The Vegan Variant: Amy's Cafe

July 20, 2006

Submitted by Nicole on Wed, 2006-07-19 11:34. Food | Restaurants | Vegan Variant Amy's is a cafe with a "Mediterranean touch". I have mixed feelings about this place since the food is good (mostly just the veggie burgers), but the service is almost always bad. The prices are a little higher than

they should be, and the atmosphere is hit or miss. You place your order and pay at the counter and then wait for your name to be called. I have found that half the time whoever is taking our order is fairly rude, and the other half of the time, they aren't rude but get the order wrong. If I'm just undeniably in the mood for a veggie burger and fries, I'll go over there... but only if I'm too lazy to walk to Mifflin St. Co-op and get the other Amy's (frozen and pre-packaged, natural food company) veggie burgers and make my own potatoes (the "Texas Burgers" are great, but that's for another time). Anyhow, most recently, my boyfriend and I went to Amy's and ordered two marinara veggie burgers with lettuce and onion and no cheese, with regular fries. Their spicy waffle fries are not vegan OR vegetarian (beef tallow), so stick with the regular kind. The guy who took our order was pretty cold and gave us an Uhhh why are you here, I have better things

to do kind of attitude. Understandable, I mean I've worked in similar jobs myself, but at least pretend the customer is not the enemy. As far as the service goes, that is pretty standard for Amy's. No one that works there really seems to want to be there, and even more so, seems to want to be helping you. I've noticed this attitude with other customers as well, including being talked down to, so it's not just me. And just as a disclaimer, this is the majority of the time in my experience, not every single time. Sometimes the wait is a moderate amount of time, and sometimes the wait is VERY VERY long. I've been made late back to work before because of this. Back to that marinara veggie burger with no cheese... it didn't exist, because they put cheese on it. Now when this happens, being vegan, if they just have to then throw away the burger with the cheese on it, it's as if I consumed it anyhow. Essentially, by not paying attention and messing up

my order, I've been forced to be wasteful and indirectly "consume" an animal product. Whether this product goes in my mouth or the trash, it still has been used, creating a small percentage of higher demand for it. Yuck. But people make mistakes, so it happens. The worst part, however, was that the guy who messed up blamed us for it, saying we never said no cheese. My boyfriend, again as I noted before in a different review, is extremely laid back and carefree, so he didn't care that this guy put the blame on us and annoyingly fixed our order, which we had to wait for again. Since he was doing the talking, I wasn't going to override his "Sorry about that! We'll just wait for the new ones. Let us know when they're ready--thanks so much!" Maybe he was taking the high road, but I would have not been so pleasant and ready to apologize. I know for sure that we said no cheese, so I'm not going to apologize for someone else's mistake. Due to the given apology, the guy

working then took free reign as he handed us our food to make us feel like we were pretty lucky he wasn't charging us for changing our minds. I'm about to move on to the food, but before I can do that, I have to at least comment on the atmosphere aside from certain employees. Again with hit or miss, sometimes Amy's is empty or filled with pleasant patrons and the meal can be enjoyable. Other times, it is filled with loud, obnoxious gossiping college girls, and loud, obnoxious frat-type guys. Yes, it sounds like I'm making an unwarranted sweeping statement, but I have proof since to add on to the annoyance of our previous encounter, we got to enjoy the presence of the people just described. It really added to the meal to not even be able to hold a conversation because we were surrounded by people gossiping, cackling, and making plans to get wasted to the point of oblivion. I'm not saying I need to eat in a library to feel satisfied, but I just can't handle that

