Vegan restaurant starts serving meat in order to stay open

A vegan restaurant has come to the decision to start serving meat dishes on its menu in order to survive.

Nomas Gastro Bar in Macclesfield made the announcement on Tuesday (January 23rd) that it had come to the ‘difficult yet necessary decision’ to add meat options to its menu in order for the business to survive.

Owner Adonis Norouznia said the challenges the restaurant has ‘faced in recent times have been heartfelt and profound’ and that it will serve ‘a thoughtfully curated selection of high-quality, responsibly sourced meat and dairy’.

Nomas opened its doors as the local vegan spot back in April 2020, but since then it says because of its vegan-only menu it has only had ‘a small number of customers’ which has made it ‘increasingly difficult’ for the business to thrive financially.

Since Mr Norouzina made the announcement on the restaurant’s social media page earlier this week, a number of users jumped to the comment section to express their thoughts and opinions.

The restaurant has faced a backlash of negative comments – including from people who had never visited it and who didn’t even live anywhere near Macclesfield. This included comments like ‘Enjoy moral bankruptcy’ and ‘How many animals do you think deserve to die so your business can succeed?’.

Other customers who were not in support of the decision expressed their disappointment saying: “I can’t help but feel that you’d be best served by sticking to your morals and instead diversify in other ways beyond food / drink.” 

As well as ‘You should work on advertising your vegan options to non-vegans to open up your market as opposed to selling death and cruelty’ and ‘Responsibly-sourced, ethical meat and dairy is an oxymoron, I’m afraid.”

In the face of negativity Mr Norouzina decided to explain further to his customers why he had come to the difficult decision, as he wrote in a post how on a daily basis, the restaurant witnesses ‘people walking into Nomas Gastrobar seeing the vegan menu/offering and then walking out. Or even saying ‘Is it all vegan’ and then leaving’.

He continued: “We are on every delivery platform, we offer private catering and an event space.

“Our drinks menu prices have stayed the same since 2021. Our suppliers have increased their prices, as have our competitors yet we wanted our drinks to be accessible and to keep people coming back.

“We currently have several deals running to try and encourage more people to visit, yet we haven’t seen a change. We have introduced new products like our pinsa’s after receiving feedback from customers and still not seen a change.”

In response to some followers who wanted to know if there was another option for his business, he added: “In answer to comments like ‘Is there no other way’, we promise, we have explored so many avenues.

“When the new menu does happen, the majority of it will still be vegan. There will be a few meat alternatives for those who would prefer them.

“We’ve seen a few comments like ‘I was planning to visit but now I won’t’. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a lot. Right now we are not taking enough money to pay our wonderful team’s wages or rent to our landlord, people’s thoughts on visiting don’t help us pay these bills.

“We’ve found it pretty astonishing some of the nastiness in the comments. We have made this choice out of a place of survival for our family-run business and seeing people who are meant to ‘love all beings’ being awful to each other has really been upsetting.

“We’re living in a climate where well-established plant-based businesses are closing. We moved to this county 6 years ago and this business is our only source of income, we need to make it work and therefore have to try whatever we can.”

Meanwhile, many customers who are regulars at the eatery or live close by in the Macclesfield area showed Mr Norouznia their support and understanding, as one said: “Keep going. I came for the first time on Saturday.

“It was an added bonus that you had vegan options and I think as long as you keep this focus, alongside the other choices, then this is fine. Keep what you are known for but no issue to add to this.”

Another local and supportive commenter said: “I’m assuming the people making criticisms and nasty comments never eat anywhere but vegan restaurants then??? I doubt it.

“Nomas is stand alone amazing and I hope everyone continues to support this wonderful place.”

Mr Norouznia thank his loyal customers who had supported his business since it first opened almost four years ago, saying: “Thank you to every single person who visited this year, it was great seeing you and we’re really looking forward to seeing you again!” 

If you haven’t visited Nomas Gastro Bar yet and would like to support your local business, it offers a delightful variety of vegan mediterranean dishes and is located at 34 Chestergate, Macclesfield.

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