Eats

Vegan restaurant to start serving meat in bid for ‘survival’

'We have to try whatever we can'

Daisy Jackson - 30th January 2024

A restaurant that has always served a completely vegan menu has taken the decision to add meat to its offering in a bid to stay afloat.

Nomas Gastrobar has said that it will be adding a ‘thoughtfully curated selection of high-quality, responsibly sourced meat and dairy options’ as a matter of survival.

The Macclesfield restaurant said that it has been a ‘difficult yet necessary decision’ in an open letter to its customers.

The family-run business stressed the financial challenges it’s been facing, stating that the limitations of a plant-based menu have shrunk its customer base.

Nomas even wrote an account of customers walking out of the restaurant after seeing that everything on the menu is vegan.

They pointed out that vegan businesses across the country are closing at an alarming rate as appetites change – in Manchester over the last couple of years we’ve seen trend-setting V Rev shut down, we’ve lost Zad’s takeaway, and seen Frosts Burgers close after just months.

The move to start serving meat has sparked a fierce debate online, with some accepting that they need to make the move to stay operating, and others blasting them for ‘selling death and cruelty’.

The restaurant said it’s been ‘really upsetting’ to see so much ‘nastiness’ in the comment section of their controversial post.

Food at vegan restaurant Nomas in Macclesfield, which has decided to add meat to its menu. Credit: Instagram

Nomas promised that their commitment to the vegan community ‘remains unwavering’, through a wide range of nourishing vegan dishes remaining on the menu.

In a follow-up letter, they wrote: “We understand that our decision to start serving meat on our menu may come as quite a shock to people, it certainly did to us.

“However, daily, we witness people walking into Nomas Gastrobar seeing the vegan menu/offering and then walking out. Or even saying ‘Is it all vegan’ and then leaving.”

Nomas continued: “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.”

Nomas was opened by Adonis Norouznia and his wife Fey after they moved from Greece in 2018.

Its current vegan menu features everything from Greek gyros to pizzas to burgers.