Is the World Becoming Nicer to Vegetarians? Or Is It Just Me?

[dawn_felagund]

When I changed to vegetarianism twelve (!) years ago, I did so in a very different "dining world" than I now live. If we were lucky, we might find a grocery store that sold largely tasteless "veggie burgers" and tofu products, and I got pretty used to salad and baked potato as a restaurant meal. Now, the veggie food section at our local grocery store of choice takes up a whole freezer cabinet, a refrigerated section, and there is an entire aisle of organic foods that are largely vegetarian-friendly as well.

Sometimes I think: Choices?? I have forgotten what it is to have those!

For the first year of my vegetarian life, I existed largely on salad until my parents (I was twelve when I decided to stop eating meat) learned how to cook with tofu. These days, I can afford to turn up my nose at certain foods rather than eat them out of sheer desperation for something different.

This, in turn, forces companies to actually make foods that taste good rather than simply boasting "Soy Product" on the label. (And most veggie foods, these days, are quite good. My non-vegetarian husband eats them...by choice!)

Bobby and I love eating out; we call it a "hobby" of ours, perhaps to justify why we spend so much of our money on nice restaurants. (And, sometimes, not-so-nice restaurants with purely evol-delicious food!) There are very few places these days that do not have something that I can eat...or at least convert into something that I can eat.

A popular solution, for example, is to take a dish that involves meat and simply ask that it be made without it. Pasta, for example, or entree salads are good for this.

The downfall with this, of course, is that I am paying for the meat--the most expensive part of the meal--and not getting it. (Sometimes--if it's shrimp, especially--I will have it put on the side and Bobby will eat it.) But it is a fact of life that vegetarians become accustomed to. Using most restaurant computer systems, one cannot simply adjust the price of a dish to accomodate guest requests (although one can always add value to it). Or, if they can, it is a power of management, and most servers don't know or won't bother to ask.

On Saturday, Bobby and I went with friends to a hole-in-the-wall dive with delicious food called Phoenix Emporium that is located in historic Ellicott City. I ordered a chicken quesadilla, without the chicken of course, which cost $7.95.

When the check came, the server had charged us for an open food instead (which means that she punches in the price rather than having the computer calculate it based off of what I ordered) for $5.00, since I didn't get the chicken.

We gave her the three dollars that we saved as extra tip, of course.

Today, Bobby took a mental health day, so he picked me up from work and took me out to lunch, as is our custom. We went to Red Robin, which is a gourmet burger chain. They have decent veggie burgers, but I wasn't in the mood, so I got a southwestern-style chicken salad sans the chicken.

And the server had the manager take a couple dollars off of our check.

Twice in a week? That hardly ever happens--not that I'm complaining--and it happened twice in a week!

But, as I frequently tell Bobby, I think that restaurants are starting to realize the value of catering to vegetarians--or what they serve to lose if they don't. It only takes one vegetarian in the party to make a group not go to a certain restaurant. Take our group on Saturday: There were five of us; one (me) was a vegetarian. Does a place really want to lose the patronage of five people over their inability to concoct a dish that does not involve meat? And I've heard figures that suggest that as much as 7% of the US population is vegetarian. (I don't know how accurate these are or if they include quasi-vegetarians like pesco- and pollo-"vegetarians," but that's the number I've heard. And that's a pretty significant chunk of the population.)

It's not hard to offer a couple vegetarian options using ingredients that have to be kept on hand anyway. And most of us are not hard to please...quite the opposite! After getting up the gumption to try everything from tofu to seaweed, we don't take much convincing to order a veggie sandwich or a pasta primavera. Most of the time, we're just grateful to eat without surviving on a la carte side dishes or feeling that we have to write our own menu...or go hungry.

I was a little miffed because places were getting rid of vegetarian options in favor of "Atkins-friendly" choices, but now that the low-carb craze (and "craze" about describes my feelings on the Atkins diet) is dying down, thank Valar, I'm starting to feel a little more vegetarian love again.

Comments

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

Part of it, I think, is that we are seeing a greater variety of ethnic restaurants, and those from regions where there is more vegetarian cooking -- Indian and Indonesian restaurants in particular. Meat is an expensive treat in most regions of the world, so there's lots of vegetarian cuisine in Third World countries. Now that we see more restaurants from those areas, we become more accustomed to vegetarian food without even realizing it.

