Idea for The Villages Restaurants to serve more healthful food; CBV
 

Hi, We were recently in Salt Lake City eating at Oasis, a popular restaurant there. Next to menu items were the letters CBV. Stands to Can Be Vegetarian. This is so helpful for folks who are vegetarian or want to eat some plant based meals. Many dishes can be made vegetarian without much trouble.....usually just eliminating the meat. Here, it's a different story in the County Club restaurants. There are some exceptions like Glenview which serves a delicious veggie burger.
So please, restaurants when you update your menus, remember CBV

Vegetarian doesn't equate with healthier. Overprocessed grain-based and tofu-based "meat analogues" are vegetarian, and are actually really unhealthy to include as a regular part of your diet.

That said, I'd love to see healthier options. Not merely vegetarian or vegan, but good quality meatless options. A GOOD hummus. Salads with home-made non-ranch (seriously what is the southern obsession with ranch dressing, BLECH) dressings. Pizzas with home-made sauce, and less cheese. Sauteed string beans with olive oil and garlic. More eggplant dishes (I wouldn't eat them but many people love that stuff and we need more of it). More balsamic glaze and less hollandaise sauce. More fresh, not thawed, Florida fish with fresh lemon juice and fresh dill instead of fatty creamy Sysco lemon sauce. Pan-cooked chicken in sauteed veggies instead of deep-fried breaded chicken. More whole-grain breads plus rye and sourdough breads for those looking to reduce wheat but not needing to eliminate it.

Pizza with less cheese. I'll vote for that. Most places put so much cheese on pizza, that I stopped buying it.

If vegetarian options were profitable, there would be both more vegetarian options and vegetarian restaurants. Since they are not, there is not.

The world will not conform to you, you must confirm to it.

The problem is they are so often uninspired. Hence, OBB's post.
Make them GOOD, make them interesting.....and they will come. ;o)

Many places around the country have really good vegetarian restaurants that have been in biz a long time.

Less than 2% of Americans over 65 identify as Vegetarians.

If you see any Vegetarian meals on a Menu, it's only there so that vegetarian friends of people who prefer a more normal diet, can still come to the restaurant and find 1 or 2 vegetarian choices.

Restaurants don't really want Vegetarians' business. It's not worth it. No profit and finicky, picky eaters are a PIA for restaurants.

Can I assume that you are not a Vegetarian?

Sorry, but the term "delicious veggie burger. " is an oxymoron

I think any of the population here that is 75 or older just wants to eat what they want to, more interested in taste than purported "health". For the younger people who are into fad diets, fine. They can choke down all the algae and seaweed they want.

Even better than your golf posts!!! :BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:

Can I assume that you are not a Vegetarian either?

Like post #1, the term "really good vegetarian restaurants" is also an oxymoron. And most of those are in California, so res ipsa loquitur

If I ever get to be dictator, those people will be sterilized:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

My most recent visit to my dad's house was another "clear out dead mom's stuff" weekend. I went through the cookbooks and found one that I took home with me. I was a vegetarian for a very short period of time (less than two years) when I was in my 20's. I also followed a macrobiotic diet for around a minute during the same decade. I like red meat, fish, poultry, and bacon. I do not like eggplant, avocado, artichoke, or tofu and the idea of "meat analogue" makes me want to blow chunks.

The cookbook was recipes for dishes made by Claire Criscuolo, who is well known in New Haven for founding Claire's CornerCopia vegetarian restaurant. The recipes are all vegetarian, many are vegan. Claire's was one of the restaurants I loved, when I lived up there. A top two place to go whenever I was downtown. The other was Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant, a few blocks away from Claire's.

Claire's had people coming from all over New Haven county, and people who visited from out of town, out of state, and even out of the country, would make sure to stop in for a meal as well. Sometimes the line would be out the door onto the sidewalk, just to get to the counter to place an order. The individual-sized loaves of bread are always served still warm (sometimes hot) from the oven, and comes with any salad ordered by the customer. The Lithuanian Coffee Cake is amazing, as good as my mom's. She made a mouth-watering Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo at one point, that was made with her own hand-made spinach noodles. People run her clear out of her eggplant rollups (again - not something I'd ever eat but it's a hugely popular dish). She works magic with stuffed grapeleaves and her carrot cake is to die for.

