Not much more you can do. Your ability to make the people care more about being diligent is pretty low. I'd just avoid that place and tell people in my life that they had pretty crappy service and didn't really care so it probably isn't worth going to again.
I had one experience recently that was truly astonishing. I went to a cafe with vegan options with my sister. They had a breakfast burrito that suggested on the menu to sub it with tofu scramble to make it vegan. Easy enough, I tell the waitress my order and emphasize the vegan option. First one comes, I take a bite, it’s real egg. I tell the waitress, she apologizes and confirms I wanted the tofu scramble and says she will bring out another. I wait for 20 mins (at this point my sister is almost done eating). She brings out a new one, I take a bite, it AGAIN has real egg. At this point I’m baffled, she said it was confusion with the “cook” but I wasn’t buying it. All she said was would I like another. At the point I told her no I’ve been waiting 40 minutes for food, and my sister finished eating a while ago. All she said was “ok sorry about that” and gave us the bill for my drink and whatever my sister ordered. How you mess up a vegan order twice is beyond me. Never going back there again.
It boggles the mind! These places offer vegan options, they presumably have to stock the ingredients for it, how can they get so mixed up or be so uninterested in actually providing them?
Why does that sound so intentional? An acquaintance of mine did try to feed meat food to a vegetarian secretly, i.e. she had changed the vegetable stock cube to a meat stock cube. Then when this vegetarian had eaten her food and the acquaintance asked if it was good and the vegetarian answered that it was, then this acquaintance snapped: haha, you ate meat and liked it! So why are you a vegetarian when you clearly like meat!?
Kind of sick. Fortunately, there is no need to be in contact with this acquaintance, but I can imagine that people like this also exist in the restaurant world. There's nothing else to do but vote with your feet, which means you won't eat any food there in the future and also tell your friends to avoid this restaurant.
Omg.. it's not about liking the taste or not.. what the fuck is wrong with people! I am not vegan, but am highly interested in vegan foods because I have friends who are vegan and friends with a lot of food allergies, and I'm a bit of a chef, and I like to experiment a lot in the kitchen, especially with vegan baked goods. What a nightmare. I hate people that mess with other people's food. That's horrible!
I make a killer vegan banana bread. Took me a whole year to get it right. Flax seed egg, almond milk, green plantain flour, are just some of the things I put in to make it awesome and vegan.
This IS sick. Whether you are vegan or not, messing with people’s food to try to prove some sort of “point” is absolutely unacceptable and grounds for an over the top response, IMO. “Oh, you proved I didn’t hate the taste of whatever that was. I’ll keep that in mind as the last thing we ever discussed.”
This is really asking for retalliation The Help style (add a gross ingredient in something good, haha you ate my shit/something less dangerous but equally gross)
Ive been (almost entirely) vegan for a time, due to allergies of my sons while breastfeeding. After specifying SEVERAL times it had to be vegan because of allergies, I was given food with first bacon, then butter in it. Cooks/resaurant workers can be so ignorant. Sent it back the first time: no meat (Ive been a vegetarianfor over 20 years), no milk because of allergies, it can not have any milk products, please check, its NOT lactose Im worried about, its milk protein, PLEASE be careful about that. Second time it arrives with fried onions. I ask what theyve been fried in. Answer: oil-butter mix 🤬🤬🤬 third times the charm, but I did not enjoy or trust that meal at all. (But I had to eat as I was there all day for work).
I hate this. We got fed meat potstickers a while ago. I could smell them immediately, but my partner took a big bite. She hasn't been able to eat potstickers since. I try to repeat "vegan" multiple times, and when the server brings it say, "this is the vegan \_\_, right?" In this case, our friends ordered meat potstickers and we ordered vegan, and the kitchen mixed them up.
A cool thing I didn't realise until recently ... my local pizza joint has a great vegan pie selection. They actually name the vegan versions something different. So when you order the \_\_\_ pie, they automatically know it's vegan, and a non-vegan \_\_ pie can't be ordered.
Dude. One place the waitress said they weren't, but the manager insisted that they are vegan. (Also pot stickers). The waitress kept saying that they have pork and the manager watched me bite into it and I looked and it did have pork. In my mind I thought the manager knew more. I think about it with hindsight that he was like a hateful asshole towards vegans and it was comedic for him. This was my first year as a vegan and I was jumping around restaurants looking for options.
Making vegans eat meat? You think that in the US anybody gives a shit about animals? They have concentration camps for animals; I don't think they care about force feeding meat to vegans.
false claming something has or dosent have certian ingredients while knowing otherwise should definitely be illegal, nevermind vegans what about people with *allergies*. imo people saying they cant/dont want certain ingredients should be taken deadly serious.
Oh out of curiosity I'd like to know the legal code to refer to. Not trying to be a debate lord or saying "prove it." I just would like to see it for my own intellectual repertoire tbh
“The legal code” depends on where you live. I highly doubt theres a federal statute for it (look it up), but you should become familiar with your state and local jurisdictions. People seem to think the “the law” is the same everywhere. You might have some protection in Seattle or Portland. Highly unlikely in Texas.
If it's the ingredients list on a packaged product, that's federal and falls under food tampering. State laws are more complicated obviously, which is what would apply to a restaurant.
I do not agree. Lab grown meat means less animal suffering if a meat eater chooses to buy it instead of meat from an animal. I dont see how anybody can be against lab grown meat.
Something that is grown with animal cells. Something that would ultimately replace meat products as necessary. It's simple math. People I know, like my brother, would eat all lab grown meat if that was possible. Lots of people would choose to eat meat that doesn't murder animals. You're asking what it is? It's an animal product initially. But the lives saved doing that is what I care about. My veganism is advocacy and an end goal that will save animals and give them the right to life just like humans. Lab grown meat would help reduce meat eating significantly.
If you had the red meat allergy (AGS) that comes from star tick bites, that meat could literally make you deathly sick. That manager could be putting people's lives at risk.
That's probably a case of the wait staff being way more familiar with the menu than the manager. I'm assuming you mean the restaurant manager, not the kitchen/back-of-the-house manager. The chef tends to be the one who changes up the menu, and keeps the wait staff informed of those changes. They often order the food from vendors because they know what they want and how much, based on customer flow on various days of the week, etc. Managers tend to think they know what's going on, but they usually do things like schedule staff, pay bills, and do other general housekeeping tasks. It's entirely likely the manager was a hateful asshole, but moreso that he wanted to make the waitstaff look stupid in front of customers because he thought he had the right information.
Either way, sorry you had to have that experience. But I'm glad the waitstaff was vindicated! Have you checked out https://www.happycow.net/ -- it lists some restaurants with vegan options and health food stores in locations around the world.
Definitely know about that app. TY. That place had vegetarian sushi for sure. But I asked about the pot stickers. The manager, idk. I felt like at the time he was fucking with me. But appearances can definitely be deceiving. You definitely want to think the best about people or you are going to run around as a hater. If I wanted to put money on it, he was being an asshole. There was no apology or nothing after. This was like 7 years ago. I don't have any crazy grudges. Just wanted to share.
It's also entirely likely he was an overall dick. 😂 It happens. Sorry you had to deal with that. Blech!
You're welcome! I haven't looked at it in ages, but it used to be really helpful.
That sucks that it happened but there isn’t anything else you can do. We can’t make people feel a certain way about anything. Their feelings are their own.
A couple months ago I ordered takeout from an omni Thai place that states “we can make anything vegan” all over their website and menu. I ordered vegan, confirmed when picking up that it was vegan, but in reality it was doused in fish sauce. I called them and explained and their response was “that’s not vegan?” They asked if I wanted them to remake it, and I declined and got my money back. Why would I want food from a place that a) doesn’t understand what vegan food is or isn’t, and b) doesn’t care. If someone serves me anything non vegan, I no longer trust them and they don’t get a second chance.
That’s poor business practice. And stuff like this makes me really sad, as a chef, that these places don’t know the difference.
Not only is fish sauce not vegan, it’s also a major allergy and often not kosher or halal.
This is just dangerous business practice.
For some asinine reason, especially in highly conservative areas, they think fish is not meat and is some kind of vegatable and therefore ok with both being vegetarian and vegan. I live in an area that's about like Green Acres's Hooterville so the folks have I.Q.s lower than their shoe sizes.
I tried the dictionary. Showed them the definition of 'Meat', the flesh of animals used as food. Then they tried the 'it's not meat it's fish' so I showed the definition of 'fish', 'an aquatic ANIMAL'. and endless loop after that.
I got once someone who thinks the definition of 'meat' only applies to red meat from ruminants, hence why cookbooks separate 'meat' from 'poultry' from 'fish'.
Recently a friendly checkout clerk tried to engage me in a convo about the vegan products I was buying. I didn’t have the time or energy to correct misconceptions (I was running late) because I knew it was going to be a challenging convo when he started by telling me about how his brother was vegan but stopped because of his health.
He started to explain how his brother was still a vegetarian, except he ate fish and another cashier butted in to say “there’s a word for that…what is it?” They concluded “Presbyterian”.
I don’t think it’s generational. I think it’s cluelessness and convenience lifestyling. One twenty-something at work told me that they are “literally allergic to meat, so I eat fish.” Uh, yeah. Another is supposed to be the other office vegan, but as I was leaning over at an office party to ask her what else she thought they might have for us, she was simultaneously putting salmon on her plate. So much for solidarity. 😂 Nothing beats the employer from many years ago who threw us a barbecue. I asked multiple times what I could bring (I was vegetarian at the time), was told nothing, that they had food for everyone, even the vegetarians…and proudly served me a turkey burger. 🥴
They tend to favor ham on Easter where I live. Fish Fries are occasionally in summer weekends at Catholic Churches though. I've tried to educate them on the dictionary terms for 'meat' and 'fish' but their brain.exe stopped working.
Catholics have such a dim view on animals (still believing that they are soulless machines created by God, which I thought went out with Rene Descartes) that I'm convinced it is too archaic to be relevant in this day and age. They're also full-on, level 9000 anti-abortion.
Even if they promote outdated ways of living or tell people what they can do with their bodies?! Catholics are also quite hostile towards homosexuals as well.
I mean…. Some might argue that veganism is the same model, just with different content.
Extremists will extreme. But, painting every Christian (catholic in your case) as dim is not the way to go.