Our gamelan concert is in a couple of weeks, and we'll have a slamathan (ritual meal) beforehand. It's being catered by a local Indonesian restaurant, and we'll be able to accommodate vegetarians and non-vegetarians with perfect ease. The only real issue is to have the restaurant remember to mark any dishes containing shrimp on account of at least one gamelan player (me) is allergic. And last year, one of the dancers was even more allergic than I am, as we discovered when she accidentally ate a sauce with shrimp in it and was curled up begging to be killed half an hour before the performance.

She danced anyway, and was great. But she was not happy about it.

[dawn_felagund]

Some of my favorite foods--and restaurants--are ethnic, in part because I always know that they have something that I can eat. Actually, multiple "somethings." :) Bobby and I are both looking forward to Puerto Rico and trying the foods there. He's read that they're largely black-bean-based, which isn't far from our usual diet anyway.

I can't say that I've tried Indonesian, though!

She danced anyway, and was great. But she was not happy about it.

No, I wouldn't think so! o.O Food allergies are no joke. But I also think that it's required for one performer in a group to become sick or injured on the night of the show. Otherwise, it's just not a proper show.

(Last year, one of my skating teammates fractured her ankle on the day of our first performance. And skated anyway.)

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

There aren't a whole lot of Indonesian restaurants in the U.S. yet. The one that's catering our slamathan is one of only a handful in our region. But if you do come across one, try it. Indonesian cuisine is one of the few that I've found that does things to make tofu actually edible.

[sirielle.livejournal.com]

World is nicer to vegetarians but still you may buy here vegetarian pizza with... chicken O_o
I'm the worst vegetarian ever, I exist on cookies and chocolate. Fortunately when I started being vegetarian I was under mom's care - we have changed diet all, my mom first at once, me and father slowly, because my mom was afraid that I being a kid might still need some meat (I was 12 or so). Now we know that it was not necessary.
They left abroad today and I promised again that I'll be cooking for myself. I really should, I make jokes from that but it's not funny.

[dawn_felagund]

World is nicer to vegetarians but still you may buy here vegetarian pizza with... chicken O_o

*snerk* I'm not surprised, really. I love the people who say, "Oh, you're a vegetarian? I'm a vegetarian too! But I do eat meat sometimes...."

Then you're not exactly a vegetarian....

I'm the worst vegetarian ever, I exist on cookies and chocolate.

Add cheese to the list and you'd be my sister! (Who is also a vegetarian.) *hides from ssotknapsack*

I didn't know that you were veggie, btw. Yay! Here I'd thought that my sister was the only veggie on my flist!

I also "converted" at age 12, and my mom also had concerns about my age and nutrients and all that. I did my research, though, and remember going to her with the World Book Encyclopedia in hand and an article saying that meat contained no nutrients that couldn't be derived from vegetarian sources. Since I'd done my research--flimsy as it seems now--she let me try it out, and I've never looked back.

But even then, there was lots of misinformation about having to "match" proteins and all that, so I can understand your parents' fears.

They left abroad today and I promised again that I'll be cooking for myself. I really should, I make jokes from that but it's not funny.

Yes, I tend to be the same way. Teh Hubby is going to Los Angeles for a week in early June, and I've had to make plans to visit my parents frequently to make sure that I eat. I'm prone to skipping meals at work, where I must feed myself. (Hubby does the meal-cooking at home.)

I'm prone to blood-sugar drops too that leave me dizzy and very cranky, so I understand that it really isn't funny...but it seems so hard to microwave a burrito or pour a cup of cereal nonetheless, especially when I'm writing or doing something fun. :^/

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I think as more people cut back on meat or drop it from their diet entirely, the veggie options in restaurants will continue to improve. Think of all the good eating you have to look forward to!

[dawn_felagund]

I know how much progress has been made in just the 12 years since I've "converted!"

It's good business, really. If I were a restaurant owner, I wouldn't want to lose the patronage of a whole family because one person was vegetarian and she had nothing to eat at my restaurant. There are places that my husband and I like that don't offer a lot of options for me, and we don't go there often. But some places we go every other week or so 'cause they have stuff that I can have.

Those other places...they'll come around once they start seeing it in terms of dollars and cents, I'm sure. :)

[linwe-ancalime.livejournal.com]

The UK is really starting to get on board the Vegetarian boat now too.

I have a habit of checking the menu of everywhere we go to see if Sharon can eat there (although her fave place is a lil dive that sells cheese panini's :-P go figure) and I've noticed a lot more veggie dishes and a lot more experimentation too instead of the usual baked potato and cheese.

