sleepydvdr, sounds like you're a fellow NC'er. I guess you live close to Charlotte? I live closer to Asheville, which seems pretty vegan-friendly too
sleepydvdr, sounds like you're a fellow NC'er. I guess you live close to Charlotte? I live closer to Asheville, which seems pretty vegan-friendly too
When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh
yay! a discussion about TJ's that I didn't start! whoo!
come support us, as we are having financial troubles of late. any rich vegans who want to support an eatery that is intending to be a chain someday: we are looking for donations and/or loans. holler at your boy!
Sorry to hear the business is having troubles Trudatman Why do you think it's happening?
Anyway, if you're opening a chain, come north of the border and I will certainly eat there!
I even called PE customer service # to complain about their "vegetarian" dishes containing chicken broth. I explained to them how chicken was NOT vegetarian and was told "sorry, we think it isn't labeled wrong, it's your problem with eating chicken, not our labelling." WTF?
Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull! I wrote them a SEVEN page complaint letter. That was in August.... still waiting for a reply.
Is the problem with Panera just the hot sandwiches? I usually order the Med Veggie with no problems (at any time of day), but now I'm worried that they're just picking the cheese off my sandwich or something....
"Lovers, givers, what minds have we made/ that make us hate/ a slaughterhouse for torturing a river?" ==AF
Unless I can physically see [name of restaurant] make me a [type of food] with no cheese, I always assume they simply pick off the cheese.
I have had too many instances of little bits of yellow or white blobs on the lettuce for me to think otherwise.
I wish that more places would accommodate but the ones that do I love dearly. I tend to stick with local Vietnamese and Thai restaurants, they are lovely and so willing to help.
mmmmmmm...cupcakes
I guess I figure they would have a hard time picking off all the feta crumbles?
I live in denial.
"Lovers, givers, what minds have we made/ that make us hate/ a slaughterhouse for torturing a river?" ==AF
Reading this made a very heavy frown come to my face. I was under the "too good to be true" impression that Qdoba had vegan items. This website is the reason behind my conclusion. While L-cystine isn't brought up, the artificial butter, amylase, thiamin mononitrate, natural flavoring, and disodium inosinate are. There's also copies of letters both to and from Qdoba head quaters. Alas, there's a reply from an ex-Qdoba employee stating that their grilled veggies are cooked on the same grill they use for cooking meat. Maybe not every Qdoba's does that...? (fingers crossed)
I'm not sure if you will see this since it has been so long, but the grilled paninis are preassembled, the cold sandwiches are not. I often get the mediterranean veggie, but get country bread instead of tomato basil (it has honey), no cheese, and I add avocado (at a charge). Then I try to watch them make it
tabbouleh-bouleh
It helps to tell hte people at Panera that you're allergic to lactose so theyll HAVE to make the sandwich right there. Just give them a lot of time to make it.
Also, does anyone know if their black bean soup is vegan? I've been told it is, but I don't really trust it cause the person who told me doesn't actually make it, thye just work there. And what about vinaigrettes? Are they vegan?
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Alcott
oh man, i was in california pizza kitchen the other day (not by choice)... asked the water (a hip punk lookin kid) if there was anything vegan friendly and he said he'd go get the bartender who is vegan! i was so surprized!
she informed me that the Dijon balsamic vinaigrette on the grilled veggie salad has chicken broth in it! ekkk!
anyway, i got that with a different dressing, it was tasty.
she did inform me that ALL their pizza crusts and ALL thier pastas were non vegan
http://www.cpk.com/
the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, dunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
-henry miller
I just visited that link to the Qdoba site, and I didn't see cysteine or lecithin in the flour tortillas or the rice. The pan release spray (used for the grilled vegetables) has soybean lecithin in it. Of course there is the issues of having food cooked in the same place/pan/grill that meat is cooked, but if you don't live in an area with vegetarian restaurants, you're dealing with that everywhere!
I appreciate the heads up about Panera. It remains one of my favorite places to eat. All their nutritional info (and ingredients) are listed online. The black bean soup is vegan (as far as I can tell) and delicious: Ingredients: Water, black beans, onions, celery, vegetable base (baked carrots, lima beans, natural flavorings, tomato paste, cooked potatoes, corn oil, celery, onions), modified corn starch, red peppers, salt, spices, lemon juice, garlic powder.
Good news about the pizza crusts at CPK. Did s/he say anything about the sauce?
"Lovers, givers, what minds have we made/ that make us hate/ a slaughterhouse for torturing a river?" ==AF
Bob Evans is not friendly at ALL. I had their country stir fry after being told that, yes, it was vegan, but it actually is not! >,<
I had to go there another time, so I got four appetizers (it came with bread, which I didn't eat, because I wasn't sure about it). Applesauce, fruit cup, and double steamed broccoli. I got a LOT of freakin' broccoli. XD
Earlier in this thread, I mentioned Ruby Tuesday's veggie burger. Well, I went there a bit over a week ago and found out (when it came out to the table) that they have changed their veggie burger. I asked the server for the ingredients, so he brought out the list and it now (at the very least) has egg whites in it. I sent it back and have emailed RT's today, but I'm sure they're going to stick with their egg-full veggie burgers, so unless you just want a salad, now there's one less place to eat
When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh
Yes, vegan. [assuming "natural flavor" is OK by you, it is me] You can get it with a side of fruit (usually apple), chips that are vegan, or a slice of bread but the normal bread they'll give you is a no-go so you have to ask for another one.
All Panera's (near me at least) have a full ingredients disclosure book usually kept close to the cash register. If a kid behind the counter doesn't know about it I'm sure if you ask for a higher up they'll know where it is.
It's on line here
breads, click on each for ingr.
A new (to me) Asian noodle restaurant chain has opened near me. Lots of vegan stuff and the mngr. told me anything on the menu that is labeled "vegetarian" (with a V) can be made vegan too.
Wagamama They seem to have locations all across North America.
I notice two of the entries list egg so I guess they mean one needs to modify this when ordering. I've just now sent an email explaining they need to address this and state that more clearly (or remove the items from the vegan menu).
They have replied with a satisfactory (to me) explanation:
hi
thanks for your email!
wagamama is very aware of the importance of having correct dietary information available to our guest and offers a variety of allergy free dishes
you will see on our website under dietary requirements the statement:
‘if you have a dietary requirement we have listed some suitable dishes for you. however be aware this should only be used as a guide. we would advise you speak to your server when you visit your local wagamama’
once you have selected a dietary requirement, ie/ vegan, the following statement is listed
‘the following items can be modified to meet your dietary requirements. please speak to your server and explain your requirements before you order’
at each of our restaurants we have a very detailed allergy table and only managers take the orders of guests who have any specific allergy requirements
for your information the modification for both the dishes yasai cha han and yasai yaki soba is to have the egg removed
I hope this clarifies your email
kind regards
belinda northcott | operations executive | wagamama inc
t: +1 617 778 2440 | c: +1 617 459 8862 | f: +1 617 778 2441
a: marketplace centre, north building, 3rd floor, 200 state street, boston MA 02109
wagamama
uk | ireland | holland | australia | uae | belgium | new zealand | denmark | turkey | usa | cyprus | egypt | switzerland | greece
belindan@wagamama.com
My email to RT:
As a vegan, I used to order your veggie burger all the time since it had no animal products. However, the last time I came in and ordered it, the server (who has served me in the past) told me it was no longer vegan because egg whites were now listed as an ingredient. Why did you have to change the ingredients? RT WAS the only restaurant I ate at, but no longer. You have just lost a customer.
Let's see if I get a response.
Well, here's their response:
A canned response in my opinion. So much for "Our goal is to satisfy our customers completely!"Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your recent experience at Ruby Tuesday, Inc.
We greatly appreciate your patronage and are saddened to hear of your disappointment in our menu and recipe changes. We have removed and altered some items off the menu to concentrate on adding new food selections and perfecting our current ones.
Guest satisfaction is our #1 priority here at Ruby Tuesday, Inc. and because of this we base our decisions on feedback just like yours. I have logged your comments and passed this information on to the appropriate personnel for review. Our goal is to satisfy our customers completely!
Thank you again for your time and patience, and if you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at any time.
Kind Regards,
Ruby Tuesday, Inc.
Guest Relations
Jessica Hutchcraft
Ruby Tuesday Support Center
Guest Relations & Employee Concerns
P: (865) 379-5700
F: (865) 379-6826
JHutchcraft@rubytuesday.com
Yes, absolutely canned, generic response. I'd agree.
I bet if you write them and say," I was upset to discover there were cockroaches in the sugar packets that came with my coffee." You'd still get the same:
"We greatly appreciate your patronage and are saddened to hear of your disappointment in our menu and recipe changes. We have removed and altered some items ...."
Is TJ Scallywaggles still open?! I just looked through the older posts of this thread and checked out the website, but it's from 2007 and the poster said they were having financial troubles. I used to LOVE pizza and I am going if they are still there! I asked my friend who lives in Allston, MA if he knows of it, am awaiting a reply.
I emailed RT's as well and got the EXACT same response that you did shellymi2nv
When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh
Was it from Jessica as well? I responded to her email with
"So much for your goal of "Our goal is to satisfy our customers completely!" Count me now as a non-customer! In this economic climate, I would think you would be doing anything to KEEP customers, not turn them away.
If you want to concentrate on "perfecting our current ones [selections]" may I suggest you return to the egg-less veggie burger?"
Let's see if I get a reply to that!
Yes, it was from "Jessica." I'll be interested (and surprised) to hear if you get any response.
When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh
I contacted them too. The more complaints the better! (not that I'm nave enough to think something will come out of it)
"To reduce suffering means to reduce the amount of ignorance, the basic affliction with us." -Thich Nhat Hanh
They really had a nice burger too. Only problem was that their salad bar was crazy amazing and I'd always be full.
it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble
Domino's just announced that it is changing its recipes. Now the crust is going to contain butter
When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh
Ours has milk or something in it anyway.
it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble
I still cannot believe the lack of soy milk at Tim Hortons, which is a huge piss off for a lot of Canadian vegans!