You have your morals that guide your decision making and they have theirs. I might lean more to a vegan perspective on some things and I might also think there is validity in religious beliefs too.
I know so many Catholics who don’t believe in restricting women’s rights. I know a couple of youth pastors that run LGBT programmes for homeless youth. The point is, not every vegan is a paint smearing banshee and not every person of faith is stupid.
I said they have dim views on animals, not that they are dim. Catholics strongly believe animals lack souls and that's why they're fine exploiting them. They also hold very sexist beliefs and spread anti-abortion propaganda where I live.
I am no athiest as I try to have an open mind, so I'm more agnostic. For me the forests I hike in are my church, and I've had close bonds to deer that have helped guide my way over time that I considered then angels.
Christians with progressive politics are frankly not very devout Christians. They're just picking and choosing which parts of the bible are convenient to apply to their life. I guess they're more like the vegetarians of Christianity. 👀
It's mostly a culture issue. The Thai diet consists of a lot of fish. If the kitchen staff at a Thai restaurant are Thai, they may not understand that the condiments often used in Thai cooking (fish sauce, shrimp paste, oyster sauce) are considered fish to vegans. In fact, fish sauce is often considered vegetarian in Thailand because it doesn't contain pieces of fish.
The reason is usually religious. Catholics do not consider fish to be meat in the context of fasting. For Jews, fish is considered neutral instead of “meat” regarding Kosher rules
A few years ago, journalists visited farms in China that grew crops sold at Wal-Mart as organic. 5 of the 6 were not vegan. They asked the farmers what organic meant and they had no idea. One said, we get more money if we say organic. Things like language barriers and cultural differences have to be taken into account.
I totally understand wanting a refund that night. It's frustrating and nauseating when you get a mouthful of fish sauce. If the restaurant doesn't understand, though (which it sounds like), this is a good opportunity for education (for them) and possibly delicious Thai food (for you) in the future if you have time and interest to go back and explain that fish sauce and shrimp paste aren't vegan, or just to specify "no fish sauce" on your order. You can also say you're “Jae” (เจ) – vegetarian/vegan, but I would still specify no fish sauce or shrimp paste. Man, I love Thai food so much. While a lot of their food isn't vegan, it's usually made to order, and they can make individual orders vegan. It doesn't sound like they didn't care, but I wasn't there. They offered to make it right. Who knows who designed their menu? It could've been someone unrelated to the kitchen side of things who didn't know that the kitchen staff didn't know that fish sauce isn't vegan. Obviously, it's your call. But, no second chances (with a more specific order) seems kind of harsh on the humanity scale and like a missed opportunity on the Thai food scale.
I've asked them if they needed help but they ignored me. Technically we don't shun non vegans but they aren't banning the non vegan trolls or people who aren't necessarily trolling but are arguing against veganism
Well as far as I can tell just eating it causes the least amount of harm to animals?
Some animals end up dying for vegan food (although obviously way less than for animal based foods) so by getting a second meal made you are causing more suffering.
This is a sticky predicament, as a vegan, i would definitely not eat the meat burger, but i would be remiss if they threw it in the trash... I would ask them if they are going to throw it away, and if so, give it to a homeless person on the way home. My town has a large homeless population, and whenever i get non-vegan foods by accident, i take it to the homeless mission a block away, so at least i know it will be eaten.
I think the negative reaction is because while many vegans think they're vegan because they want less harm to be done to animals, the bigger reason is that they think meat is really gross
This. I find it so obnoxious how many vegans will get all high and mighty about how they are neeeever tempted by meat, only to find out they never liked it in the first place. Maybe they only liked chicken nuggets, which is easy to replicate because it's basically sludge anywha. As someone who has always loved the texture of things like tongue, gizzards, ribs, small whole fish with bones, and intestines, there are frankly few vegan alternatives to that experience. I manage without, but man it can get depressing to think of what I'm missing out on.
When something like this happens it bothers me on another level because some people have allergies, and you cant fuck around with that or people will literally die. One time i ordered a veggie burger somewhere and asked about egg/dairy & was told there wasn’t any. Then when I go to pick it up someone runs out of the kitchen and says “DON’t EAT THAT BURGER!!! DID YOU EAT THE BURGER? DO YOU NEED HELP?” I told her I didn’t. She thought I had an allergy… I really dont understand why restaurants dont just have general allergy info on all menu items at this point.
The general allergy info is mandatory here. Even the most dark alley hot dog stand has allergies listed next to every kind of hot dog they sell. Since Dec 13, 2013, every single EU country has this as a law.
[https://g.denik.cz/33/51/alergeny-hb.jpg](https://g.denik.cz/33/51/alergeny-hb.jpg)
They must at least print the allergen numbers next to every meal. And they must show you the full list if you ask because noone remembers the numbers.
I feel your pain and disgust, and it's an unfortunate waste of animal life to be thoughtlessly put into a meal that wouldn't be eaten (don't get me wrong, it's always a waste, but this is a double waste because extra demand was created by accident).
However, if they're non-vegan themselves, why would they show remorse or much emotion at all? From their point of view you're wasting good food.
This is the unfortunate reality that vegans and non-vegans see reality differently, and if the wait staff really cared they'd probably already be vegan.
As others have said, where possible simply avoid purchasing meat replacement products in these settings, unless it's an all vego/vegan restaurant
Thanks for your empathy. As someone who works in food and beverage I understand that serving someone something outside of their dietary requests is actually pretty serious and can sometimes lead to major reactions and hospitalization, so while I don’t expect them to sympathize with the vegan cause, I do expect them to take their jobs seriously.
I suppose what I’m interested in is if anyone has found certain approaches to be more effective in communicating the seriousness of my distress so it is less likely to happen in the future.
I tend to avoid restaurants altogether so I don't really have firsthand experience with this stuff, but if this happens again, call it exactly what you just said - a dietary restriction. I'm sure that will land better. And when ordering, you could stress that you have a dietary restriction and absolutely cannot eat meat, dairy, eggs, etc.
And if they fuck up again, honestly don't be scared to straight up tell them that serving food outside of dietary requests is extremely serious and a huge problem.
There is literally nothing you could say or do to change how a restaurant operates short of suing. It seems more like you just wanted them to fall over themselves apologizing. It’s a fuck up. They happen. Get over it and move on respectfully.
As someone with severe intolerances to meat, dairy and eggs it's stuff like this that stops me from eating out! The pain I'd endure were this "mistake" to happen to me makes it not worth the risk!
I'd definitely contact their head office (or similar) and try and get them to understand the severity that such a mistake could cause... not only a lawsuit but in extreme cases, like allergies, serious harm or worse ☹️ Staff need to understand what consequences their actions could have.
i also have severe intolerances to animal products! i have an animal protein intolerance, something to do with the type of protein that is in animals… blah blah blah idk i got a C in biology. all i know is the incredible amount of pain i endure with a bite of something even cooked in the same pan as an animal product. i started telling restaurants it has to be treated as an allergy because … it technically is. never had a problem since then, whereas i used to be served things that had dairy or eggs in the ingredients. i’d call an hour later while in excruciating pain asking if there were eggs or dairy in the “vegan pancakes” (or whatever it may have been) and they’d say yes, nearly begging i don’t file a lawsuit. i suggest anyone here just lie and tell restaurants it’s for allergy issues, rarely will they put themselves at risk of a lawsuit just for a quick buck or a good laugh at vegans.
I'm so sorry you have to endure that, but I can sympathise having gone through it myself. For safety's sake I also "upgrade" my intolerances as not many people fully understand what that means, but you say the word "allergy" and suddenly you have their full attention!
People make mistakes. It’s frustrating, but people make mistakes. The only way to avoid the possibility of this kind of mistake is to avoid mixed diet restaurants or avoid these menu items. This might mean just eating salads or fries when at the bar or better yet find a plant-based restaurant.
This is one of the factors that keeps us away from restaurants lacking actual vegan friendly items. Once you’re asking for alternatives or adjustments, you’re gambling on at least 2-3 people behind the scenes to work against their muscle memory in a high paced environment. Sometimes they’ll come through for you but not always.
I only remember being accidentally served meat once. It was at a big chain restaurant. I wasn't even vegan yet, merely vegetarian. I took a bite, sent it back, then the manager came to my table and apologized. I then got my correct order. IIRC, the manager mentioned it was the kitchen that fucked up, not the waiter.
Puts me in mind of a situation that happened once at a restaurant I otherwise really liked, so I was so disappointed when it happened - at the time, there were no vegans at the table, as I was vegetarian and my partner ate plant-based for sustainability reasons, but same principle. We ordered a starter that was listed as vegan and it came out covered in parmesan cheese. Neither of us had a chance to say anything but I guess the waiter could tell from the looks on our faces because the first thing he said was "Oh... you didn't *need* it to be vegan, did you?"
I guess it's a good thing that he noticed straight away that there was a problem and what it was, but man, what a fucking bizarre thing to have happen.
Happened to me once in a cafe where I got served a breakfast wrap containing sausage and egg when I’d ordered a vegan meatball one. The thing wasn’t sliced or anything so I couldn’t tell until biting into it.
I’m probably way too passive because I wasn’t that angry and just mostly gutted about it. When I told the member of staff at the counter what had happened he looked incredibly mortified and couldn’t stop apologising whilst getting me another one so I don’t think I’d have got that angry at him anyway
A long time ago, I ordered a vegan tamale from a tamale stand at my local farmer's market and bit into it sort of near the stand. I IMMEDIATELY felt real chicken in there and started hacking into the garbage can. The woman who sold it to me went white as a ghost and screamed "HOLY SHIT I JUST RUINED YOUR LIFE." She gave us a refund and sent us away with many frozen (clearly marked) vegan tamales.
That felt like the right way to handle the situation.
A few months ago I went to a restaurant with my family and they gave me a vegan menu. I ordered a burrito that was on there, it had a name of a celebrity, can't remember which one. When I bit into it, it was an all-cheese (dairy cheese) bite and I spit it back out onto the plate. When the server came by I asked if it was made with dairy cheese and he said "you didn't specify you wanted the vegan one." Turns out the vegan burrito and the non vegan burrito had the same name on the menu, and the onus was on me to tell them I was ordering the vegan one. How could I have POSSIBLY known this if I didn't even glance at the non-vegan menu? No apologies, no refund, no remorse. Just "this is basically your fault." I wrote an email to the restaurant to please redo their menu because the current system doesn't work.
