"We feel no shame": Meat items at Heirloom Restaurant lead to thick slice of anger

A hugely popular Vancouver vegetarian restaurant has added some meat items to its menu, and the decision has irked some of the brunch spot’s dedicated customers.

Heirloom Restaurant added the controversial meat items weeks ago, but many have voiced their concerns over the past 48 hours.

While the menu is still primarily vegetarian-focused, the included meat items have caused a bit of a storm online.

A thread on Reddit initially reignited the conversation, with hundreds of comments about the decision.

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Using brunch as an example, patrons can add thick-sliced bacon, pork sausage, or braised beef cheeks to their meals. There are also standalone meat items like the Fraser Valley Bacon Benny, the BLT, or a smash burger with a beef chuck patty.

“Ya no sorry lol this is pathetic,” wrote one user in a Facebook vegan group.

“It’s not their fault vegan/vegetarian food isn’t having its moment right now,” another user suggested.

Another user wrote, “So the question becomes… what’s more important: treating animals compassionately or profit?”

A user on Reddit wrote, “It’s honestly absurd. They are out to brunch.”

“I’m not casting judgment either way, but they need to remove ‘vegetarian’ from their branding and all their other clearly fake vegan virtue signalling; because it’s lying, and why would you want to support people who lie to your face?”

According to some comments on the latest post on the Heirloom Facebook page, the decision goes back to at least August of this year.

A user commented on a post from Heirloom, stating, “Shame on you for always being ‘just vegetarian’ and now adding meat to your menu.”

Heirloom responded to that comment.

“Your shame has missed the mark. We feel no shame, at least for the menu,” Heirloom Restaurant wrote.

“Isn’t it great that the world is big enough for everybody and all their ideas and opinions? I have a new puppy so I’m as happy as can be. Wish you well,” it added.

In a separate comment, the Vancouver (formerly?) vegetarian restaurant wrote, “We just want to stay in business and serve our happy patrons healthy meals that we are proud of.”

It also wrote that it’s a shame that a minority of the “compassionate vegan” crowd are so “mean-spirited and evil.”

We’ve reached out to Heirloom for comment.