It's such a common occurrence lol. The veg option on the menu is sorta thrown on as an afterthought and it gets no creativity, or assumes every vegetarian wants an extremely health conscious dish (I just don't like eating animals).
by donaldtrumpsmistress
50 Comments
I just ask for one of the other burgers with a veggie patty instead of beef. I also want cheese and fried food!
I usually ask to swap! I.e. will get the non veg option with the veg patty swapped, 9/10 places will do it!
I just order one of the “fun” burgers and ask them to substitute a bean burger.
My lament for more than a quarter of a century!
I will say that I typically have had good luck with requesting toppings, or asking for *x* burger with a veggie patty subbed, etc.
As for family members suggesting you can always have a sad iceberg salad, I have no comment.
Yeah I think they should at least have the option to sub the meat out from the regular options.
The bigger sin? Serving veggie burgers with a side salad instead of fries.
Agreed, super annoying. And for just $1 cheaper?! Rip off
Because they only offer one vegetarian option and the goal was making it tolerable for anyone who got dragged along instead of interesting enough to attract business. It appears to also be the only gluten free option as well.
If they were using slightly more forethought, they would offer the option to substitute a black bean patty on any burger and they’ll probably do that if you ask.
I think a lot of restaurants unfortunately just add a veggie option as an afterthought. 🙁
It’s not that, it’s that they don’t care
That’s where you are. I’d love for them to be less adventurous where I am!
I think a lot of places try to have one option that covers vegetarians, the gluten free crowd, and the vegans. Also a lot of sauces may not be vegetarian friendly like the BBQ sauce or the more scary ‘Fatso’ sauce. So they are playing it safe. You can also ask if they can put the bean patty in the XYZ burger or add something. Usually they are happy to do that.
What I hate is restaurants that have dedicated vegetarian options (usually very underwhelming) instead of letting you order any burger of the menu in vegetarian/vegan version (just replace the meat by plant based burger and remove any other thing like bacon). Especially if there are no vegetarian versions, just straight vegan (sometimes I just want to order a plant based protein but with regular cheese)
You can (most times, but not always) ask the server for these kinds of changes but in delivery apps is awful.
There is a local pizza chain that had both meat bbq pizza and a full vegan bbq pizza but I hate the fake mozz. Tried to get the vegan bbq pizza with real mozz (in person) and there was no way. They also didn’t allow to choose the plant based protein for a custom pizza (so the only vegan option was bbq and not modifiable). If you have the ingredients just let people choose! Don’t offer a single choice.
They ended up removing the vegan bbq with the excuse that it didn’t sell and I was like hell, maybe if you let people make different styles they would repeat, order more frequently and tell other people. Not going to ask for the same bbq pizza every time.
Restaurants that offer a single menu and the choice to make anything (as long as it makes sense) vegetarian or vegan win.
PS: just realised the veggie burger in the photo says (GF) which I assume means gluten free. So not only do you have a single choice but it is also all or nothing. You get awful bread even if you can eat normal one. That to me screams extremely lazy. Like, hey we don’t care about any of that, we have a single product that covers every dietary restriction at the same time, yay. They are so close to offering just lettuce wrapped tomato…
You can ask for additional toppings. It’s allowed
only 1$ cheaper than that stacked lido burger LMAO
Just be happy that they have a proper veggie patty instead of that Impossible Beyond bullcrap.
Thank God for Bareburger, you can load your veggie burger up with allllll that nasty goodness.
I wish all places would just have a separate paper menu that’s all veg.
That way it would eliminate any of the tricky questions ensuring there were no meet products, you would just know.
Would only take 2 hours, tops.
Right! I dont want a gluten free bun, vegan mayo, and side veggies just because i dont kill animals.
I have found that most places will substitute the veggie patty with beef. I do appreciate those restaurants whose menus include a note/asterisk stating that the beef patty may be substituted for the veggie/black bean patty.
Otherwise, I do commend restaurants for increasing vegan/vegetarian options. So many more options exist now compared to 25-30 years ago.
Especially when it’s a subpar in house made patty with the worst texture that just falls completely apart as you eat it.