crap sometimes. The veggie burgers are actually great. They have actual vegetables in them, so are more like a garden-type burger than a "Boca" burger (which is made by Oscar-Meyer, by the way, and is therefore at least still semi-evil if not fully evil). They are fairly large, maybe 1/3 larger than a standard frozen veggie burger, with matching buns. The burgers are cooked just right so they are browned all over and cooked through in the center. The toppings for the burger seem fresh, being lettuce, tomato, and onion. All come with cheese, so make sure you ask for no cheese (although sometimes that doesn't even help, it seems). The buns are wheat and have a good springy-but-soft consistency and match the patty well. The fries are okay... they're just regular fries, nothing special. Like my point about always being able to make better pasta marinara at home, noted in the Noodles & Co. review, you can also almost always make an equivocally good veggie burger and potatoes combo at home too. The price at Amy's is $7 and some change for the burger and fries. That's a lot of money, in my opinion. The price of a one frozen veggie burger with a bun and your own potatoes (one serving) is probably 3-ish dollars. Obviously, there is a luxury usually in going out and not having to prepare it yourself, but still, I’m cheap. I've also tried the veggie chili. They put broccoli in it--I find that odd. Again, it is just okay. I would eat it, as I have before, but it's nothing to rave about. I don't even know how to describe it, frankly, because it's just regular, old chili (with broccoli in it). Other than those items and hummus and pita (and some salads), nothing else is really vegan. 414 West Gilman St. • Madison, Wisconsin 53703 • 608-255-8172Peter H

Try the all-new Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use" – The Wall Street Journal

July 20, 2006

so far from your posts, it seems that the reporter doesn't like ANYPLACE in madison

peter VV Jul 20, 2006 12:39 PM Re: The Vegan Variant: Amy's Cafe Submitted by Nicole on Wed, 2006-07-19 11:34. Food | Restaurants | Vegan Variant

Amy's is a cafe with a "Mediterranean touch". I have mixed feelings about this place since the food is good (mostly just the veggie burgers), but the service is almost always bad. The prices are a little higher than they should be, and the atmosphere is hit or miss.

You place your order and pay at the counter and then wait for your name to be called. I have found that half the time whoever is taking our order is fairly rude, and the other half of the time, they aren't rude but get the order wrong. If I'm just undeniably in the mood for a veggie burger and fries, I'll go over there... but only if I'm too lazy to walk to Mifflin St. Co-op and get the other Amy's (frozen and pre-packaged, natural food company) veggie burgers and make my own potatoes (the "Texas Burgers" are great, but that's for another time). Anyhow, most recently, my boyfriend and I went to Amy's and ordered two marinara veggie burgers with lettuce and onion and no cheese, with regular fries. Their spicy waffle fries are not vegan OR vegetarian (beef tallow), so stick with the regular kind.

The guy who took our order was pretty cold and gave us an Uhhh why are you here, I have better things to do kind of attitude. Understandable, I mean I've worked in similar jobs myself, but at least pretend the customer is not the enemy. As far as the service goes, that is pretty standard for Amy's. No one that works there really seems to want to be there, and even more so, seems to want to be helping you. I've noticed this attitude with other customers as well, including being talked down to, so it's not just me. And just as a disclaimer, this is the majority of the time in my experience, not every single time.

Sometimes the wait is a moderate amount of time, and sometimes the wait is VERY VERY long. I've been made late back to work before because of this.

Back to that marinara veggie burger with no cheese... it didn't exist, because they put cheese on it. Now when this happens, being vegan, if they just have to then throw away the burger with the cheese on it, it's as if I consumed it anyhow. Essentially, by not paying attention and messing up my order, I've been forced to be wasteful and indirectly "consume" an animal product. Whether this product goes in my mouth or the trash, it still has been used, creating a small percentage of higher demand for it. Yuck. But people make mistakes, so it happens. The worst part, however, was that the guy who messed up blamed us for it, saying we never said no cheese. My boyfriend, again as I noted before in a different review, is extremely laid back and carefree, so he didn't care that this guy put the blame on us and annoyingly fixed our order, which we had to wait for again. Since he was doing the talking, I wasn't going to override his "Sorry about that! We'll just wait for the new ones. Let us know when they're ready--thanks so much!" Maybe he was taking the high road, but I would have not been so pleasant and ready to apologize. I know for sure that we said no cheese, so I'm not going to apologize for someone else's mistake. Due to the given apology, the guy working then took free reign as he handed us our food to make us feel like we were pretty lucky he wasn't charging us for changing our minds.