However, the one place that my family eats at a lot, down by the coast, has taken away most, if not all, of their veggie dishes. Which is surprising and a little stupid because like you say, now that Sharon can't eat there, it means they lose the custom of five people.

This conversation also reminds me that I need to buy Fake chicken nuggets, her favourite, I know. :-P

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

I have a habit of checking the menu of everywhere we go to see if Sharon can eat there (although her fave place is a lil dive that sells cheese panini's :-P go figure)

Have you forgotten the chippie? That's like tied for first place. :-P

Even something as traditional as that, though, has a vegetarian option (and this is where we find out that they fry everything in cow fat, isn't it?).

Conversely, everywhere I go I check for Kirsty-safe meals that contain chicken. :-P But that's a little easier.

However, the one place that my family eats at a lot, down by the coast, has taken away most, if not all, of their veggie dishes. Which is surprising and a little stupid because like you say, now that Sharon can't eat there, it means they lose the custom of five people.

Having never been there (go figure), I wonder if it's not a statement of them trying to be classy. I mean, filet mignon has a nicer ring to it than "cheese pasta" or whatever. :-/ But yeah, that's a good point ya'll make.

This conversation also reminds me that I need to buy Fake chicken nuggets, her favourite, I know. :-P

No no, chicken patties are my absolute fave!

[linwe-ancalime.livejournal.com]

Having never been there (go figure), I wonder if it's not a statement of them trying to be classy. I mean, filet mignon has a nicer ring to it than "cheese pasta" or whatever. :-/ But yeah, that's a good point ya'll make.

That's not really the case here, I mean this place is a traditional English pub which sells nice but typical 'good ole English grub'. (Do you have the word 'grub') :-P i.e it sells everything it has always sold, minus the veggie stuff. It's not trying to go up market or anything like that. Maybe the veggie stuff wasn't selling or something but to totally wipe it off the menu is a little drastic.

No no, chicken patties are my absolute fave!

Then we're all set :-P

[dawn_felagund]

Sharon liking something where cheese is a key ingredient!? Nevah!! ;^D

But it's good to know that my sister will be fed in her new home. :)

That's odd about taking away all of the veggie dishes. I've seen places lose one thing (usually, lately, to an "Atikins-friendly" substitute), but that really makes no sense. Hmm. Especially considering that veggie foods require fewer special ingredients than meat dishes. If a place sells pasta, alfredo, and broccoli, then you have the makings of a fine veggie meal right there!

I don't know if Sharon has told you, but she likes her chicken nuggets really, really well done. Burnt almost. ;)

[linwe-ancalime.livejournal.com]

I don't know if Sharon has told you, but she likes her chicken nuggets really, really well done. Burnt almost. ;)

I had heard this...I'll have to let my mummy know, she likes cajun cooking ;-)

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

I think it depends a lot on what kind of restaurant you're going to. For example, I'd never take one of my vegetarian friends to my favourite Greek restaurant, even though I love Greek food to death. Granted, they have fabulous vegetarian first courses and divine desserts, but the main courses are practically meat served with... eh, meat (or fish, respectively), and I'd never do that to them. Italian restaurants are usually no problem though since the almost always have a lot of delicious vegetarian pasta dishes that even I (who likes meat in all forms) cannot resist. Most Asian restaurants are okay, too, although I think the choice is somewhat small in most places (like either rice with vegetables or noodles with vegetable). I mean, it's actually not my problem, but I can't drag my vegetarian friends to a steak house, can I? ;)

[dawn_felagund]

Granted, they have fabulous vegetarian first courses and divine desserts, but the main courses are practically meat served with... eh, meat

That's one of the few things I remember about the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where her fiance says he is vegetarian and won't eat meat, and the Greek mother says, "Then we will have lamb!" :^D

That's Americans, too, who could usually use a bit of biology education. Because people like to contest whether fish/clams/crabs/fill-in-the-blank are in fact meat, I often say that my vegetarian diet forbids eating animals.

At which point I get the blank stare: "But fish aren't animals!"

o.O

You are a kind friend, btw. I hope your veggie friends appreciate you because nothing is more annoying than when a group gets together and picks a place that has nothing Felak can eat. And I feel bad speaking up, like, "Guys, I know you like it there, but I kinda can't eat there. At all." Or I'll be ravenous, and they say, "Oh, you can have a salad!" Yeah, have you ever seen me eat when I'm hungry? Entire forests have been known to fall in my wake! That salad doesn't stand a chance! ;^D

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

That's one of the few things I remember about the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where her fiance says he is vegetarian and won't eat meat, and the Greek mother says, "Then we will have lamb!" :^D

I remember that, too. And being a fan of Greek cooking I found it extremely funny because it's so true!