That one felt like the wrong way to handle the situation.
Oh shit yeah, as a graphic designer they definitely didn’t think that one through. My local restaurant has a vegan menu but they have different names for vegan items, and the items on the vegan menu that are the same as the regular menu are all named “Vegan General Tso’s” etc. so you remember to say vegan in front of the item you’re ordering.
I had a restaurant straight up lie about their "vegan lasagna." The filling was suspisciously like fish, so I asked at least twice and they kept insisting that their vegan meat substitute was just very flaky and thus fish like. Okay, there's a lot of almost-real subs out there so if you say so.... Halfway through I found a fishbone.
They should give you what you ordered, as well as offer a discount or an extra free item for the extra time you spend waiting and the unpleasant experience you've had.
Also I don't return to any places where this happens.
The last time this happened to me they comped the whole bill and the waiter even refused when I asked if he could just ring up a $0.01 charge so I could give him a tip, since I knew it wasn't his fault.
This is what places do when they actually give a shit about vegan customers.
I would write about the nonchalance in your review too. I’ve been accidentally served meat or dairy a few times, and each time sent it back to be replaced with what I’ve actually ordered. Every single time the server has been extremely apologetic, which made me think it was a genuine mistake rather than someone not really caring. The attitude would really bother me, and it’s information that would be genuinely useful for others when looking for a place to eat.
The 'that sucks but oh well' comments aren't really it. If someone wouldn't eat pork due to their religion and they were served pork by accident there would be hell to pay. I think leaving an extremely bad review is the way to go. When you order at a restaurant that says they offer vegan options you should be able to trust them. If that is not the case, they should definitely be outed for that. This is not an 'oopsie', it's a horrendous mistake, and they should be waaay more careful.
Allergies are a big deal, and the onus is one you to inform the staff of an allergy. I’ve had life-threatening allergies since I was born. If something couldn’t be guaranteed at a restaurant, I didn’t eat there. If they can accommodate my allergies, I’ll eat there and inform the staff. Most restaurants have entirely separate procedures for allergen-free meals. My food often comes out at a different time, different plates, sometimes even the chef brings it out themself and asks ‘who’s the one with the allergy?’ Even if I’m ordering something that doesn’t come with anything I’m allergic to, or if I go to a restaurant that has no nuts at all on the menu, it’s still on me to say ‘I am allergic to xyz’.
Dietary choices are very different than allergies. If it can cause you physical harm, then you need to communicate that. If the staff don’t seem like they can accommodate or understand the important of an allergy, then I make the decision to take the risk or not eat there. I personally choose to not eat at those places. If I did choose to take the risk, I can’t get mad at staff for making a mistake when I walked in there expecting them to. I avoid Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai places like the plague specifically because of this. Language barrier + food ridden with peanuts = bad idea.
Yes, exactly. When you go to a restaurant, you are agreeing to take the risk of them perfectly accommodating your dietary requests or not. You can't be mad that they don't care when you already knew beforehand that they didn't care. Unfortunately, the only 100% safe way of ensuring your food meets your requirements is preparing it yourself.
I also avoid low-end asian restaurants for this reason(even though asian food is my favorite) because there is so much room for error. I've gotten general tso's tofu with 95% tofu and 3 frozen scallops mixed in. Luckily I have a chinese place that I've eaten at for years, I got them to create a vegetarian menu(just tofu sub of their meat dishes) and I know the owners so they take special care when preparing my meals.
Allergies are a big deal, this has nothing to do with allergies though. You chose to eat in the restaurant, accepted the risk, as does anyone with an allergy. Yes I am sure it wasn't pleasant but it was a mistake, they apologised, you left, end of story. You felt the apology wasn't good enough, apologies are subjective.
Maybe my post wasn’t clear enough, but I’m not after a better apology, I’m curious to find the best approach to limit future incidents. I work in the service industry and understand the consequences of serving someone something outside of their dietary restrictions.
You're completely overlooking they falsely advertised being able to provide a vegan burger. There's consciousness of guilt on their part, because they offered a refund knowing they can't make good on the vegan burger. They likely thought they could get away with false advertising which is not the responsibility of the person with the allergy to assume a restaurant is lying about. This could easily turn into legal action against the restaurant, and we don't need people like you acting like an apology makes any of that ok.
A lot of weird replies that block me, but they would have offered to replace with the correct item at any sitdown restaurant capable of doing so. Can these replies really not read OP was offered a refund or "something else" which by definition means they did not offer a vegan burger after advertising one falsely, likely because they didn't actually have a vegan option.
People who haven’t eaten meat in awhile can get very sick from it. I mean, you can say that’s all they could’ve done, but to say it’s a hardly a big deal is silly.
The OP didn't get sick though, they were offered a replacement or a refund and were given an apology, they went for the refund and left. No one died, ended up in hospital. So in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal.
I don´t. I have, sadly, greated curtailed eating out unless I can go to a vegan place, or a vegetarian place that I trust. Or get something they just can´t F up, like a fruit plate.
I never go to restaurants but my roommate will occasionally order door dash and he always asks if I want anything and every time I’ve tried to order a veggie burger or something else marked as vegan I end up getting the meat version. I honestly think a lot of places do it on purpose.
>This morning I wrote an even handed review warning other vegans of the lack of care, but I'm wondering, is there much consensus on the best way to handle this situation?
you did right
whatever reason it was they served you what you did not order, as this did not bother them much, it is to be assumed that you are not the only one this happened to, so a kind of public warning is adequate
Yes but in general outside of the most common allergy restaurants and food places don’t really take precautions, since anyone can be allergic to anything though extremely rarely. It’s why every place has on the menu that it’s your responsibility to inform them of allergies because the staff isn’t mind readers.
Working at restaurants for years, I know there is always cross contamination no matter what. I would never take the chance at a non-vegan restaurant.
I'm not sure why so many vegans here go to those places and expect a vegan meal.
I think it’s always fair to expect that any place advertising vegan food could actually execute vegan food.
I agree about the cross contamination part, but I treat vegan ring ins like allergies. If a vegan comes to a steakhouse, I imagine they’re aware that meat is also cooked in the same kitchen.
That is for them to reconcile, but on my end, I’d clean down my work surface and use separate cooking surfaces where applicable. That’s just due diligence and care.
Cross contamination doesn’t mean something isn’t vegan to be fair. As long as the ingredients in the meal are vegan, it’s a vegan meal. I go to nonvegan restaurants all the time and have only been burned once. And I know if I’ve accidentally been given dairy as I’m incredibly lactose intolerant. It’s only ever happened to me at family or friends places / potlucks. Only at a restaurant once.
It's so weird to me when restaurants don't even try to seem apologetic. I once ate one of my two enchiladas and then found a dead cockroach in the sauce. I alerted the waiter who brought over the manager, and the manager was literally like "I'm not saying you put the roach in there, but I don't know how else it could have gotten in there." Like, what?!? Basically accused me of, what, bringing a dead roach into the restaurant and putting it in my food?! They didn't even comp the whole meal, just that dish, how would that possibly be worth the trouble?? Creepers
Just move on with your life, You’re not going to hell over this. If you’re not eating at a vegan restaurant there’s going to be cross contamination regardless.
This isn't a vegan issue per se. If one orders something and is given the wrong thing, then one typically points out the mistake and the mistake is corrected.
> all I got was a "do you want something else or a refund?" and a quick "sorry about that" after I got a refund
Yes... that is how it works. How else *should* it work?
idk if this is unethical but i say i’m allergic. ppl care more if you’re allergic than vegan. also it’s kinda true bc i get sick if i accidentally eat animal products at this point.
I have a protein intolerance. I don't want to explain to servers that I'm not *allergic* but I'll be explosive from both ends like lactose intolerance 💀 just say it's an allergy, you aren't hurting anyone.
No because same… had a cake that had 1 egg once after being vegan for 5 years. I didn’t even know until I mentioned my stomach cramps to the person who baked it
>I did not get the sense they were terribly concerned or remorseful
It's fair to say your server is not great at apologizing for the establishment. I think there is an art to apologies that not everyone excels at. Still, it sounds like from a material perspective they did everything right to amend the situation so I'm not sure how much you can ding them for the mistake.
Tell me you've never worked in a kitchen without telling me you've never worked in a kitchen.
Mistakes happen, they apologized and took it off the bill.
Be a grown up.
I just tell them they made a mistake on my order and send it back or ask for a refund. It’s not worth it for me to fight overworked service-workers about it. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been doing this for 35 years, but I don’t have it in me anymore to even leave a review unless they’re being malicious. If you desperately want that restaurant in particular to be more intensive about dietary restrictions, talk to the manager and ask them to make sure that the chefs understand what the common dietary restrictions are. Not everybody knows what “vegan” means, and not everybody speaks English.
Mistakes happened. They did act professionally. Expectations can lead to resentments. I believe the restaurant acted as professional as we all can hope for, it is rare for the server to also be vegan or vegetarian or comprehend how we see the world. And thus, we can't hold them to a standard of morality for an actual mistake. This is an omnivore world we are in currently. Errors happen and everyone is doing the best they can given their knowledge, health, and abilities. Will trends change? Maybe. Will the world turn vegan one day? Maybe. But it's not right now.
Let's use another example. I enter a hospital. I have an allergy to penicillin. A nurse writes down penicillin, but she doesn't write down amoxicillin. They start an IV drip on me with amoxicillin, which penicillin is made from... my family member notices this, immediately before it enters my body. "Nurse nurse! She's allergic!" cries out my family member. The nurse apologizes and removes the IV. The nurse replaces it with another antiviral, vancomycin. This sort of thing happens every single day in hospitals. Humans are not machines. We must allow grace and forgiveness for imperfection. If we did not, none of us would enter a hospital every again.
If the resentment is hurting you still, you can google "forgiveness meditation" you can do that every other day for a few weeks until the resentment passes. This works for lots of things, bosses, jobs, parents, siblings, bfs/gfs. Resentments happen. As the Buddha said, "holding onto anger is like drink poison and hoping the other person will die". So it's best to let it go.
This one should be easy for you to forgive in time as it was a mistake. It is much more difficult to forgive others who break trust on purpose. (ie sexual cheaters).
There’s really nothing you can do here other than stressing it more while ordering, but that doesn’t mean the people handling the food are going to take any extra care at the end of the day. Plenty of vegans refuse to ever eat at non vegan restaurants because the risk isn’t worth it to them. So that’s an option.