Because they know if there’s only one option – we’ll be stuck eating it regardless.
Also, why are we paying the same (sometimes more) as meat?
I know how much them beans cost.
ETA. Love how they get a twofer. Gluten Free and vegetarian. 2 annoying (to them) birds one stone.
They don’t want to have to list a separate gluten free option, so that one is doing double work.
Also when there is only one choice, keeping it boring is the best default. A customer can always ask to add cheese or BBQ sauce or whatever they want to add on, but you don’t want to upset people who wouldn’t want those things. The more interesting you make something, the smaller its general appeal will be even though it might make a few people very happy.
There is a burger chain in Southern Ontario called The Works where you just choose your bun type, patty type, and topping combination from their extensive options – no weirdness required because everyone answers the same list of questions.
They used to have two veggie options – veggie patty and portobello mushroom cap – but they appear to have dropped the mushroom cap.
I think the assumption is that people are vegetarians because they’re just extremely picky eaters.
You just sub it, mang! Sub that fucker! Get haystacks, pepper Jack cheese, and Louisana hot sauce!
Lowkey the other options aren’t that special either, just order a side of tarot tots to add like that one burger has
Says GF so gluten free – maybe that is why it’s so plain.
i always saw it as a way to say “hey, we also have a veggie patty available” that you can swap onto one of the interesting burgers. i’ve never had a problem with asking if i can have [insert tasty sounding burger here] with the veggie patty instead of meat.
This issue is SO much worse for vegans. All you have to do is simply switch the patty on any of the other burgers. The same cant be said for removing dairy products. really not bad at all by comparison.
Who’s paying $15 for a black bean burger… lmao
What a scam
Because vegetarians and vegans aren’t this restaurant’s targeted market. If a vegetarian/vegan option is only going to get one line on a menu section, it makes more financial sense to make it is as generically appealing as possible.
Using that line on a more creative option only works for the people who would like said specific creative option. If the black bean burger also includes X, Y, Z, Only people who also like X, Y, and/or Z would order it.
I have literally just asked for whatever veggie option burger with the toppings melange I want? Like…many even state that “black bean burger swap= $1” or whatever? Why do so many vegetarians like the OP lack common sense to ask for what they want before whining on the internet?
Hold on, why is it the only gluten free one, does the veggie option not even get real bread? Or is it because it comes frozen so there is less kitchen contamination?
Because most restaurants see vegetarians and vegans as an inconvenience, because if they don’t put any effort into making their food appealing, they lose out on that customer base, and since its such a small demographic, they don’t really care.
In order to make vegetarian and especially vegan food worth paying restaurant prices for, it’s got to be fun, creative and flavorful. They no longer have the crutch of meat to fall back on.
But when you find that restaurant with high quality, creative vegetarian food, you’ve found a place you want to go back to.
And yeah… 15 dollars for that… oof!
Also, if restaurants could please note that ALL beans and lentils are vegetarian, not just black beans.
Also, not all of us like quinoa.
biggest pet peeve ever!!!!
This.
At least you guys get the option 🙁
I like Red Robin for that reason: you can get any burger made with a veggie burger.
Didn’t you know, you have to be careful not to overdose on vegetables. Just one lettuce too many and you’ll shit yourself to death.
I usually see that you can substitute a veggie burger patty. But then it’s $2 dollars more for some reason.
Yes, but ALSO – I’m tired of black bean patties with southwest seasoning. I love making my own, but whenever I see the option at restaurants, it’s always SW style. I don’t want those flavors in a burger 🤷♀️
I sub veggie at Habit and Shake Shack all the time…most places will do it if you request, usually like a $1.50-2 upcharge.
because they make one option to appeal to vegans, vegetarians, and gluten free people — ultimately making it unappealing to all of us
Is this Fatso’s Last Stand in Chicago?!
Because they confuse us with vegans and think we don’t want any dairy based products lol
Because they are lazy. Even if the point was to cover vegans and gluten free customers in addition to vegetarians with one option, how hard is it to find a vegan sauce and sliced vegan cheese.
Although I do find most places will be accommodating if you ask them to add cheese and some kind of sauce.