Vegetarian food can be healthy, hearty, delicious. In fact, most people eat vegetarian food. They just don't call it that. It's food that doesn't contain meat, and in many cases, that includes not containing fish or poultry. Do you like cole slaw? That's vegetarian. How about string bean casserole, without any bacon in it? That's vegetarian. Have you enjoyed a nice fat slice of key lime pie with a graham cracker crust lately? Vegetarian. Ever eat a plain normal salad? Vegetarian. Eggplant Parm? Vegetarian. Avocado toast? Vegetarian. A toasted garlic bagel with cream cheese? Vegetarian. Peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches? Vegetarian.

I think some people just have some really weird fear of the word itself, but they eat the food all the time without even giving it a second thought.

Big difference between eating vegetables and eating vegetables exclusively , but you already know that

Incorrect. Youp post merely reveals that you've been minimally exposed to such establishments...or not at all.

Although I’m not interested in a vegetarian restaurant, I wish restaurants would offer more healthy low carb options. I don’t expect it will happen, carbs are the cheapest way to fill people up and yield much higher profit margins. If one isn’t interested in eating lots of carbs, dinning out options are very limited.

Agree. Many years ago We would regularly eat at some vegetarian restaurants that served fabulous food. I am not a carnivore, nor a vegetarian. I am an omnivore. I'll eat most foods. Animal and/or vegitable.

have not in the past, not in the present and never in the future. Not minimally, ZERO

Wow, yet another oxymoron. I believe that's three in under 20 posts

My guess CBV probably don’t generate enough income in mostly overweight retirement communities? Why not just cook veggies at home if that’s priority?

Exactly, that's why Comment #11 was incorrect. Some might then wonder why it was even made but, I am not one of them.

Careful when eating salads at restaurants. The dressing is topped off at the close of every shift. The container is rarely cleaned out. Employees simply pour new on top of old. The old can remain in the container for days.

Also, vegetables are not properly washed. They are chopped up direct from the freezer. The vegetables may have been stored under meat products. Do I need to remind you of the liquid that oozes out of meat? I worked at several restaurants in my younger years. Each was not as clean as one would hope. My rule of thumb when dining out: order food that needs to be cooked before serving. Stay away from raw!

That would be too easy and then the vegetarian's wouldn't have anything to complain about, online.

Same as those who want "Indian Food" or "Thai Food" or any of the other less popular dining options.

Don't people understand that restaurants strive to appeal to a reasonably broad range of customers and not specialize in food that less than 2% of the residents want to eat? It's funny how restaurants actually want to be successful and make a profit.

One needs to only walk around The Villages, to see that the majority of residents prefer fatty, fried foods and lots of it. Maybe a nice dessert, too.

👍👍👍

Ahhh...nope.

Golfing Eagle is entitled to his opinion...and, as an opinion, it is NOT incorrect. I, and many others here, agree with him. Purported "health food" isn't. I've never seen a healthy Vegan.

Actually, many are healthy. Just NOT MORE healthy than non-vegans, and unless they consume very large amounts of their "veggies" and take the right vitamin and mineral supplements they will be LESS healthy. If anyone can show a double blinded placebo controlled multi-university center study of over 5,000 people published in a legitimate medical journal (Not the Outer Mongolian Journal of Holistic Crap), showing that vegans are healthier, less susceptible to disease and live longer, I'm all ears.

But I guess the larger question is: What's the point of being a vegan???? Why???
Don't like killing Bambi???? It's woke??? All my friends are doing it????
Makes no sense to me.

It’s unfortunate you worked at such poorly run restaurants. I spent many years working at a well known restaurant who never did the things you mentioned. There is a right way to run a restaurant and a wrong way. BTW I’m not sure how you take vegetables directly out of the freezer and chop them, I’ve never seen that done.

It would be healthier to offer turkey meatloaf rather than beef meatloaf. There are many research articles pointing out health issues of mammal meat.

I’d love to see more healthy keto low carb options. I agree, lots of good healthy vegetable side dishes too. I want to stay slim and hopefully never need any prescriptions in my life.