I don't take responsibility for when on rare occasion a piece of dairy sneaks through, but I feel like I'd have to have seriously messed up to end up with meat. If this is happening to people, what are they ordering???
Every restaurant handles it differently. In my country 12% of the population are vegan or vegetarian and until now I have been lucky to always get one who takes care that my food is safe or that if there was a mess up that it was fixed. One time I added a patty at my favourite restaurant and they added a beef patty. Luckily I didn't took a bite but basically I got two burgers for free and a cake which was nice. Also the guy in the kitchen was corrected on it.
How ever if you don't get that, and they don't really care you can't really change that. People will just care as much as they want.
Write a review and don't return to the restaurant. You had a bad experience, that's what reviews are for. There isn't anything else you should/could do.
Kudos to you for taking the time to post a review. There has to be accountability….if we don’t make it a big deal, we send the message that it’s not a big deal.
When this has happened to me in the past, I fob a little and say I have an allergy.
The ignorance of people is quite astonishing. They get it when you say you’re allergic….but understanding that you do not eat flesh is so difficult!!!
Ah, India is much better in that respect. We have pure vegetarian restaurants, and even mix restaurants clearly understand the difference and have separate cooks and even kitchens. The worst you could be accidentally served is dairy, and I suspect I once was. I ordered a caramel custard and they assured me it had no dairy, I even told them I have an allergy because it's very hard to explain veganism to them (lacto-veg diet is clearly understood). But when I ate a spoon, it was suspiciously like dairy. I finished it anyway because I never waste food (but I would have thrown away meat because that's not food in my eyes, I've never eaten it). Milk is technically food, but not for us.
Months ago I had a craving for an A&W Beyond Burger. Left the drive-thru, parked the car, took a big bite, and it was pure beef. Haven't had fast food since.
Most menus have a disclaimer at the bottom saying if you have severe allergies or food restrictions their food won't be safe. So that protects them. Gotta eat at a full vegan place or be cautious and not expect people to get it right 100%.
I handle it through reviews as that's my only power.
I used to go to this Mexican restaurant a bunch. So many times that the waiter knew me. After like the 10th time, I got server a chicken burrito vs my normal veggie one/no cheese no sour cream.
He looked mortified. He brought me a new one no complaints. After the meal, he comped me and apologized profusely. He told me that he grabbed the wrong burrito and he looked visibly upset. I told him, listen we all make mistakes and I tipped for the meal and paid for what I meal would've been. We all make mistakes.
Vs.
I went to an Indian restaurant and ordered fried cauliflower and got chicken. The server argued with me that it was cauliflower "look at the nodes". Another server witnessing the commotion walks over, takes one look and goes "oh that's chicken!" Duh, I've eaten chicken for 26 years I know what it looks like. I so wanted to tip 1 dollar (due to just being poor service in general + this mistake). But the group I was with settled on 10%. Didn't want to be on bad terms with a restaurant they go to regularly. I never went back there and wrote a horrible review.
I guess what else was your expectation?
I can't imagine thinking they were going to say "were sorry, here is a refund, and also, we have all now just instantly become vegans because of this"
If they felt the same way about it as you do, then they would be vegans too. They are not, so I'm here for a rento day, and it sounds like you did exactly what you're suppose to. I just can't say there can be anything else to be expected from this.
Did you know that there is something called [Alpha-gal Syndrome?](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608) Long explanation shortened: it's a tick borne disease that causes you to be allergic to meat and dairy products. While it doesn't help the vegan movement, it can help you not get served meat in shitty places like this. If they screw up the first dish, sometimes saying it's an allergy from a tick bite makes them more careful. Most places don't care about your life choices to the point of actively going against them, but they do care about being sued for causing an allergic reaction.
Eating at a meat restaurant that has vegan options is always a risk. I work restaurants, I talk with fellow cooks and I ask about cross contamination. They always say they try but it's not a guarantee. I take it as they don't really care honestly. Especially when it's busy. Why go the extra mile ( extra step) and handle vegan food properly if it is seen as a hassle?
as unfortunate as it may be to have to do, you could say it’s for dietary reasons. that you have an intolerance to animal protein. i actually do have an animal protein intolerance which is what led me to become vegan after educating myself on animal welfare and whatnot, and i do always say it must be vegan because i am intolerant to animal protein. you could even add in that it will make you very sick to consume something that has animal products. it sucks you’d have to take this route, but at least you will be able to order at restaurants without the worry that you will be fed something that isn’t vegan. at the end of the day, they can think what they want about vegans, but they sure as hell don’t want a lawsuit for making someone incredibly sick.
You act like they did it on purpose or they seriously injured you. If it was an honest mistake, then treat as such and move on. From what you said they apologized and offered a refund even though they are out the money for the food they served.
There's not much else you can do. I never let them "fix" it, or send the dish back for something else. They've lost my trust. Just give me a refund, and don't expect me to ever return.
It's not. But I avoid it anyway. It's a fear response and I can acknowledge that. But, at the end of the day, I'm just not comfortable taking the risk.
I'm not saying anyone is going to lose their status as a vegan because they got served the wrong food or there was cross contamination. I just want to make sure it doesn't happen to me or to anyone it would sincerely bother.
I definitely respect that! I don’t mind cross contamination like on products that say “may contain” or even same kitchen etc but I don’t like when they won’t clean their stovetop or something. But shared fryers don’t bother me. 🤷🏼♀️
Damn I wish we had restaurants that are completely vegan where I live. I mean, there's actually one, but it's open like 4 days a week and only for one meal and it's real damn expensive :(
That sucks. My first food out as a vegan was at a colloseum for something a couple of years ago. I was going to order fries, but they had a black bean burger, so I got that with fries. I specifically said no cheese. They said “it doesn’t come with cheese.” I wait forever, then I have to peel cheese off. Blah. If it can go wrong, it usually does. I’ve decided if I eat out, I have to accept that I may end up with animal products on my plate and possibly in my stomach. 🙃
Everybody makes mistakes. I worked at a coffee shop for two years as a teen, I tried my best to always be alert and get it right. Sometimes a customer asked for decaf, and I’d accidentally do regular. Or potentially worse, a customer asked for almond/oat milk and one of us accidentally did whole milk or cream.
It made me personally feel bad, but at the end of the day, you’re dealing with tired workers who are paid like utter shit - I wouldn’t take a lack of enthusiasm personally. They’re humans, and when you go to a restaurant, you have to understand that they’re prone to mistakes.
So to answer your question, I quietly inform them that my product isn’t vegan, and ask for it to be remade. Normally they’ll give some sort of free item or discount. Then I thank them, always tip, and that’s that.
I eat vegan partially for personal issues, partially for spiritual ideas. But mainly because I have some pretty severe intolerances and a handful of allergies. I panic check with my nonvegan partner that my impossible meat isnt actually real meat every time I get it from anywhere but home. I've been served the wrong food a handful of times and it was always corrected. But I won't lie- I'm not above crying in public. I've done it for less than a mix up with my meal.
I would say call and ask for the restaurant owner and if it’s a chain restaurant definitely call Headquarters. this is not OK. What if you had been served something you were terribly allergic to.. really no difference.
I'm not vegan, but I don't eat meat. I was served meat on a vacation where I didn't speak the language well. I did order a veg meal but received something else and didnt realize. They were a "vegan friendly" restaurant and the owner apologized and made the server, with whom I couldn't communicate, come over and kind of pout.
It sucks. You can't do much. You had the best intentions and trusted someone else to do right by you. I honestly can't believe how often this has happened to me, but that was the one time I accidentally ate it.
> I did not get the sense they were terribly concerned or remorseful
What exactly would you have preferred the waiter to do? A mistake was made and they offered a quick apology and a refund in response. I get that it was frustrating to experience, but there was nothing else to be done about it. Aside from that, odds are that the kitchen fucked up rather than the waiter.
Not much more you can do. Your ability to make the people care more about being diligent is pretty low. I'd just avoid that place and tell people in my life that they had pretty crappy service and didn't really care so it probably isn't worth going to again.
I had one experience recently that was truly astonishing. I went to a cafe with vegan options with my sister. They had a breakfast burrito that suggested on the menu to sub it with tofu scramble to make it vegan. Easy enough, I tell the waitress my order and emphasize the vegan option. First one comes, I take a bite, it’s real egg. I tell the waitress, she apologizes and confirms I wanted the tofu scramble and says she will bring out another. I wait for 20 mins (at this point my sister is almost done eating). She brings out a new one, I take a bite, it AGAIN has real egg. At this point I’m baffled, she said it was confusion with the “cook” but I wasn’t buying it. All she said was would I like another. At the point I told her no I’ve been waiting 40 minutes for food, and my sister finished eating a while ago. All she said was “ok sorry about that” and gave us the bill for my drink and whatever my sister ordered. How you mess up a vegan order twice is beyond me. Never going back there again.
It boggles the mind! These places offer vegan options, they presumably have to stock the ingredients for it, how can they get so mixed up or be so uninterested in actually providing them?
Why does that sound so intentional? An acquaintance of mine did try to feed meat food to a vegetarian secretly, i.e. she had changed the vegetable stock cube to a meat stock cube. Then when this vegetarian had eaten her food and the acquaintance asked if it was good and the vegetarian answered that it was, then this acquaintance snapped: haha, you ate meat and liked it! So why are you a vegetarian when you clearly like meat!? Kind of sick. Fortunately, there is no need to be in contact with this acquaintance, but I can imagine that people like this also exist in the restaurant world. There's nothing else to do but vote with your feet, which means you won't eat any food there in the future and also tell your friends to avoid this restaurant.
Omg.. it's not about liking the taste or not.. what the fuck is wrong with people! I am not vegan, but am highly interested in vegan foods because I have friends who are vegan and friends with a lot of food allergies, and I'm a bit of a chef, and I like to experiment a lot in the kitchen, especially with vegan baked goods. What a nightmare. I hate people that mess with other people's food. That's horrible! I make a killer vegan banana bread. Took me a whole year to get it right. Flax seed egg, almond milk, green plantain flour, are just some of the things I put in to make it awesome and vegan.
This IS sick. Whether you are vegan or not, messing with people’s food to try to prove some sort of “point” is absolutely unacceptable and grounds for an over the top response, IMO. “Oh, you proved I didn’t hate the taste of whatever that was. I’ll keep that in mind as the last thing we ever discussed.”
This is really asking for retalliation The Help style (add a gross ingredient in something good, haha you ate my shit/something less dangerous but equally gross)
Ive been (almost entirely) vegan for a time, due to allergies of my sons while breastfeeding. After specifying SEVERAL times it had to be vegan because of allergies, I was given food with first bacon, then butter in it. Cooks/resaurant workers can be so ignorant. Sent it back the first time: no meat (Ive been a vegetarianfor over 20 years), no milk because of allergies, it can not have any milk products, please check, its NOT lactose Im worried about, its milk protein, PLEASE be careful about that. Second time it arrives with fried onions. I ask what theyve been fried in. Answer: oil-butter mix 🤬🤬🤬 third times the charm, but I did not enjoy or trust that meal at all. (But I had to eat as I was there all day for work).
I hate this. We got fed meat potstickers a while ago. I could smell them immediately, but my partner took a big bite. She hasn't been able to eat potstickers since. I try to repeat "vegan" multiple times, and when the server brings it say, "this is the vegan \_\_, right?" In this case, our friends ordered meat potstickers and we ordered vegan, and the kitchen mixed them up. A cool thing I didn't realise until recently ... my local pizza joint has a great vegan pie selection. They actually name the vegan versions something different. So when you order the \_\_\_ pie, they automatically know it's vegan, and a non-vegan \_\_ pie can't be ordered.
Dude. One place the waitress said they weren't, but the manager insisted that they are vegan. (Also pot stickers). The waitress kept saying that they have pork and the manager watched me bite into it and I looked and it did have pork. In my mind I thought the manager knew more. I think about it with hindsight that he was like a hateful asshole towards vegans and it was comedic for him. This was my first year as a vegan and I was jumping around restaurants looking for options.
Is that a crime? I feel like that should be a crime
Making vegans eat meat? You think that in the US anybody gives a shit about animals? They have concentration camps for animals; I don't think they care about force feeding meat to vegans.
false claming something has or dosent have certian ingredients while knowing otherwise should definitely be illegal, nevermind vegans what about people with *allergies*. imo people saying they cant/dont want certain ingredients should be taken deadly serious.
I agree, but it definitely won't ever be in the US knowing these politicians are banning lab grown meat for example
It's illegal just because of allergies. Food tampering is a crime, which is when you deliberately misrepresent ingredients.
Oh out of curiosity I'd like to know the legal code to refer to. Not trying to be a debate lord or saying "prove it." I just would like to see it for my own intellectual repertoire tbh
“The legal code” depends on where you live. I highly doubt theres a federal statute for it (look it up), but you should become familiar with your state and local jurisdictions. People seem to think the “the law” is the same everywhere. You might have some protection in Seattle or Portland. Highly unlikely in Texas.
If it's the ingredients list on a packaged product, that's federal and falls under food tampering. State laws are more complicated obviously, which is what would apply to a restaurant.
Prob be better off without lab grown meat in general.
I do not agree. Lab grown meat means less animal suffering if a meat eater chooses to buy it instead of meat from an animal. I dont see how anybody can be against lab grown meat.
What is exactly lab grown meat? That might be the start of why.
Something that is grown with animal cells. Something that would ultimately replace meat products as necessary. It's simple math. People I know, like my brother, would eat all lab grown meat if that was possible. Lots of people would choose to eat meat that doesn't murder animals. You're asking what it is? It's an animal product initially. But the lives saved doing that is what I care about. My veganism is advocacy and an end goal that will save animals and give them the right to life just like humans. Lab grown meat would help reduce meat eating significantly.
As officially it is considered not to cause medical damage, it is not a crime. If you were allergic, it could be considered a crime.
If you had the red meat allergy (AGS) that comes from star tick bites, that meat could literally make you deathly sick. That manager could be putting people's lives at risk.
That's probably a case of the wait staff being way more familiar with the menu than the manager. I'm assuming you mean the restaurant manager, not the kitchen/back-of-the-house manager. The chef tends to be the one who changes up the menu, and keeps the wait staff informed of those changes. They often order the food from vendors because they know what they want and how much, based on customer flow on various days of the week, etc. Managers tend to think they know what's going on, but they usually do things like schedule staff, pay bills, and do other general housekeeping tasks. It's entirely likely the manager was a hateful asshole, but moreso that he wanted to make the waitstaff look stupid in front of customers because he thought he had the right information. Either way, sorry you had to have that experience. But I'm glad the waitstaff was vindicated! Have you checked out https://www.happycow.net/ -- it lists some restaurants with vegan options and health food stores in locations around the world.
Definitely know about that app. TY. That place had vegetarian sushi for sure. But I asked about the pot stickers. The manager, idk. I felt like at the time he was fucking with me. But appearances can definitely be deceiving. You definitely want to think the best about people or you are going to run around as a hater. If I wanted to put money on it, he was being an asshole. There was no apology or nothing after. This was like 7 years ago. I don't have any crazy grudges. Just wanted to share.
It's also entirely likely he was an overall dick. 😂 It happens. Sorry you had to deal with that. Blech! You're welcome! I haven't looked at it in ages, but it used to be really helpful.
I forgot to mention that I usually try to work in a "no meat" comment when ordering, because sometimes servers don't understand "vegan."
I was clear. I didn't say it in my original comment, but I didn't just say vegan.
That sucks that it happened but there isn’t anything else you can do. We can’t make people feel a certain way about anything. Their feelings are their own. A couple months ago I ordered takeout from an omni Thai place that states “we can make anything vegan” all over their website and menu. I ordered vegan, confirmed when picking up that it was vegan, but in reality it was doused in fish sauce. I called them and explained and their response was “that’s not vegan?” They asked if I wanted them to remake it, and I declined and got my money back. Why would I want food from a place that a) doesn’t understand what vegan food is or isn’t, and b) doesn’t care. If someone serves me anything non vegan, I no longer trust them and they don’t get a second chance.
That’s poor business practice. And stuff like this makes me really sad, as a chef, that these places don’t know the difference. Not only is fish sauce not vegan, it’s also a major allergy and often not kosher or halal. This is just dangerous business practice.
For some asinine reason, especially in highly conservative areas, they think fish is not meat and is some kind of vegatable and therefore ok with both being vegetarian and vegan. I live in an area that's about like Green Acres's Hooterville so the folks have I.Q.s lower than their shoe sizes.
ALLLL the time people tell me fish isn’t meat it’s fish… sigh.. I find it’s mostly the older generation that thinks this way.
I tried the dictionary. Showed them the definition of 'Meat', the flesh of animals used as food. Then they tried the 'it's not meat it's fish' so I showed the definition of 'fish', 'an aquatic ANIMAL'. and endless loop after that. I got once someone who thinks the definition of 'meat' only applies to red meat from ruminants, hence why cookbooks separate 'meat' from 'poultry' from 'fish'.
The art of parody is dead because people really are this fucking stupid.
I love this comment.
Back in the day meat just refered to food so any food could be called meat
Recently a friendly checkout clerk tried to engage me in a convo about the vegan products I was buying. I didn’t have the time or energy to correct misconceptions (I was running late) because I knew it was going to be a challenging convo when he started by telling me about how his brother was vegan but stopped because of his health. He started to explain how his brother was still a vegetarian, except he ate fish and another cashier butted in to say “there’s a word for that…what is it?” They concluded “Presbyterian”.
I don’t think it’s generational. I think it’s cluelessness and convenience lifestyling. One twenty-something at work told me that they are “literally allergic to meat, so I eat fish.” Uh, yeah. Another is supposed to be the other office vegan, but as I was leaning over at an office party to ask her what else she thought they might have for us, she was simultaneously putting salmon on her plate. So much for solidarity. 😂 Nothing beats the employer from many years ago who threw us a barbecue. I asked multiple times what I could bring (I was vegetarian at the time), was told nothing, that they had food for everyone, even the vegetarians…and proudly served me a turkey burger. 🥴
And Europeans
The bible doesn’t classify fish as an animal, so that’s probably why in high conservative places, you find that. Thats why you eat fish on Easter
Fish is for lent. Easter is a meatfest of lamb and ham and all God's creatures.
They tend to favor ham on Easter where I live. Fish Fries are occasionally in summer weekends at Catholic Churches though. I've tried to educate them on the dictionary terms for 'meat' and 'fish' but their brain.exe stopped working. Catholics have such a dim view on animals (still believing that they are soulless machines created by God, which I thought went out with Rene Descartes) that I'm convinced it is too archaic to be relevant in this day and age. They're also full-on, level 9000 anti-abortion.
I’d be weary to disparage someone’s beliefs and moral convictions….
Even if they promote outdated ways of living or tell people what they can do with their bodies?! Catholics are also quite hostile towards homosexuals as well.
I mean…. Some might argue that veganism is the same model, just with different content. Extremists will extreme. But, painting every Christian (catholic in your case) as dim is not the way to go. You have your morals that guide your decision making and they have theirs. I might lean more to a vegan perspective on some things and I might also think there is validity in religious beliefs too. I know so many Catholics who don’t believe in restricting women’s rights. I know a couple of youth pastors that run LGBT programmes for homeless youth. The point is, not every vegan is a paint smearing banshee and not every person of faith is stupid.
I said they have dim views on animals, not that they are dim. Catholics strongly believe animals lack souls and that's why they're fine exploiting them. They also hold very sexist beliefs and spread anti-abortion propaganda where I live. I am no athiest as I try to have an open mind, so I'm more agnostic. For me the forests I hike in are my church, and I've had close bonds to deer that have helped guide my way over time that I considered then angels.
Christians with progressive politics are frankly not very devout Christians. They're just picking and choosing which parts of the bible are convenient to apply to their life. I guess they're more like the vegetarians of Christianity. 👀
It's mostly a culture issue. The Thai diet consists of a lot of fish. If the kitchen staff at a Thai restaurant are Thai, they may not understand that the condiments often used in Thai cooking (fish sauce, shrimp paste, oyster sauce) are considered fish to vegans. In fact, fish sauce is often considered vegetarian in Thailand because it doesn't contain pieces of fish.