I managed to find a list of their "vegan options" on their website, and was even more disheartened:
http://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/menu/menu_info.html#1
A person following a Vegan diet will not eat meat of any kind and will not consume any dairy or egg products. A few of the products that should be suitable for this class of vegetarian, however, are as follows:
. Bagels
. Sandwich Buns
. Soup Rolls
. Oatcakes (cookie
Oh joy, you mean I can have a soup roll with that sandwich bun? How exciting!!!
....
Dammit!! Their low-fat blueberry muffins used to be vegan. I had one in December. I wonder when they changed the formula. *sighs*
Peace, love, and happiness.
I know, it's already hard to enough to eat out anywhere with the options we've got; why they'd narrow the vegan selection even further is beyond me!
As far as Dominos goes, I am actually pleasantly suprised with them. Their new crust contains butter when the garlic sauce is put on, that is what I was told. I told them I was vegan, and explained what I do not eat, and they mentioned they will not add the garlic sauce or cheese, and it will be vegan. I will email the company to make sure, but that is great! The Domino's where I live is great and has such nice people, so I hope it's true!
Here's a lovely question...anybody have any idea if the Italian minestrone soup at Eastside Marios is vegan? My family is going for dinner tonight, and of course even though my mom *rarely* eats animal products *except when she's really hungry or there happens to be cheese on things that she wants* (sigh) they all want to go to someplace that seems really horrifically cheese and meat laden. It was that or Montana's. And eating vegan at Montana's...perhaps impossible...
Anyway. I found this information:
Thanks to an inquiry by Josee in January 2008, East Side Mario's wrote him to say that each location has a printed document with ingredients and allergens listed. Anyone can ask to view it.
"Currently the items that are vegan on the menu are our Napolitana and Arrabbiata sauces for pasta (they do not contain chicken stock), and our DeCecco rigatoni pasta and DeCecco angel hair. Garden Salad (request "no cheese"). Soho Chicken Salad (request "no chicken). The sautéed vegetables are also vegan as is our pizza sauce and pizza dough.
The other pastas state that they may contain egg due to the fact that they are manufactured in a facility that uses eggs. The only pastas that do directly contain egg are cappelletti, asparagus cappelletti, ravioli and Milanese. Please do note that all pasta is cooked in the same boiling water."
...But the pastas and sauces described here don't seem to be combined (or even able to be combined in the build-your-own-pasta dish.
Any help...anyone?
Another go around with Ruby Tuesdays. They recently started this "FitnTrim" plan. Everything full of animal products except, well keep reading to find out.
My email to them:
Not one plant based entree option is on your menu. I can eat salads and plain pasta everywhere- I'm talking about entrees....------------------------
Your "veggie" burger USED to be OK, until you changed over to one containing eggs. Now it's not even on the menu.
As for this new Fit/Trim nonsense-- Only plant based option is the red pepper sauce over pasta. REAL IMAGINATIVE!
So Jessica Hutchcraft responded [BTW, nice to see she is still employed with Ruby Tuesday's - NOT] with:
"We greatly appreciate your patronage and are sorry to hear of your disappointment in our restaurant. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Guest satisfaction is our #1 priority here at Ruby Tuesday and because of this we base our decisions on guest feedback.---------------------------------------
Nothing matters more to us than how you feel about your dining experience with us. We always want to make it the best it can be.
Thank you again for your time and patience, and if you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at any time."
Same canned nonsense as 2 years ago! Is she a robot or something?
My snarky response:
Dear Jessica,
So "Guest satisfaction is our #1 priority here at Ruby Tuesday" UNLESS said guest does NOT eat meat or dairy (for whatever reason).
Thanks for your enthusiastic response to my comments. Think I'll stick with eating out at Denny's where at least they have Amy's Vegan "burgers" for me to eat.
You might also want to pass this quote up the Ruby Tuesday's culinary corporate ladder:
"From a business perspective in a poor economy, restaurants and caterers who choose not to market to vegan consumers do so at their own risk. Agreed the number of vegans is small compared to those who would be content eating a meal with animal products. But what these *business people* perhaps have not considered is that the vegan community embraces good vegan service with a *huge* amount of referral marketing via blogs and word of mouth. While the community is not large, our impact usually is."
Last edited by shellymi2nv; Sep 14th, 2010 at 05:49 AM. Reason: got rid of typos!
Hello all!
I work at The Old Spaghetti Factory, and thought I'd let you all know that eating vegan there is pretty easy.
Here's a list of vegan menu items
Minestrone soup (although it's SUPER high in sodium, so I usually avoid it anyway)
Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette and no croutons
The bread that comes with the meal (avoid the margarine that comes with it)
I LOVE the Spaghetti Squash appetizer, which comes with cheese on it but you can easily order it without and it's still tasty. They're also very careful (at least, in my location in Denver) to make everything carefully when it comes to dietary restrictions. Rest assured that they won't just pick off the cheese.
As far as entrees go, both the Mushroom Sauce and the Marinara Sauce are both vegan, although the mushrooms are cooked on the same flat top as the chicken and sausage and other things. As an added bonus, the marinara sauce is pretty tasty.
None of the desert is vegan.
Hope this helps!
Bookmarks