I personally eat mostly organic fruits and vegetables, especially preferring food that's not inundated with chemicals, however, it's substantially more expensive than the usual "slop" found on supermarket shelves. The point being, is that "cost" could be the reason why healthy organic foods are not on the menu.

Do you have links to these "many research articles"???
Are they published in NEJM, JAMA or the Lancet? Are they double blinded placebo controlled multi-centered peer reviewed studies of at least 5,000 people?
More likely in the Outer Mongolian Jornal of Holistic Crap or the South Sudanese Journal of Nutritional Misinformation.

Amazing the human race isn't extinct after our ancestors dined on wooly mammoth and saber-toothed tiger.

Where do you buy these organic fruits and vegetables, and how are they different from the organic "slop" in grocery stores?

Vegetarian is not healthier..
How about a menu for all of us on a low carb diet?

You can just ask for less cheese. We do. Of course you do have do have that particular restaurant’s pizza once to know how much cheese they usually use!! But you can definitely ask them to cut the cheese by 1/3 or whatever you think is right for you. Not sure about a “pizza place” but works at the country clubs.

How about properly steamed vegetables instead of sauteéd vegetables (that is, fried in oil). Frozen vegetables are more likely to be cooked at peak ripeness than “fresh” vegetables picked when less ripe to allow for shipping. Sourdough bread is white bread and so less nutritious. I like eggplant a lot, but when fried, it really soaks up a lot of oil—that’s why it tastes so good. I’d welcome good vegetarian cooking in our restaurants, but I question some of your ideas of healthy eating. You are definitely right that vegetarian doesn’t necessarily equate with healthy.

I find it odd that more posters don't understand this.

We spent a lot of time eating Indian and Thai back in MD and I really like Ethiopian but those flavors just aren't a good fit for the palates in the Villages. I wish I had those options golf-cart accessible but I accept that any such restaurant would be short-lived here. Fortunately, there is a nice variety to be found in Gainesville, Ocala, Tampa, and Orlando.

(Yes, there is Thai Ruby and we go there frequently)

About 10 years ago I drove my 96 year old Uncle to the funeral mass for my 98 year old Aunt. We got there early so we stopped at a diner for breakfast. I thought he would order a bowl of oatmeal or cottage cheese with fruit or some other "healthy" food but he had the corned beef hash with fried eggs and finished every last bite. I asked and he told me he has bacon and eggs almost every day. My 87 year old mother is still going strong after smoking 2 packs of cigarettes for most of her life (she does have some emphysema). She told me stories of her childhood where, being very poor, their dinner consisted of a slice of bread spread with lard. Growing up she cut the whites off of her eggs, gave them to the dog and only ate the yolks. Bacon, pot roast, meat loaf, corned beef, sausage, and many other "mammal" meats were and still are staples of her diet. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, my Aunt "Sissy" just celebrated her 105th birthday this past January. She was raised on these same lard sandwiches. She never smoked and has "A" beer every St. Patrick's day with her corned beef and cabbage. Growing up, I've been to her house for dinner countless times and I've seen what she eats when we go to Baumanns Brookside resort in upstairs NY for our annual family reunion. Here's a hint, it ain't vegan or vegetarian.
When finding"studies" on diets, check where the funding came from. Dig deeper into how they classify things such as "meat eater". One such study classifies a meat meal as a big Mac, French fries, and soda. And then claims it was the meat that caused the heart disease. It couldn't be the triple layer sesame seed bun, the "special" sauce, the fries that are fried in seed oils at high temperatures, or the high fructose corn syrup soda. Nah, that couldn't be it. Meat is not your enemy. In fact it is the most, readily available, nutrition dense food you can eat having all the necessary nutrition, including amino acids, that your body needs. Stay away from seed oils, starches, sugary cereals, highly processed foods, sugary sauces. JMHO.

I don't eat mammals, haven't for approximately 30 years. I do however eat fish. I have no interest in being vegan, frankly it's too much work and I like things that I could no longer eat, like cheese. I don't et mammals for moral reasons, but a benefit is I have outlived everyone in my family.

Sweet Tomatoes
 

We did have a Sweet Tomatoes and my wife used to enjoy the huge salad bar but they closed down a few years ago. It is now a Chipolte.