So, I’m a vegetarian, which means that at most eating establishments in town, there’s at least one item on the menu that I can eat. Sometimes, there’s only that one option, but it’s better than no options, and I’m the kind of vegetarian who tends to nibble reheated store-bought veggie burger quietly in the corner, not complaining, because afterall, it is a choice I made, and I’m in the minority, and I’m not into conflict or confrontation, and all that rot.
So being in that minority means you do kind of end up going to the same places over and over. You know before even darkening the door that any place with “bbq” or “grill” in its name, probably that German place, and definitely the bizarre only-chicken fingers joint just aren’t going to offer you much.
So you stick to what you know.
This gets terribly boring.
So sometimes, every once in a while, you get so bored with your usual haunts that you venture somewhere new and cross your carrot-stained fingers in hopes that at least the salads will be meat-free (some places they are not — Wild Greens, for instance - talk about false advertising!).
For those of you reading this who are meat-eaters, I should tell you now that this is not a review about being a dissed vegetarian. It’s a review about THE WORST SERVICE EVER.
I only set it up this way so far to explain why we went to Lord Hardwicke’s a couple months ago. Plain and simple, we were BORED. We’ve lived here about five years or so, driven past it numerous times, and one day we just couldn’t face another night at Ming Dynasty. So we stopped in.
Frankly, I don’t remember what we ate. I think I had a potato. But I do remember that we got the worst service ever. How so?
- It was hardly crowded, but the waiter tapped his feet and actually said, “Ok, folks, let’s get this over with” while we were ordering.
- It took him 20 minutes to bring us our drinks.
- He never came back to ask us if we wanted more drinks (we did).
- The waiter never once asked if we needed a highchair or booster seat for the baby. We did.
- He acted flustered, rude, and like our presence was interrupting his smoking break or something. His heroine break?
So yeah, he got a bad tip. But I just don’t understand why he’s working as a waiter if he hates people? Yes, I understand that working at a service job can really suck. But it can also be a lot of fun, if it’s something you enjoy. But Waiter Dude, please don’t waste my time by making me think I’m wasting yours. It only, in the end, makes your job worse.
So yeah, I’m a sad vegetarian, because that’s just one more place I won’t frequent - and this time, it’s not because of the food, which I could sort of live with, it’s because of the people. And I can’t live with feeling unwelcome for more than just my vegetarianism - but for being a human, too.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tagged as: Charlottesville, Rants, Restaurants
Thanks and congrats on the first post!
I’ll share something about how the other half lives. I eat red meat maybe twice a month, pork and chicken a few meals a week (but rarely as the focal point of the meal)– lots of salads and sushi rolls and, as we all now know, sandwiches. Anyway, it really bothers some people. It’s as though they want to be able to label me a vegetarian, or not. Now to psychoanalyze, because I LOVE doing that, from birth, we as human beings try to put things in categories so we can make assumptions about those things based on previous experience. What’s funny about your post to me is that you’ve already anticipated being compartmentalized! Maiaoming, what has the anti-veggite society done to you? Share!
As a lacto-ovo vegetarian of 19 years I have to say that Charlottesville is the most veg-friendly city I have lived in. With over 200 independent (non-chain) restaurants in town I can to months without ever eating at the same place twice. So many things here for us to make up for the “Sad” experience..
Ya, this is a pretty friendly vegetarian place… but I’d have to say you are totally missing out on MEAT!
I really do love being borderline vegetarian if for nothing other than a perfectly tender short rib.
My worst service ever was at The Shabeen, which I’ve heard can be “hit or miss” in that area. After 45 minutes in the restaurant, we had empty glasses and no food. My boyfriend at the time had worked in a restaurant and knew that this was a case of the server not putting our order into the kitchen (we had ordered stew, which is made at the beginning of the night). We also found it next to impossible to get ANY server’s attention. My boyfriend finally went over to talk to the manager, who was in a hallway between the main room and the kitchen with some servers. We just said we were leaving.
We almost ran to The Divide where bartender Emma (oh where have you gone, Emma?) had drinks in our hands within moments of our arrival and food in front of us within 10 minutes.
I don’t know about this being the best place for vegetarians… I hear that alot, but I truly don’t get it! I was really sad to see Fusion, which had a number of veggie options, go; as with the falafel joint on Pantops (cheaper and better than Stix Kabob); a favorite tempeh-ish burger at Starr Hill got taken off the menu last year; and when Miller’s slimmed down their menu a little bit ago, they took off a couple veg option sandwiches, so now there’s only one veg sandwich… Rapture got rid of their falafel plate, which was awesome… maybe I’m just stuck in a rut! But it’s so disappointing to see favorites disappear. I’d love to know where I should be going…???
To any vegetarians looking to eat out, I refer you to Anthony Bourdain. As for service in Cville, you dont go out to eat looking for service in this city. Should you wish for higher level service/food then you need to do a few things, first and foremost of them (see Reichl’s ‘Garlic and sapphires) do NOT act like a “foodie,” but behave as if you are in the F & B trade. Take care of the server from the start ie: know what you are ordering and provide this to them quickly and effectively. When someone needs a water or something, make sure everyone gets their request in at the same time. If you run them to death being stupid, look to get ignored. I could go on, but suffice it to say that if you get the right place in the establishment and act correctly then you are way ahead of the pack.
And if you order food in a way that shows you should not be in the place “Waiter…my Tuna is not done!” then expect the chef to not give a crap.
When you live a bizarre lifestyle you cannot expect to have restaurants follow suit. For example, last year I spent two months in southern CA. I learned to subsist on fruity-tooty pizzas and tofu, and understood that “when in Rome do as the Romans do”. Sure I wanted a nice pot roast with steaming potatoes but that’s life. You best bet is to learn to deal with it and expanding your food horizons. A nice, delicious beef burger (especially from Lord Hardwick’s — they make the best!) won’t kill you I promise. Think about it.
Mrs. Meaty: you’re too funny! I love hearing people tell me they’re a vegetarian because of animal cruelty or something, and then I’ll look down at their leather boots or purse. I just like people to be consistent. I also suspect that there are vegetarians out there who are vegetarians because they like the idea of being a “vegetarian”– the stereotype of the globally conscious, healthy, progressive eater. It sounds a little “holier than thou” to me, especially because I’m so close to veg. All or nothing?!
maiaoming: There are quite a lot of vegan/vegetarian friendly places in town. For Indian food, there’s Milan. For really great sandwiches, there’s Cafe Europe on the Corner.
I wouldn’t write off Lord Harwick’s so quickly. I just went there Friday July 13th. I really enjoyed the food and our waitress was very nice and attentive. I’m sure it helped that there was barely anyone in there but it was very pleasant. My meal, btw, was a yummy Spanish Pizza. Artichoke hearts, feta & mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, green peppers and onions. Only $8 and I could have made three meals out of it! Have you ever been to Hot Cakes? Their menu changes fairly often but it’s usually always good and I know they have a good veggie sandwich (unless they got rid of it) and some sides too.
[…] by reading Michael Polan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” as well as previous posts about the lack of vegetarian offerings in cville, I wanted to look deeper into […]