I'm about to move on to the food, but before I can do that, I have to at least comment on the atmosphere aside from certain employees. Again with hit or miss, sometimes Amy's is empty or filled with pleasant patrons and the meal can be enjoyable. Other times, it is filled with loud, obnoxious gossiping college girls, and loud, obnoxious frat-type guys. Yes, it sounds like I'm making an unwarranted sweeping statement, but I have proof since to add on to the annoyance of our previous encounter, we got to enjoy the presence of the people just described. It really added to the meal to not even be able to hold a conversation because we were surrounded by people gossiping, cackling, and making plans to get wasted to the point of oblivion. I'm not saying I need to eat in a library to feel satisfied, but I just can't handle that crap sometimes.

The veggie burgers are actually great. They have actual vegetables in them, so are more like a garden-type burger than a "Boca" burger (which is made by Oscar-Meyer, by the way, and is therefore at least still semi-evil if not fully evil). They are fairly large, maybe 1/3 larger than a standard frozen veggie burger, with matching buns. The burgers are cooked just right so they are browned all over and cooked through in the center. The toppings for the burger seem fresh, being lettuce, tomato, and onion. All come with cheese, so make sure you ask for no cheese (although sometimes that doesn't even help, it seems). The buns are wheat and have a good springy-but-soft consistency and match the patty well. The fries are okay... they're just regular fries, nothing special. Like my point about always being able to make better pasta marinara at home, noted in the Noodles & Co. review, you can also almost always make an equivocally good veggie burger and potatoes combo at home too. The price at Amy's is $7 and some change for the burger and fries. That's a lot of money, in my opinion. The price of a one frozen veggie burger with a bun and your own potatoes (one serving) is probably 3-ish dollars. Obviously, there is a luxury usually in going out and not having to prepare it yourself, but still, Im cheap.

I've also tried the veggie chili. They put broccoli in it--I find that odd. Again, it is just okay. I would eat it, as I have before, but it's nothing to rave about. I don't even know how to describe it, frankly, because it's just regular, old chili (with broccoli in it).

Other than those items and hummus and pita (and some salads), nothing else is really vegan.

414 West Gilman St. Madison, Wisconsin 53703 608-255-8172-->

Peter H

Try the all-new Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use" The Wall Street Journal

If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, â€œViews Differ on Shape of the Earth

July 20, 2006

What? is it my fault? Just thought that someone on here might find it interesting? perhaps they are are all crap? do you think that they are unfair? The Valley Vegan............... Law and order take a turn for the worst,In the shape of a size 10 boot.Rape and murder throughout the land,and they tell you that you're still a free man.If this is freedom I don't understand'cause it seems like madness to me.fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: so far from your posts, it seems that the reporter doesn't like ANYPLACE in madison peter VV

Jul 20, 2006 12:39 PM Re: The Vegan Variant: Amy's Cafe Submitted by Nicole on Wed, 2006-07-19 11:34. Food | Restaurants | Vegan Variant Amy's is a cafe with a "Mediterranean touch".

I have mixed feelings about this place since the food is good (mostly just the veggie burgers), but the service is almost always bad. The prices are a little higher than they should be, and the atmosphere is hit or miss. You place your order and pay at the counter and then wait for your name to be called. I have found that half the time whoever is taking our order is fairly rude, and the other half of the time, they aren't rude but get the order wrong. If I'm just undeniably in the mood for a veggie burger and fries, I'll go over there... but only if I'm too lazy to walk to Mifflin St. Co-op and get the other Amy's (frozen and pre-packaged, natural food company) veggie burgers and make my own potatoes (the "Texas Burgers" are great, but that's for another time). Anyhow, most recently, my boyfriend and I went to Amy's and ordered two marinara veggie burgers with lettuce and onion and no cheese, with regular fries. Their spicy waffle fries are not vegan OR

vegetarian (beef tallow), so stick with the regular kind. The guy who took our order was pretty cold and gave us an Uhhh why are you here, I have better things to do kind of attitude. Understandable, I mean I've worked in similar jobs myself, but at least pretend the customer is not the enemy. As far as the service goes, that is pretty standard for Amy's. No one that works there really seems to want to be there, and even more so, seems to want to be helping you. I've noticed this attitude with other customers as well, including being talked down to, so it's not just me. And just as a disclaimer, this is the majority of the time in my experience, not every single time. Sometimes the wait is a moderate amount of time, and sometimes the wait is VERY VERY long. I've been made late back to work before because of this. Back to that marinara veggie burger with no cheese... it didn't exist, because they put cheese on it. Now when this

