The Owners of a Vegan Restaurant Chain Are Being Attacked for Eating Meat

In a meat-obsessed America, where burgers are basically pornographic and wrapping things in bacon has become ubiquitous, finding a good vegetarian or vegan restaurant can be a challenge. So when those who embrace a meatless lifestyle find a good spot catering exclusively to their dietary needs, it's understandable that there would be a sense of loyalty and even comradery there. For many California vegans, those restaurants are Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican spot with locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Café Gratitude, a vegan eatery that opened in 2004 and now has five locations throughout the state.

More than a year ago, the owners of both chains, husband and wife team Matthew and Terces Engelhart, crossed over to the dark, omnivorous side and started raising their own animals for consumption, addressing the decision in a blog post that apparently no one read. But someone dug the post up recently, and now a small group of former regulars are calling for a boycott of their former favorite restaurants for feeling betrayed.

The Engelharts had followed a vegetarian diet for 40 years and a vegan diet since 2003, according to LAist. In the Engelharts' blog post, Matthew Engelhart says he switched back to eating meat after he and his wife started managing their own organic sustainable farm called Be Love Farm. The family says that they learned that we need animals for their manure and to properly manage soil, and Matthew points to the grasslands around the world that require herd animals to thrive—without them, he says, you get desertification. According to the Associated Press, they started out eating eggs from their chickens and cheese from their cows, but when one old cow died, they decided to add meat to their diet, something a good sustainable farmer would do.

"If I knew of a better or even another solution, I would choose it. We need cows to keep the earth alive, cows make an extreme sacrifice for humanity but that is their position in God's plan as food for the predators," he wrote.

The post was accompanied by a photo of Matthew Engelhart eating his first real (non-black bean) burger in 40 years.

A small group of customers at the Engelharts' restaurants were outraged when they saw the post.

"My hope would be that vegan patrons become aware that the profits from these two restaurants support animal slaughter on Be Love Farm," a representative of Boycott Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre told MUNCHIES. "That is the most important objective in boycotting, to bring awareness so that vegans can make an informed decision whether or not to patronize these two establishments."

Some protesters are now trying to lower their restaurants' Yelp rating. Yelp currently has both restaurants under watch and is removing negative or positive ratings related to the current uproar, but earlier on Yelp and Facebook, customers were threatening never to return, as well as calling the Engelharts "flesh-eaters" and hypocrites. Some people even sent the Engelharts death threats. Still, the vast majority of reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

"People have taken up the mob mentality," Matthew told The Hollywood Reporter. "It saddens me that the choices we made in the privacy of our home would lead people to feel so betrayed that it's elevated to threats on our lives. I'm very discouraged."

It's some unexpected rage for vegans whose favorite restaurant doubles down on positive vibes. Café Gratitude's menu includes items like "I Am Extraordinary," "I Am Awesome," "I Am Magical," "I Am Glorious," and, confusingly, "I Am Humble." The "I Am Glorious"— to give you a feel for the menu—is a Caesar salad wrap featuring blackened jerk tempeh, coconut bacon, cashew Caesar dressing, and Brazil nut Parmesan.

"The vast majority of Cafe Gratitude/Gracias Madre guests are unconcerned with the dietary choices of the original founders of the restaurants who live on their private farm and residence, which, incidentally is a completely separate entity from the restaurants," a publicist for Café Gratitude told MUNCHIES. "It's also worth noting that the reason they have animals on their farm is because they are an essential part to operating a sustainable farm according to regenerative agricultural practices. It was after moving to the farm and discovering this firsthand that they began to transition away from a strictly vegan diet. It was not something they anticipated, but it was something that they were fully transparent about during that transition."

The Engelharts' son, Cary Mosier, had a sober view of the situation. "I personally feel it's a little illogical to require my parents to remain vegan for the rest of their lives just because they created a vegan restaurant at a point in time that they were vegan," Mosier told the Associated Press, adding that his parents have two cows and that his mom constantly pampers them and gives them coconut oil massages. "And if you're a vegan, why would you want to close and boycott, frankly, the largest vegan restaurant group in California?"

Fair point, Mosier. Maybe the protesters should be careful what they wish for. There's always a burger-slinging fast-food chain out there that would love a new San Francisco or Los Angeles location.