I really only eat out if it's a work meeting, or a special occasion for DH and I. For those special occasions, we usually go to a hole in the wall place and stay as far away from chains as we can. Although I will admit to a new-found love affair with Noodle Company!
DH and I both had birthdays last month. Tradition in our house says that on your birthday, you may have any meal you want - homecooked or in a restaurant. There's no calorie counting or pouring over nutritional information for that single day every year. So for my birthday, he made me dinner. We had grilled asparagus, roasted broccoli, and corn on the cob. For his birthday, he chose to go out to Famous Dave's BBQ.
Picture this for a moment. A strict vegetarian that leads an almost vegan life (yogurt, I love thee) in a Texas themed BBQ joint. Even the SIDES had meat in them. The waitress told me the only substitutions they could make would be to leave the bacon/chicken/beef/pork/cheese/egg/croutons off of the salad. I had to laugh, it was just too amusing. I watched him eat and then came home ate some veggies. DH gorged himself so full of pork he felt sick for a week! His poor tummy just isn't used to eating meat anymore.
Ha, I remember a few years ago when I used to eat at Chilis, I got the veggie bean burger thing and you can order a burger and then substitute basically. You know like the "old timer burger" but with a bean burger instead. Well the burger I wanted originally has bacon on it, so of course I wanted no bacon or meat. My boyfriend caught them peeling the bacon off of the burgers, meaning they did a bean burger with bacon and realized the error and thought they could get away with it by just removing said bacon. EW!
He said he had a heck of a time explaining why that was no good. The person behind the counter said to him "but it is just bacon, it isn't meat" lol!
I just ran into this problem this weekend. My mom had a party catered and asked the caterers if they could make some vegan items. They were making all appetizer type food, so they gave her a menu and said they could make anything on it vegan. My mom picked several items and guess what we got?
A veggie platter with a ranch dip (dairy), a fruit platter and stuffed mushrooms (which I hate).
I was so looking forward to it and so disappointed once I got there. I'd eaten very lightly all day so I could enjoy the food. My sister rustled up some hummus so I'd have something decent to eat. I like fruit and veggies as much as the next person, but I can eat them at home!
It's definitely a challenge eating this way sometimes!
I just do not get that! If I didn't *know* people say things like that, I wouldn't believe it if someone told me.
Haha yeah...what can you say to that? He just went "make it over again please" and then he got a "i didn't know you were a vegetarian for religious reasons" from someone else behind the counter. I mean...people cannot be that thick can they? lol
I generally have low expectations for catered events even with enough warning. I went to a training class and gave them a months heads up of what I could eat and what I couldn't.
Anyway, the first day, for lunch they had cheese covered sandwiches. The veggie sandwich they prepared to me had melted cheese on it. The guy next to me in class couldn't eat dairy and had told them a month ahead of time so none of the options worked for him either. Even though I had given them a months notice and had communicated very clearly, I ended up bringing my own lunch and good thing too. Anyway, there were a couple days where they had an option that worked for me but most days not even with feedback after the first day and the second day and the third day... Other offerings included buttered rice and veggies (uhh what?), croissants, caesar salad, pasta salad sprinkled with cheese, and cold veggie sandwiches but still with cheese on them. I think on the last day they finally made a no cheese veggie sandwich for me.
In high school when I decided to stop eating meat, my mom said she would make this broccoli salad thing for my birthday. She's telling me in the kitchen how she has been very careful to not put any meat products in it .... as she's crumbling up strips of bacon into the salad.
Just last week, almost 20 years later, she calls me RAVING about this dish she made for dinner that I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE. She says she took some garlic and onion and spices and rubbed it on a chicken breast and I JUST HAVE TO TRY IT AT HOME RIGHT NOW CAUSE I'M GONNA LOVE IT!!!
These particular caterers have actually catered an entire vegan Christmas dinner for us (two years in a row) and it was wonderful, so I had really high expectations.
I have been in your situation before, Nelie, where even though you've discussed your dietary requirements with someone, they still can't get it right. Very annoying! It always makes me wonder how people with food allergies can eat out if these places can't remember to keep a piece of cheese off a sandwich.
