Your inner child is begging you for a pizza party.

January 29, 2007

As you know, Pizza Plaza in the East Bay (right between Berkeley and

Oakland) gave up meat and is now all vegetarian--and mostly vegan.

Their pizza is _scrumptious_.

I was in there last week and as I sat eating pesto pizza with my friend,

we watched three different people come in, start to order, and then

leave when they found out they couldn't get meat.

Pizza Plaza needs the support of the veg community if they're going to

make it. We all say we want more vegan restaurant options, and we want

restaurants to give up meat, etc...but when a restaurant does that, they

lose the /majority /of their customer base and income. Please take the

time to go to Pizza Plaza. Even if you don't live nearby, plan ahead

and make the trip at least once, combine it with a movie or visit to a

friend, or just to eat pizza--and buy 2 more pizzas to take home and freeze!

If they don't make it, they'll either add meat back to the menu or go

out of business. Either would be a real loss to the veg community, and

would also send a message to other restaurants that veg foods aren't a

good idea.

They have an amazing selection of all-vegan pizza, some with fake meat

and some with just vegetables. They have vegan lasagna, vegan Caesar

salads, vegan garlic bread. They're spoiling us rotten, and we need to

show our appreciation!

Even their website was changed to " vegan: "

http://veganplaza.com/

Thanks!

Alex

January 30, 2007

Another solution, they could offer discounts to wary meat eaters (either a straight-up discount or something along the lines of Millennium's "convert a carnivore"). Or, they could take out the word "vegan" everywhere, which probably scares off meat eaters who would otherwise enjoy a vegan pizza, and include a small note at the register ("allergy information: all our meats are soy based").I'm reminded of Ronald's Donuts in Las Vegas. Almost all of the doughnuts at Ronald's are vegan, but they don't advertise themselves as vegan. So the locals and passing truckers still go there, but the shop stays primarily vegan. Everyone wins.I think "stealth vegan" is a good model for many businesses, since it doesn't force their customers to identify with a label they might fear or dislike. Obviously, some restaurants will do better by flaunting their vegan cred, but others will not. And even though I'm vegan, I'm certainly not going to get fat eating pizza everyday just to support the local vegan pizzeria! Vegan pizza should be able appeal to everyone, vegan or not, even if that means rethinking their branding. On Jan 29, 2007, at 9:54 AM, Alex Bury wrote:If they don't make it, they'll either add meat back to the menu or go out of business. Either would be a real loss to the veg community, and would also send a message to other restaurants that veg foods aren't a good idea..

January 30, 2007

> If they don't make it, they'll either add meat back to the menu or go out of business. Either would be a real loss to the veg community, and> would also send a message to other restaurants that veg foods aren't a good idea.Having an all-veg pizzeria DEFINITELY is a boon to veg*nism and those of us who want a vegan pizza with vegan cheeze.

Any pizza lovers want to volunteer to organize a BAVeg dinner at Pizza Plaza? They sell vegan pizza by the slice, as well as lasagna, calzones, salad, etc. Hosting a dinner is very easy, and it's a great way to meet like-minded people.

Another alternative is to organize a weekend leafleting event at Lake Merritt (or another busy place) and treat yourself to pizza afterwards.

Read the rave reviews about Pizza Plaza:

http://www.bayareaveg.org/ug/display.htm?id=579Read about hosting an event for Bay Area Veg:

http://www.bayareaveg.org/host.htmIf I lived in the East Bay, I would definitely do it! But, alas, I love across the bridge and below SF, so it's too far for me to do this every month. BUT, we are holding our next veg/AR book discussion at Pizza Plaza on 3/4http://www.bayareaveg.org/events.php?EID=1265#1265

Please write me if you're interested!Cheers,Tammy

__

"This is my protest against the conduct of the world. To be a vegetarian is to disagree--to disagree with the course of things today. Starvation, world hunger, cruelty, waste, wars--we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement and I think it's a strong one." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer

http://bayareaveg.org

http://www.vegcooking.com/