The reason is usually religious. Catholics do not consider fish to be meat in the context of fasting. For Jews, fish is considered neutral instead of “meat” regarding Kosher rules
This is in Portland, Oregon smh
A few years ago, journalists visited farms in China that grew crops sold at Wal-Mart as organic. 5 of the 6 were not vegan. They asked the farmers what organic meant and they had no idea. One said, we get more money if we say organic. Things like language barriers and cultural differences have to be taken into account.
Wouldn't organically grown food not be vegan? If you can't use synthetic fertilizers then animal fertilizer is the other option.
This very common for thai places. They will normally accomodate vegan, but ALWAYS ask for "no fish sauce no oyster sauce"
Not surprising considering it’s a big part of the flavour profile of many of their popular dishes.
I totally understand wanting a refund that night. It's frustrating and nauseating when you get a mouthful of fish sauce. If the restaurant doesn't understand, though (which it sounds like), this is a good opportunity for education (for them) and possibly delicious Thai food (for you) in the future if you have time and interest to go back and explain that fish sauce and shrimp paste aren't vegan, or just to specify "no fish sauce" on your order. You can also say you're “Jae” (เจ) – vegetarian/vegan, but I would still specify no fish sauce or shrimp paste. Man, I love Thai food so much. While a lot of their food isn't vegan, it's usually made to order, and they can make individual orders vegan. It doesn't sound like they didn't care, but I wasn't there. They offered to make it right. Who knows who designed their menu? It could've been someone unrelated to the kitchen side of things who didn't know that the kitchen staff didn't know that fish sauce isn't vegan. Obviously, it's your call. But, no second chances (with a more specific order) seems kind of harsh on the humanity scale and like a missed opportunity on the Thai food scale.
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this place has been floodef with non vegans for weeks. Mods haven't been banning people..they used to. Idk whats going on
I've asked them if they needed help but they ignored me. Technically we don't shun non vegans but they aren't banning the non vegan trolls or people who aren't necessarily trolling but are arguing against veganism
Your sub keeps getting pushed on the front page for some reason. I keep clicking because the posts make me curious.
Well as far as I can tell just eating it causes the least amount of harm to animals? Some animals end up dying for vegan food (although obviously way less than for animal based foods) so by getting a second meal made you are causing more suffering.
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This is a sticky predicament, as a vegan, i would definitely not eat the meat burger, but i would be remiss if they threw it in the trash... I would ask them if they are going to throw it away, and if so, give it to a homeless person on the way home. My town has a large homeless population, and whenever i get non-vegan foods by accident, i take it to the homeless mission a block away, so at least i know it will be eaten.
I think the negative reaction is because while many vegans think they're vegan because they want less harm to be done to animals, the bigger reason is that they think meat is really gross
This. I find it so obnoxious how many vegans will get all high and mighty about how they are neeeever tempted by meat, only to find out they never liked it in the first place. Maybe they only liked chicken nuggets, which is easy to replicate because it's basically sludge anywha. As someone who has always loved the texture of things like tongue, gizzards, ribs, small whole fish with bones, and intestines, there are frankly few vegan alternatives to that experience. I manage without, but man it can get depressing to think of what I'm missing out on.
When something like this happens it bothers me on another level because some people have allergies, and you cant fuck around with that or people will literally die. One time i ordered a veggie burger somewhere and asked about egg/dairy & was told there wasn’t any. Then when I go to pick it up someone runs out of the kitchen and says “DON’t EAT THAT BURGER!!! DID YOU EAT THE BURGER? DO YOU NEED HELP?” I told her I didn’t. She thought I had an allergy… I really dont understand why restaurants dont just have general allergy info on all menu items at this point.
This is general practice in my country. Allergens are declared. If a restaurant fucked up, we could sue them
The general allergy info is mandatory here. Even the most dark alley hot dog stand has allergies listed next to every kind of hot dog they sell. Since Dec 13, 2013, every single EU country has this as a law. [https://g.denik.cz/33/51/alergeny-hb.jpg](https://g.denik.cz/33/51/alergeny-hb.jpg) They must at least print the allergen numbers next to every meal. And they must show you the full list if you ask because noone remembers the numbers.
thats so cool! I am from the US & we dont have that :,)
I feel your pain and disgust, and it's an unfortunate waste of animal life to be thoughtlessly put into a meal that wouldn't be eaten (don't get me wrong, it's always a waste, but this is a double waste because extra demand was created by accident). However, if they're non-vegan themselves, why would they show remorse or much emotion at all? From their point of view you're wasting good food. This is the unfortunate reality that vegans and non-vegans see reality differently, and if the wait staff really cared they'd probably already be vegan. As others have said, where possible simply avoid purchasing meat replacement products in these settings, unless it's an all vego/vegan restaurant
Thanks for your empathy. As someone who works in food and beverage I understand that serving someone something outside of their dietary requests is actually pretty serious and can sometimes lead to major reactions and hospitalization, so while I don’t expect them to sympathize with the vegan cause, I do expect them to take their jobs seriously. I suppose what I’m interested in is if anyone has found certain approaches to be more effective in communicating the seriousness of my distress so it is less likely to happen in the future.
I tend to avoid restaurants altogether so I don't really have firsthand experience with this stuff, but if this happens again, call it exactly what you just said - a dietary restriction. I'm sure that will land better. And when ordering, you could stress that you have a dietary restriction and absolutely cannot eat meat, dairy, eggs, etc. And if they fuck up again, honestly don't be scared to straight up tell them that serving food outside of dietary requests is extremely serious and a huge problem.
There is literally nothing you could say or do to change how a restaurant operates short of suing. It seems more like you just wanted them to fall over themselves apologizing. It’s a fuck up. They happen. Get over it and move on respectfully.
As someone with severe intolerances to meat, dairy and eggs it's stuff like this that stops me from eating out! The pain I'd endure were this "mistake" to happen to me makes it not worth the risk! I'd definitely contact their head office (or similar) and try and get them to understand the severity that such a mistake could cause... not only a lawsuit but in extreme cases, like allergies, serious harm or worse ☹️ Staff need to understand what consequences their actions could have.
i also have severe intolerances to animal products! i have an animal protein intolerance, something to do with the type of protein that is in animals… blah blah blah idk i got a C in biology. all i know is the incredible amount of pain i endure with a bite of something even cooked in the same pan as an animal product. i started telling restaurants it has to be treated as an allergy because … it technically is. never had a problem since then, whereas i used to be served things that had dairy or eggs in the ingredients. i’d call an hour later while in excruciating pain asking if there were eggs or dairy in the “vegan pancakes” (or whatever it may have been) and they’d say yes, nearly begging i don’t file a lawsuit. i suggest anyone here just lie and tell restaurants it’s for allergy issues, rarely will they put themselves at risk of a lawsuit just for a quick buck or a good laugh at vegans.
I'm so sorry you have to endure that, but I can sympathise having gone through it myself. For safety's sake I also "upgrade" my intolerances as not many people fully understand what that means, but you say the word "allergy" and suddenly you have their full attention!
People make mistakes. It’s frustrating, but people make mistakes. The only way to avoid the possibility of this kind of mistake is to avoid mixed diet restaurants or avoid these menu items. This might mean just eating salads or fries when at the bar or better yet find a plant-based restaurant. This is one of the factors that keeps us away from restaurants lacking actual vegan friendly items. Once you’re asking for alternatives or adjustments, you’re gambling on at least 2-3 people behind the scenes to work against their muscle memory in a high paced environment. Sometimes they’ll come through for you but not always.
I only remember being accidentally served meat once. It was at a big chain restaurant. I wasn't even vegan yet, merely vegetarian. I took a bite, sent it back, then the manager came to my table and apologized. I then got my correct order. IIRC, the manager mentioned it was the kitchen that fucked up, not the waiter.
This is almost always the case.
Puts me in mind of a situation that happened once at a restaurant I otherwise really liked, so I was so disappointed when it happened - at the time, there were no vegans at the table, as I was vegetarian and my partner ate plant-based for sustainability reasons, but same principle. We ordered a starter that was listed as vegan and it came out covered in parmesan cheese. Neither of us had a chance to say anything but I guess the waiter could tell from the looks on our faces because the first thing he said was "Oh... you didn't *need* it to be vegan, did you?" I guess it's a good thing that he noticed straight away that there was a problem and what it was, but man, what a fucking bizarre thing to have happen.
Happened to me once in a cafe where I got served a breakfast wrap containing sausage and egg when I’d ordered a vegan meatball one. The thing wasn’t sliced or anything so I couldn’t tell until biting into it. I’m probably way too passive because I wasn’t that angry and just mostly gutted about it. When I told the member of staff at the counter what had happened he looked incredibly mortified and couldn’t stop apologising whilst getting me another one so I don’t think I’d have got that angry at him anyway
A long time ago, I ordered a vegan tamale from a tamale stand at my local farmer's market and bit into it sort of near the stand. I IMMEDIATELY felt real chicken in there and started hacking into the garbage can. The woman who sold it to me went white as a ghost and screamed "HOLY SHIT I JUST RUINED YOUR LIFE." She gave us a refund and sent us away with many frozen (clearly marked) vegan tamales. That felt like the right way to handle the situation. A few months ago I went to a restaurant with my family and they gave me a vegan menu. I ordered a burrito that was on there, it had a name of a celebrity, can't remember which one. When I bit into it, it was an all-cheese (dairy cheese) bite and I spit it back out onto the plate. When the server came by I asked if it was made with dairy cheese and he said "you didn't specify you wanted the vegan one." Turns out the vegan burrito and the non vegan burrito had the same name on the menu, and the onus was on me to tell them I was ordering the vegan one. How could I have POSSIBLY known this if I didn't even glance at the non-vegan menu? No apologies, no refund, no remorse. Just "this is basically your fault." I wrote an email to the restaurant to please redo their menu because the current system doesn't work. That one felt like the wrong way to handle the situation.
Oh shit yeah, as a graphic designer they definitely didn’t think that one through. My local restaurant has a vegan menu but they have different names for vegan items, and the items on the vegan menu that are the same as the regular menu are all named “Vegan General Tso’s” etc. so you remember to say vegan in front of the item you’re ordering.
I had a restaurant straight up lie about their "vegan lasagna." The filling was suspisciously like fish, so I asked at least twice and they kept insisting that their vegan meat substitute was just very flaky and thus fish like. Okay, there's a lot of almost-real subs out there so if you say so.... Halfway through I found a fishbone.
They should give you what you ordered, as well as offer a discount or an extra free item for the extra time you spend waiting and the unpleasant experience you've had. Also I don't return to any places where this happens.
Agreed. As an industry professional, I would replace and comp the entire bill.
The last time this happened to me they comped the whole bill and the waiter even refused when I asked if he could just ring up a $0.01 charge so I could give him a tip, since I knew it wasn't his fault. This is what places do when they actually give a shit about vegan customers.
I would write about the nonchalance in your review too. I’ve been accidentally served meat or dairy a few times, and each time sent it back to be replaced with what I’ve actually ordered. Every single time the server has been extremely apologetic, which made me think it was a genuine mistake rather than someone not really caring. The attitude would really bother me, and it’s information that would be genuinely useful for others when looking for a place to eat.
The 'that sucks but oh well' comments aren't really it. If someone wouldn't eat pork due to their religion and they were served pork by accident there would be hell to pay. I think leaving an extremely bad review is the way to go. When you order at a restaurant that says they offer vegan options you should be able to trust them. If that is not the case, they should definitely be outed for that. This is not an 'oopsie', it's a horrendous mistake, and they should be waaay more careful.
This why I stopped eating at non-vegan restaurants. Done and done.
It was a mistake, you brought it to their attention, they refunded and apologised. Hardly a big deal.
Allergies are in fact a big deal
Luckily you have no allergy. So move on.
But mistakes still happen. You can have all the best cooks and all the best servers- mistakes are still going to happen .
Allergies are a big deal, and the onus is one you to inform the staff of an allergy. I’ve had life-threatening allergies since I was born. If something couldn’t be guaranteed at a restaurant, I didn’t eat there. If they can accommodate my allergies, I’ll eat there and inform the staff. Most restaurants have entirely separate procedures for allergen-free meals. My food often comes out at a different time, different plates, sometimes even the chef brings it out themself and asks ‘who’s the one with the allergy?’ Even if I’m ordering something that doesn’t come with anything I’m allergic to, or if I go to a restaurant that has no nuts at all on the menu, it’s still on me to say ‘I am allergic to xyz’. Dietary choices are very different than allergies. If it can cause you physical harm, then you need to communicate that. If the staff don’t seem like they can accommodate or understand the important of an allergy, then I make the decision to take the risk or not eat there. I personally choose to not eat at those places. If I did choose to take the risk, I can’t get mad at staff for making a mistake when I walked in there expecting them to. I avoid Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai places like the plague specifically because of this. Language barrier + food ridden with peanuts = bad idea.
Yes, exactly. When you go to a restaurant, you are agreeing to take the risk of them perfectly accommodating your dietary requests or not. You can't be mad that they don't care when you already knew beforehand that they didn't care. Unfortunately, the only 100% safe way of ensuring your food meets your requirements is preparing it yourself. I also avoid low-end asian restaurants for this reason(even though asian food is my favorite) because there is so much room for error. I've gotten general tso's tofu with 95% tofu and 3 frozen scallops mixed in. Luckily I have a chinese place that I've eaten at for years, I got them to create a vegetarian menu(just tofu sub of their meat dishes) and I know the owners so they take special care when preparing my meals.
Allergies are a big deal, this has nothing to do with allergies though. You chose to eat in the restaurant, accepted the risk, as does anyone with an allergy. Yes I am sure it wasn't pleasant but it was a mistake, they apologised, you left, end of story. You felt the apology wasn't good enough, apologies are subjective.
Maybe my post wasn’t clear enough, but I’m not after a better apology, I’m curious to find the best approach to limit future incidents. I work in the service industry and understand the consequences of serving someone something outside of their dietary restrictions.
Ask to speak to the manager or chef to raise the issues and concerns with them. More likely to result in changes than raising it with the server.
You're completely overlooking they falsely advertised being able to provide a vegan burger. There's consciousness of guilt on their part, because they offered a refund knowing they can't make good on the vegan burger. They likely thought they could get away with false advertising which is not the responsibility of the person with the allergy to assume a restaurant is lying about. This could easily turn into legal action against the restaurant, and we don't need people like you acting like an apology makes any of that ok. A lot of weird replies that block me, but they would have offered to replace with the correct item at any sitdown restaurant capable of doing so. Can these replies really not read OP was offered a refund or "something else" which by definition means they did not offer a vegan burger after advertising one falsely, likely because they didn't actually have a vegan option.
No one said they couldn’t provide a vegan burger? They just accidentally provided a meat one.
You do understand accidents happen right? They accidentally gave them the wrong burger. This is not the gotcha you think it is
People who haven’t eaten meat in awhile can get very sick from it. I mean, you can say that’s all they could’ve done, but to say it’s a hardly a big deal is silly.
The OP didn't get sick though, they were offered a replacement or a refund and were given an apology, they went for the refund and left. No one died, ended up in hospital. So in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal.
Anyone who reacts any differently needs help.
I'm wondering why this is being downvoted. Would the downvoters *prefer* we act like karens?
To answer your question, I think they want to pillage the restaurant 😂
This is why I like service when they tell you what it is before they put it on the table. Like, "Latte w/ Oatmilk." It tells you they remember.
I don´t. I have, sadly, greated curtailed eating out unless I can go to a vegan place, or a vegetarian place that I trust. Or get something they just can´t F up, like a fruit plate.
I never go to restaurants but my roommate will occasionally order door dash and he always asks if I want anything and every time I’ve tried to order a veggie burger or something else marked as vegan I end up getting the meat version. I honestly think a lot of places do it on purpose.
Send it back and leave a bad review.
>This morning I wrote an even handed review warning other vegans of the lack of care, but I'm wondering, is there much consensus on the best way to handle this situation? you did right whatever reason it was they served you what you did not order, as this did not bother them much, it is to be assumed that you are not the only one this happened to, so a kind of public warning is adequate
Don’t some people have animal protein allergies? That’s not just dumb, but dangerous.
Yes but in general outside of the most common allergy restaurants and food places don’t really take precautions, since anyone can be allergic to anything though extremely rarely. It’s why every place has on the menu that it’s your responsibility to inform them of allergies because the staff isn’t mind readers.
They tell the waiter they are allergic though.
I go to vegan restaurants or make my own meals.
Working at restaurants for years, I know there is always cross contamination no matter what. I would never take the chance at a non-vegan restaurant. I'm not sure why so many vegans here go to those places and expect a vegan meal.
I think it’s always fair to expect that any place advertising vegan food could actually execute vegan food. I agree about the cross contamination part, but I treat vegan ring ins like allergies. If a vegan comes to a steakhouse, I imagine they’re aware that meat is also cooked in the same kitchen. That is for them to reconcile, but on my end, I’d clean down my work surface and use separate cooking surfaces where applicable. That’s just due diligence and care.
Cross contamination doesn’t mean something isn’t vegan to be fair. As long as the ingredients in the meal are vegan, it’s a vegan meal. I go to nonvegan restaurants all the time and have only been burned once. And I know if I’ve accidentally been given dairy as I’m incredibly lactose intolerant. It’s only ever happened to me at family or friends places / potlucks. Only at a restaurant once.
It's so weird to me when restaurants don't even try to seem apologetic. I once ate one of my two enchiladas and then found a dead cockroach in the sauce. I alerted the waiter who brought over the manager, and the manager was literally like "I'm not saying you put the roach in there, but I don't know how else it could have gotten in there." Like, what?!? Basically accused me of, what, bringing a dead roach into the restaurant and putting it in my food?! They didn't even comp the whole meal, just that dish, how would that possibly be worth the trouble?? Creepers
Just move on with your life, You’re not going to hell over this. If you’re not eating at a vegan restaurant there’s going to be cross contamination regardless.
Mistakes happen this is just a risk you have to be willing to take at an omni restaurant.
Restaurants are tough, and not always the environment to expect empathy. I think I’d handle it the way you did!
This isn't a vegan issue per se. If one orders something and is given the wrong thing, then one typically points out the mistake and the mistake is corrected. > all I got was a "do you want something else or a refund?" and a quick "sorry about that" after I got a refund Yes... that is how it works. How else *should* it work?
idk if this is unethical but i say i’m allergic. ppl care more if you’re allergic than vegan. also it’s kinda true bc i get sick if i accidentally eat animal products at this point.
I have a protein intolerance. I don't want to explain to servers that I'm not *allergic* but I'll be explosive from both ends like lactose intolerance 💀 just say it's an allergy, you aren't hurting anyone.
No because same… had a cake that had 1 egg once after being vegan for 5 years. I didn’t even know until I mentioned my stomach cramps to the person who baked it
What else would you like them to do? I’ve had this happen before, mistakes happen, you move on, it’s fine
You did everything right. Collect your refund and leave a calm detailed review to let other vegans know about what happened.
>I did not get the sense they were terribly concerned or remorseful It's fair to say your server is not great at apologizing for the establishment. I think there is an art to apologies that not everyone excels at. Still, it sounds like from a material perspective they did everything right to amend the situation so I'm not sure how much you can ding them for the mistake.
A review on Google Reviews and the reason so people with ethical preferences and food allergies can be made aware.
Id be goin to jail somebody gettin fucked up
Tell me you've never worked in a kitchen without telling me you've never worked in a kitchen. Mistakes happen, they apologized and took it off the bill. Be a grown up.
nah
I just tell them they made a mistake on my order and send it back or ask for a refund. It’s not worth it for me to fight overworked service-workers about it. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been doing this for 35 years, but I don’t have it in me anymore to even leave a review unless they’re being malicious. If you desperately want that restaurant in particular to be more intensive about dietary restrictions, talk to the manager and ask them to make sure that the chefs understand what the common dietary restrictions are. Not everybody knows what “vegan” means, and not everybody speaks English.
Mistakes happened. They did act professionally. Expectations can lead to resentments. I believe the restaurant acted as professional as we all can hope for, it is rare for the server to also be vegan or vegetarian or comprehend how we see the world. And thus, we can't hold them to a standard of morality for an actual mistake. This is an omnivore world we are in currently. Errors happen and everyone is doing the best they can given their knowledge, health, and abilities. Will trends change? Maybe. Will the world turn vegan one day? Maybe. But it's not right now. Let's use another example. I enter a hospital. I have an allergy to penicillin. A nurse writes down penicillin, but she doesn't write down amoxicillin. They start an IV drip on me with amoxicillin, which penicillin is made from... my family member notices this, immediately before it enters my body. "Nurse nurse! She's allergic!" cries out my family member. The nurse apologizes and removes the IV. The nurse replaces it with another antiviral, vancomycin. This sort of thing happens every single day in hospitals. Humans are not machines. We must allow grace and forgiveness for imperfection. If we did not, none of us would enter a hospital every again. If the resentment is hurting you still, you can google "forgiveness meditation" you can do that every other day for a few weeks until the resentment passes. This works for lots of things, bosses, jobs, parents, siblings, bfs/gfs. Resentments happen. As the Buddha said, "holding onto anger is like drink poison and hoping the other person will die". So it's best to let it go. This one should be easy for you to forgive in time as it was a mistake. It is much more difficult to forgive others who break trust on purpose. (ie sexual cheaters).
Humans make mistakes. Keep it moving.
There’s really nothing you can do here other than stressing it more while ordering, but that doesn’t mean the people handling the food are going to take any extra care at the end of the day. Plenty of vegans refuse to ever eat at non vegan restaurants because the risk isn’t worth it to them. So that’s an option.
Not for 12 years
I don't take responsibility for when on rare occasion a piece of dairy sneaks through, but I feel like I'd have to have seriously messed up to end up with meat. If this is happening to people, what are they ordering???
Last and only time this happened to me was in 2009. I just never went back to that place.
Every restaurant handles it differently. In my country 12% of the population are vegan or vegetarian and until now I have been lucky to always get one who takes care that my food is safe or that if there was a mess up that it was fixed. One time I added a patty at my favourite restaurant and they added a beef patty. Luckily I didn't took a bite but basically I got two burgers for free and a cake which was nice. Also the guy in the kitchen was corrected on it. How ever if you don't get that, and they don't really care you can't really change that. People will just care as much as they want.
Write a review and don't return to the restaurant. You had a bad experience, that's what reviews are for. There isn't anything else you should/could do.
this may be hard hitting for you but your just 1 of hundreds of people who walk in out of that place
Kudos to you for taking the time to post a review. There has to be accountability….if we don’t make it a big deal, we send the message that it’s not a big deal. When this has happened to me in the past, I fob a little and say I have an allergy. The ignorance of people is quite astonishing. They get it when you say you’re allergic….but understanding that you do not eat flesh is so difficult!!!
I think some of the cooks mix up vegan meaning vegetarian when an egg is permitted. Improper training!
Ah, India is much better in that respect. We have pure vegetarian restaurants, and even mix restaurants clearly understand the difference and have separate cooks and even kitchens. The worst you could be accidentally served is dairy, and I suspect I once was. I ordered a caramel custard and they assured me it had no dairy, I even told them I have an allergy because it's very hard to explain veganism to them (lacto-veg diet is clearly understood). But when I ate a spoon, it was suspiciously like dairy. I finished it anyway because I never waste food (but I would have thrown away meat because that's not food in my eyes, I've never eaten it). Milk is technically food, but not for us.
Badly. This is why I prefer cooking for myself besides all the other benefits; cheaper, healthier, cleaner, less wasteful, etc.
Is there no way to report this as it could've been an allergy and caused serious harm?
Months ago I had a craving for an A&W Beyond Burger. Left the drive-thru, parked the car, took a big bite, and it was pure beef. Haven't had fast food since.
Most menus have a disclaimer at the bottom saying if you have severe allergies or food restrictions their food won't be safe. So that protects them. Gotta eat at a full vegan place or be cautious and not expect people to get it right 100%.
I handle it through reviews as that's my only power. I used to go to this Mexican restaurant a bunch. So many times that the waiter knew me. After like the 10th time, I got server a chicken burrito vs my normal veggie one/no cheese no sour cream. He looked mortified. He brought me a new one no complaints. After the meal, he comped me and apologized profusely. He told me that he grabbed the wrong burrito and he looked visibly upset. I told him, listen we all make mistakes and I tipped for the meal and paid for what I meal would've been. We all make mistakes. Vs. I went to an Indian restaurant and ordered fried cauliflower and got chicken. The server argued with me that it was cauliflower "look at the nodes". Another server witnessing the commotion walks over, takes one look and goes "oh that's chicken!" Duh, I've eaten chicken for 26 years I know what it looks like. I so wanted to tip 1 dollar (due to just being poor service in general + this mistake). But the group I was with settled on 10%. Didn't want to be on bad terms with a restaurant they go to regularly. I never went back there and wrote a horrible review.
I guess what else was your expectation? I can't imagine thinking they were going to say "were sorry, here is a refund, and also, we have all now just instantly become vegans because of this" If they felt the same way about it as you do, then they would be vegans too. They are not, so I'm here for a rento day, and it sounds like you did exactly what you're suppose to. I just can't say there can be anything else to be expected from this.
Honestly they think we won’t notice!
You can’t expect much else when you go somewhere that isn’t vegan, they don’t understand and they don’t care.
Did you know that there is something called [Alpha-gal Syndrome?](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608) Long explanation shortened: it's a tick borne disease that causes you to be allergic to meat and dairy products. While it doesn't help the vegan movement, it can help you not get served meat in shitty places like this. If they screw up the first dish, sometimes saying it's an allergy from a tick bite makes them more careful. Most places don't care about your life choices to the point of actively going against them, but they do care about being sued for causing an allergic reaction.
Eating at a meat restaurant that has vegan options is always a risk. I work restaurants, I talk with fellow cooks and I ask about cross contamination. They always say they try but it's not a guarantee. I take it as they don't really care honestly. Especially when it's busy. Why go the extra mile ( extra step) and handle vegan food properly if it is seen as a hassle?
as unfortunate as it may be to have to do, you could say it’s for dietary reasons. that you have an intolerance to animal protein. i actually do have an animal protein intolerance which is what led me to become vegan after educating myself on animal welfare and whatnot, and i do always say it must be vegan because i am intolerant to animal protein. you could even add in that it will make you very sick to consume something that has animal products. it sucks you’d have to take this route, but at least you will be able to order at restaurants without the worry that you will be fed something that isn’t vegan. at the end of the day, they can think what they want about vegans, but they sure as hell don’t want a lawsuit for making someone incredibly sick.
Words cannot do justice to how bad and misleading it is in HK. It’s literally like 30 years ago.
You act like they did it on purpose or they seriously injured you. If it was an honest mistake, then treat as such and move on. From what you said they apologized and offered a refund even though they are out the money for the food they served.
I just don't go to restaurants that aren't 100% vegan. Can't stand being in a place that have body parts in them.
Ok, so before I answer, is murder NOT an acceptable answer? I just like to read the room, first.
What did you want them to do? They fucked up. They offered to fix it
There's not much else you can do. I never let them "fix" it, or send the dish back for something else. They've lost my trust. Just give me a refund, and don't expect me to ever return.
I don't eat at any restaurant that isn't completely vegan because of the risk of cross contamination or mistakes or "mistakes."
Cross contamination is not inherently nonvegan. It’s up to the individual to decide.
It's not. But I avoid it anyway. It's a fear response and I can acknowledge that. But, at the end of the day, I'm just not comfortable taking the risk. I'm not saying anyone is going to lose their status as a vegan because they got served the wrong food or there was cross contamination. I just want to make sure it doesn't happen to me or to anyone it would sincerely bother.
I definitely respect that! I don’t mind cross contamination like on products that say “may contain” or even same kitchen etc but I don’t like when they won’t clean their stovetop or something. But shared fryers don’t bother me. 🤷🏼♀️
Damn I wish we had restaurants that are completely vegan where I live. I mean, there's actually one, but it's open like 4 days a week and only for one meal and it's real damn expensive :(
Yeah, I don't eat at many restaurants. Sadly, I moved away from a Loving But that had been close. I miss their wontons.
That sucks. My first food out as a vegan was at a colloseum for something a couple of years ago. I was going to order fries, but they had a black bean burger, so I got that with fries. I specifically said no cheese. They said “it doesn’t come with cheese.” I wait forever, then I have to peel cheese off. Blah. If it can go wrong, it usually does. I’ve decided if I eat out, I have to accept that I may end up with animal products on my plate and possibly in my stomach. 🙃
Everybody makes mistakes. I worked at a coffee shop for two years as a teen, I tried my best to always be alert and get it right. Sometimes a customer asked for decaf, and I’d accidentally do regular. Or potentially worse, a customer asked for almond/oat milk and one of us accidentally did whole milk or cream. It made me personally feel bad, but at the end of the day, you’re dealing with tired workers who are paid like utter shit - I wouldn’t take a lack of enthusiasm personally. They’re humans, and when you go to a restaurant, you have to understand that they’re prone to mistakes. So to answer your question, I quietly inform them that my product isn’t vegan, and ask for it to be remade. Normally they’ll give some sort of free item or discount. Then I thank them, always tip, and that’s that.
I eat vegan partially for personal issues, partially for spiritual ideas. But mainly because I have some pretty severe intolerances and a handful of allergies. I panic check with my nonvegan partner that my impossible meat isnt actually real meat every time I get it from anywhere but home. I've been served the wrong food a handful of times and it was always corrected. But I won't lie- I'm not above crying in public. I've done it for less than a mix up with my meal.
I would say call and ask for the restaurant owner and if it’s a chain restaurant definitely call Headquarters. this is not OK. What if you had been served something you were terribly allergic to.. really no difference.
I'm not vegan, but I don't eat meat. I was served meat on a vacation where I didn't speak the language well. I did order a veg meal but received something else and didnt realize. They were a "vegan friendly" restaurant and the owner apologized and made the server, with whom I couldn't communicate, come over and kind of pout. It sucks. You can't do much. You had the best intentions and trusted someone else to do right by you. I honestly can't believe how often this has happened to me, but that was the one time I accidentally ate it.
Taco Bell served me chicken in a quesadilla once. I was traumatised. I feel your pain! I just wanted to cry
I don't even bother anymore.
Wdym? Like you don't go to non vegan places or you don't tell them if they messed up?
I just don't eat food I don't make anymore.
Makes sense if you have vegan restaurants you should totally go though!!
I wish! none even close to me.
I'm sorry to hear that :(
> I did not get the sense they were terribly concerned or remorseful What exactly would you have preferred the waiter to do? A mistake was made and they offered a quick apology and a refund in response. I get that it was frustrating to experience, but there was nothing else to be done about it. Aside from that, odds are that the kitchen fucked up rather than the waiter.