For father's day (which was my first restaurant experience since becoming vegan a month ago), my dad picked Marion Cheese Market in Oak Park, IL.
Based on the name, I went to dinner with the realization that I would most likely NOT be eating anything... I mean it's a CHEESE market. But, I was surprised to see that they had a tempeh sandwich on their menu. I asked the waiter if they could put the sandwich in a lettuce wrap or even just on a bed of lettuce as a salad due to not knowing what the bread was made with... nor trusting them if they told me it was vegan. He looked at me like I had three heads attached to my neck and said "No. We can't do that." At first I thought he had a dry sense of humor and was being sarcastic with me, so I said "Okay, so you can't put a sandwich on a piece of lettuce instead of bread? Even though you sell salad?" He looked at me with confusion and said, "No. That's not something that we do." My sister in law even chimed in stating that I'm a vegan, and that there's no way to put it on a salad? He stuck with his "No."
The waiter went around the table asking for everyone's order, when he got to me he asked, "So, what can I get for you?" I said, "I'm good." He then said, "Are you sure I can't accomodate you with something?" Then I looked at him like he had 4 heads attached to his neck and politely declined.
Now, if you're not a vegan or vegetarian you might think this is ridiculous, but this isn't the first time that common sense looses to ignorance. Unrelated to veganism; It's like the time I went into Starbucks and they didn't have any regular coffee. Oy vey, what a world... what a world.
Needless to say I won't be recommending this to any vegetarians or vegans... even though their menu clearly states "Please read our menus carefully and tell us what you cannot eat ask your server about our vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan options".... i guess that means that they'll accomodate you as long as you don't ask for a lettuce substitute? yeah... that totally makes sense. Pin It Now!
