vegan restaurant (Native Foods) closed down and the only natural foods store (Luscious Lorraine’s) was closed on Sundays.  So, Mark and I were forced to go to the dark side where the “others” eat. 

Given my travel schedule (every week), I actually eat on the dark side pretty regularly – I have never seen a fully vegan or vegetarian restaurant in any airport I’ve ever been in, and often have to go to client dinners where I do not get to pick the restaurant.  Rest assured, I always find a way to eat vegan, but I cannot always eat in a vegan restaurant or natural foods store.  When I can, I do, but when I can’t, I try to support a place that has something vegan on the menu.  If I can’t do that, I have the chef make me something vegan, and then crow about how good it was and insist they put it on their menu so everyone else can enjoy it too.

But I have friends who literally will not eat in a restaurant that isn’t 100% vegetarian.  I have friends who will ask if the tortilla chips were fried in the same oil as the meat.  I have friends who simply won’t eat at restaurants unless forced to.  And I have friends who slog down McVeggie burgers minus the mayo every week. 

So my question this week is, where do you stand on the restaurant question?  Will you only eat at vegan restaurants?  Vegetarian restaurants?  Does it matter to you at all, as long as you get a vegan meal?  Let us know!  And if you want to throw in your favorite restaurant or two, we’d all be glad!  (I had a delicious meal tonight at San Francisco’s 100% vegan “Herbivore”!)

11 comments:

  1. Interesting you should write about this, I was just having this discussion with my husband over the weekend. We travel by car quite a bit and at home we like to dine out. We try to find vegan/vegetarian places at our final destinations. Sometimes we drive 13 hours straight to see family. At home we have only one restaurant that is close and they use local produce and local grass-fed whenever possible, they also have their own garden. They have one raw dish on their menu and a vegan cheese pizza. We visit The Chicago Diner but it is an hour drive and we'll have a macro meal or vegan pizza at Whole Foods which is almost an hour. We would love to support vegan/vegetarian restaurants only. So for now, unfortunately, we have Wendy's baked potato with salad minus dressing/chicken/cheese and a Red Robin gardenburger on whole wheat on the road, plus our own healthy items we bring from home. Thanks so much for your blog here, I've been a follower for a while.

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  2. McDonald's and other restaurants will continue to offer to veggie burgers only if customers continue to buy them. It is a good thing that people such as your friend do.

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  3. I also try to eat at vegan restaurants or at least vegetarian restaurants, as much as possible. They need our support! But I will also eat at restaurants that provide vegan meals to support the idea that all restaurants could create vegan dishes for their menus. I will not, however, eat at restaurants that serve foie gras. All meat eating is inherently cruel, so this is a bit irrational since I eat at restaurants serving meat, but fois gras has become quite politicized here since the ordinance banning it was overturned and so many chefs took great delight in that, and in breaking the law when it was in place. I cannot support an establishment serving it. We are fortunate in Chicago to have several choices; I will single out Chicago Diner, the classic place for vegetarians and vegans; Quesadilla, serving vegan Mexican food, and Urban Vegan, serving Thai food.

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    1. Hi Vicki,

      I agree wholeheartedly! Although I eat most of my meals away from home, I try extremely hard never to go to places that serve things like fois gras or veal. Sometimes I have to go to a work function and don't have a choice, but fortunately, my colleagues and customers are very nice about keeping me in mind, and usually don't choose steak houses or other such places out of respect for me.

      It's very important to me to respect everyone else's choices and not to preach my values to them when they do not wish to hear them, but it is SO hard to watch someone eat fois gras or veal.

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  4. Fortunately Maui has many choices. I tend to eat out a lot because of the social nature of eating with others. Mana Foods. Whole Foods, Des Amis, Flat Bread, Veg-out (really good vegan pizza-Not wheat free) and more, if your a veg head you know where your own hot spots are. I don't know where to eat out on the West/South shores. Usually in a nicer restaurant I'll look at the side dishes and order all sides. sometimes I just "survive" through the meal and sometimes I thrive. I think if you go out to the non-veg world you risk the consequences, if you have to ask if the fries are cooked in the same vat as the meat then you should not be there in the first place, or a least not complain. Food/eating has such a powerful pull on us that it is easy to make a poor decision when the hunger signals are at full throttle, I always try to be armed and powerful with an apple and nuts or food bar.
    thank you for your blog.
    ps I'm a recent re-enacted vegan thanks to your Jan Veg to Vegan talk in Sprecks.
    aloha

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    1. You made my entire week with your P.S.! Thank you so much!

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  5. Since I eat plant-based as a health choice, and am not vegan by philosophy - I just find something to eat wherever I go. But I can understand why it would be an issue for Vegans who don't want their hard-earned money to support an industry that goes against their belief system.

    Also I live in a very, very, VERY rural area. The nearest restaurant that would qualify as "vegetarian friendly" is 90 miles away. Vegan restaurant - I'm guessing 150+ miles.

    If I had more options, I would definitely support them.

    ps - Howdy Sarah! :)

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  6. I have no problem eating out at restaurants that have good options. And I figure the more I order them, the more restaurants will offer good options. I can find something to eat just about anywhere, whether that's ordering fajitas with beans instead of meat (and hold the butter on the rice!) or getting a bean burrito with no cheese or a sub loaded with veggies and a bit of yellow mustard. Of course there are a few places whose owners seem to think that you can't eat a meal without an animal or at the very least something that comes from one, and I try to avoid those places when I can, but for the most part I have no trouble finding something to eat in a restaurant. Eating out is a joy to me and I would definitely feel like I was missing out if I didn't do it.

    A few of my favorites are Thai food, Indian food, vegetarian sushi, sub sandwiches, Mexican food (especially places like Chipotle!), and Chinese food. Burger places can be harder but I love a good, dairy-free bun with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, and ketchup.

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  7. Thank you for this. I'll put a link to it on my blog sometime. I am in the unfortunate position of often having to eat in places that aren't made for vegans. :(

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  8. Of course I would prefer all-vegan restaurants as those would be the most ideal, but unfortunately they are few and far between and those that do exist often have unreliable hours. For example, they are closed during late lunch time and on Sundays. Some don't like marketing either. For example, I nominated a local Loving Hut for a "Best Burger in San Diego" bracket game on a radio station's web page. Well, Loving Hut didn't want to play along and they were eliminated in the first round and lost by a wide margin. Even with some no-meat-restaurants like Jyoti-Bihanga, for example, it's just as difficult to get a vegan meal there as it is at any mainstream meat eaters' restaurant. If I go to a mainstream meat eaters' restaurant, then at least I know I'm being a good agitator by asking, "Hey where's you're vegan menu?" More and more mainstream meat eaters' restaurants are making vegan menus these days. I don't want to spend my money at those places, but I often win gift cards and certificates which gives me some spending power without forcing me to put my money towards unethical restaurants. And since those restaurants often invite customers on the receipts to take surveys, if a server gets hostile because you are vegan, you can report it in a survey and be entered in a contest to boot.

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  9. Most vegans choose to be vegans because of animal ethics. As a vegan with animal ethics you should not dine at a restaurant that serves meat as you would be supporting them which would go against your ethics. You have made the choice to be vegan and should be behind that choice 100% even if it means not dining in restaurants and dining at home instead. Along with being a vegan you should not own any leather etc that has been made from animal materials. How far has your research gone though? Even printed photographs contain animal substances and that's just the start, there are many items you will have in your home which is connected to the meat industry which would make you a hypocrite. "Doing your bit" is not enough, you must be 100% to the cause to be a real vegan based on your views of animal ethics. Just some thoughts...

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