At which point I get the blank stare: "But fish aren't animals!"

This always irritated me; that there's so many "vegetarians" who eat fish. I never understood it. *shrugs*

You are a kind friend

Thank you. :) I'm doing my best. It's just the fact that I know how much it can spoil an evening if you go somewhere where there's nothing you like on the menu (and the choice is not what you like best, but what you still can bear to eat). And since I really like Italian food it's not a big problem usually. :)

[dawn_felagund]

This always irritated me; that there's so many "vegetarians" who eat fish. I never understood it. *shrugs*

Even better than that are the vegetarians I've met on occasion who say, "Oh, you're a vegetarian? Me too! Well...I eat meat on occasion...."

Then you're not a vegetarian!

I don't understand it either. :^/

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Where does "lunch 'meat' vegetarian" fall into the percent?? Because I only eat lunch meat turkey at the dorm (it's a filler and happily tasteless). ;)

No really, my eating life is sad. Like last night, I walk through the line, pause depairingly before finally saying, "Uh, I'll just take some peas."

I *hate* Atkins-friendly. TGI Friday's used to have this salad with deliciously sinful hot honey bacon dressing. It was my favorite. And they took it off the menu because stupid people thought it was unhealthy. The nerve!

Yay for nice waiters/waitresses!!

A few years ago, my parents went on the low carb diet. Thus, bread, pasta, etc. was gone. I wanted to cry. Now, I don't mind spaghetti squash sometimes, but there's just no substituting real pasta!! Luckily, my parents are over that bit of silliness. ;)

And you said "burger". I must hate you now. (I reeeeeeeally want a *good* burger! I was just getting over it, too.) :P

[dawn_felagund]

Where does "lunch 'meat' vegetarian" fall into the percent?? Because I only eat lunch meat turkey at the dorm (it's a filler and happily tasteless). ;)

Hmm. Well, if pollo- and pesco-vegetarians count, then I don't see why you can't too. We'll call you a pseudocarni-vegetarian. ;)

I *hate* Atkins-friendly. TGI Friday's used to have this salad with deliciously sinful hot honey bacon dressing. It was my favorite. And they took it off the menu because stupid people thought it was unhealthy. The nerve!

TGI Fridays was the place I was thinking of mostly when I wrote that bit! GMTA! Because they also used to have a roasted veggie sandwich on ciabatta that was soooo good. But I guess that was unhealthy too because it had, like, vegetables and things.

They do have a veggie burger, but I don't particularly like it. Particularly the veggie burger platter that they have...and the last time I was there, I tried to get a barbecue burger made with a vegetarian patty and had to endure the third degree from the server about what a pain in the ass it would be to put in the computer.

Don't go to Fridays anymore, needless to say. ;)

Luckily, my parents are over that bit of silliness. ;)

Low-carb diets simply make no sense to me. Okay, cut out the vegetables and grains...and add more meat and dairy. WTF?

How about eating foods that are good for you and doing something to burn off the carbs?

One of Bobby's coworkers was on Atkins, and Bobby went to have a fruit salad for dessert, and his coworker said, "Oh, I can't have that."

"Well, what's recommended for you to have for dessert then?" Bobby asked.

"A bowl of whipped cream."

A bowl of whipped cream? WTF?? Take it from someone who works with the stuff on a regular basis, whipping cream is just Not Good for You. Like so bad that I reallly need to find an alternative for my ice cream. Reading the nutrition facts alone nearly gave me a heart attack.

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

TGI Fridays was the place I was thinking of mostly when I wrote that bit! GMTA!

W00t!! If only they'd bring back my salad!!! We don't go there often either. I went there specifically for that salad. Now there's just no reason!

How about eating foods that are good for you and doing something to burn off the carbs?

OMG, that is ingenius! The other diet my parents did, when I was like 6 years old, was the "eat only when you are truly hungry" diet. It worked. Amazing. Who'da thought?

"A bowl of whipped cream."

ROFL!!!!!!! OMG. Wow. That is beautiful. Even *I* don't eat a bowl of whipped cream for dessert!