Try the...oh wait, you can't eat anything here.
Last night I accompanied a group of friends to Wednesday night trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings. We lost, but I did learn that the frog was the first land animal to develop vocal cords. And Rosanna Arquette is older than Paula Abdul.
But I digress…
THE BACK STORY
My first week as a born-again vegetarian had been going quite smoothly. At least until last night. In the spirit of full disclosure, I LOVE buffalo sauce. As far as I am concerned, it should be its own food group. The condiment to end all condiments. A state of perfection. And if you can’t stand the heat? Well…that’s how we weed out the weak from the strong.
In the past, BWW has posed a problem for me that had nothing to do with meat. It had to do with beer. BWW is an establishment that specializes in beer, beer and more beer. And when you’ve had your fill of beer – there are plenty of sports! (Something else I could care less about.) As a non-beer drinker, that is an issue. This is not to say there are not “non-beer” options at BWs. They have wine: two reds and two whites (all four truly terrible) as well as an array of “fun” drinks (margaritas, mojitos, electric lemonade) which I dare not touch as each has the potential to instantly transport me to back to a time in life (college) when my social circle happily drank from plastic party cups. I’m older, wiser and snobbier now, and that means I like my cocktails like I like my men – smooth and straight-up.
Adding vegetarianism to the mix added a whole new layer of complication. Naturally, I did not expect a restaurant that had soared to power on the backs (wings) of chickens to have a plethora of veg-friendly options. But I did expect at least a FEW things. Prior to heading out for the eve, a quick google search revealed this wasn’t going to be as easy as I had planned.
In one blog post, there was mention of “boca burger” (which I didn’t even see listed on our local menu) but as it turns out the veggie patty is fried in beef tallow oil. Apparently ESSENTIALLY NOTHING on the BWW menu is vegetarian. Darn near everything heated up at Bw3 is fried in beef tallow oil, thus not veggie-friendly. And according to a 2010 response from BWW corporate, it doesn’t appear they have plans to change that anytime soon…
We do have a few options that would fit a vegetarian life style. Boca Burger, Flat Breads minus the Chicken, Garden and Side salad. We do fry all our products in a beef tallow oil which we understand would not be an option.
A comment from a BWW employee on I Married an Omnivore claims “The fries, onion rings, tortilla chips – everything fried is fried in beef tallow. It is unfortunate because the only veg side option is a side salad.” I opted for the nachos sans-chili, assuming that was a safe bet. After reading that even the chips are fried in animal lard, I have earned my first badge as a FAILitarian. In retrospect, it would appear the only additional veggie-friendly options at our local BWW are the side salad, “veggie boat” (celery and carrot sticks with ranch dressing) – and possibly the spinach-artichoke dip with pita (assuming the pita isn’t also lard fried.)
Looks like it may be time to retire my bottle o’ buffalo. Le sigh.
VEGGIE FRIENDLINESS RATING: 1/5
