Woman insulted after being told BBQ restaurant ‘doesn’t cater to vegans’

A woman has sparked a hefty debate online after taking to TikTok to complain that her local restaurant doesn’t cater to vegans.

The TikToker, who goes by the username @amiebeth125 on the platform, said a Turkish BBQ hotspot in Essex, not far from where she lived, downright shut down offering her friend anything appropriate to eat, stating their eatery wasn’t the place for her.

Now, we’re all for restaurants cooking whatever they damn well please, but in 2023, it seems a little outdated to send a plant-based diner packing, especially given recent stats showing 31 percent of the UK are actively trying to eat less meat.

Whilst it might not be that surprising that the restaurant didn’t have a vegan offering, what will almost certainly raise an eyebrow is the way they allegedly addressed the situation.

@amiebeth125

#sheesh #essex #restaurant #vegan #antivegan #annoyed #rant #fyp #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Amie-Beth

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Upon receiving a phone call from Amie-Beth in which she enquired about their vegan options, the restaurant, named Sheesh, weren’t super accommodating.

“We rang them up [and said] basically my friend wants to come, she’s a vegan so there’s nothing on the main menu she can order, would it be okay if she just ordered sides? Because she’s been before and that wasn’t allowed?,” Amie-Beth said.

She claims that the woman on the phone replied: “We don’t cater for vegans. […] I don’t even know why a vegan would even want to come to our restaurant anyway.”

Yikes. Not the best response, really, is it?

“It’s 2023, being a vegan isn’t weird,” the TikToker added. “We were just asking a question, fair enough if that’s your policy, but […] I just can’t believe that a restaurant that is so well-known would be so rude.”

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People had a lot of thoughts in the comments, with some agreeing the incident was really poor form, whilst others had different opinions.

One person sarcastically wrote: “What a scandal! Few days ago I went to a vegan restaurant and they didn’t gave me a steak, can you imagine? The audacity of some ppl!”

“It is a meat restaurant though…,” said another sceptic in the comments.

Amie-Beth wasn’t having it, though, replying: “It’s a Turkish restaurant: many Turkish restaurants serve falafel. It’s not predominately meat. Saying that, I have been to steakhouses offering vegan [food].”

“I’ve eaten a vegan meal at Miller and Carter, a well known steakhouse chain.. and this was 7 years ago so it being a ‘meat’ restaurant is irrelevant,” chimed back somebody else.

“If a restaurant doesn’t offer vegan, vegetarian or gluten free options in 2023 it’s dead! No excuse,” said a third supporter of the TikToker.

Twisted has reached out to Sheesh for comment.