happens, being vegan, if they just have to then throw away the burger with the cheese on it, it's as if I consumed it anyhow. Essentially, by not paying attention and messing up my order, I've been forced to be wasteful and indirectly "consume" an animal product. Whether this product goes in my mouth or the trash, it still has been used, creating a small percentage of higher demand for it. Yuck. But people make mistakes, so it happens. The worst part, however, was that the guy who messed up blamed us for it, saying we never said no cheese. My boyfriend, again as I noted before in a different review, is extremely laid back and carefree, so he didn't care that this guy put the blame on us and annoyingly fixed our order, which we had to wait for again. Since he was doing the talking, I wasn't going to override his "Sorry about that! We'll just wait for the new ones. Let us know when they're ready--thanks so much!" Maybe he was taking the high road, but I would have not

been so pleasant and ready to apologize. I know for sure that we said no cheese, so I'm not going to apologize for someone else's mistake. Due to the given apology, the guy working then took free reign as he handed us our food to make us feel like we were pretty lucky he wasn't charging us for changing our minds. I'm about to move on to the food, but before I can do that, I have to at least comment on the atmosphere aside from certain employees. Again with hit or miss, sometimes Amy's is empty or filled with pleasant patrons and the meal can be enjoyable. Other times, it is filled with loud, obnoxious gossiping college girls, and loud, obnoxious frat-type guys. Yes, it sounds like I'm making an unwarranted sweeping statement, but I have proof since to add on to the annoyance of our previous encounter, we got to enjoy the presence of the people just described. It really added to the meal to not even be able to hold a conversation because we were surrounded by

people gossiping, cackling, and making plans to get wasted to the point of oblivion. I'm not saying I need to eat in a library to feel satisfied, but I just can't handle that crap sometimes. The veggie burgers are actually great. They have actual vegetables in them, so are more like a garden-type burger than a "Boca" burger (which is made by Oscar-Meyer, by the way, and is therefore at least still semi-evil if not fully evil). They are fairly large, maybe 1/3 larger than a standard frozen veggie burger, with matching buns. The burgers are cooked just right so they are browned all over and cooked through in the center. The toppings for the burger seem fresh, being lettuce, tomato, and onion. All come with cheese, so make sure you ask for no cheese (although sometimes that doesn't even help, it seems). The buns are wheat and have a good springy-but-soft consistency and match the patty well. The fries are okay... they're just regular fries, nothing special. Like

my point about always being able to make better pasta marinara at home, noted in the Noodles & Co. review, you can also almost always make an equivocally good veggie burger and potatoes combo at home too. The price at Amy's is $7 and some change for the burger and fries. That's a lot of money, in my opinion. The price of a one frozen veggie burger with a bun and your own potatoes (one serving) is probably 3-ish dollars. Obviously, there is a luxury usually in going out and not having to prepare it yourself, but still, I’m cheap. I've also tried the veggie chili. They put broccoli in it--I find that odd. Again, it is just okay. I would eat it, as I have before, but it's nothing to rave about. I don't even know how to describe it, frankly, because it's just regular, old chili (with broccoli in it). Other than

those items and hummus and pita (and some salads), nothing else is really vegan. 414 West Gilman St. • Madison, Wisconsin 53703 • 608-255-8172--> Peter H Try the all-new Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use" – The Wall Street Journal If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, â€œViews Differ on Shape of the

EarthPeter H

Try the all-new Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use" – The Wall Street Journal

July 20, 2006

got me...

i jsut haven't seen one that the person said anything good about yet

my..aren't we in a Jam mood!

peter VV Jul 20, 2006 1:00 PM Re: The Vegan Variant: Amy's Cafe

What? is it my fault?

Just thought that someone on here might find it interesting? perhaps they are are all crap? do you think that they are unfair?

The Valley Vegan...............

Law and order take a turn for the worst,In the shape of a size 10 boot.Rape and murder throughout the land,and they tell you that you're still a free man.If this is freedom I don't understand'cause it seems like madness to me.fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: