A restaurant that was once vegan has been forced to serve up meat for a very awkward reason, despite the fact the owner of the establishment doesn’t eat meat himself

Restaurants are used to catering for a wide variety of dietary requirements, but you’d expect an all-vegan haunt to stick to plant-based grub.

But one vegan restaurant has had to make the difficult decision to start serving meat. Nomas Gastrobar said they have had to make the tough decision to stay open, with bosses opting to add meat options alongside their vegan dishes in order to boost profits.

The eatery said it explored many other avenues before taking this decision, but felt they had to do this to stay open. They shared that they’ve kept their drinks prices the same, despite the cost of living crisis, and have tried a variety of money-saving deals – but this hasn’t helped the financial situation at the Macclesfield, Cheshire restaurant.

Drinks have been kept the same price – so they agreed something had to give ( 
Image: Jam Press)

The menu now has some meat options ( 
Image: Jam Press)

They say that the move is to help them pay their staff’s wages and their rent. The previously plant-based restaurant says that they have had many customers walk out of the building after seeing they only had a vegan menu, which hasn’t been great for revenue.

Currently, Nomas Gastrobar has two separate menus with a vegan brunch served until 12pm – then the lunch menu is available – including a range of vegan burgers and pizzas. Although the menu is mainly vegan, they have brought in the meat options “for those who want them”, despite the fact owner, Adonis Norouznia, is a vegan.

A spokesperson for Nomas Gastrobar said: “Firstly, we’d like to thank everyone who has shown their support over the last 24 hours. It means the world at such a difficult time. We understand that our decision to start serving meat on our menu may come as quite a shock to people, it certainly did to us.

They admitted they were struggling to pay staff wages ( Image: Jam Press)
“However, daily, we witness people walking into Nomas Gastrobar seeing the vegan menu and then walking out. Or even saying ‘Is it all vegan’ and then leaving.

“In answer to comments like ‘Is there no other way’, we promise, we have explored so many avenues. When the new menu does happen, the majority of it will still be vegan. There will be a few meat alternatives for those who would prefer them. We’ve seen a few comments like ‘I was planning to visit but now I won’t’.”

They went on to say that comments like that “don’t mean a lot” at the minute, as they’re struggling to pay their “wonderful team’s wages”, and rent. “We’ve found it pretty astonishing, some of the nastiness in the comments”, they wrote, continuing: “We have made this choice out of a place of survival for our family-run business and seeing people who are meant to ‘love all beings’ being awful to each other has really been upsetting.”

After sharing their reasons, diners rushed to praise the restaurant staff for their transparency, with some highlighting it must’ve been a “hard decision.” Another penned: “You being transparent about it is good. You don’t have to tippy toe around the world to survive and keep afloat.” Others promised their unwavering “support”, regardless of the decision.