This vegetarian approves of Panda Express

As a vegetarian living in a flesh-consuming society, I have to get accustomed to minor consumer injustices. I pay the same for my Veggie Delite footlong Subway sandwich as meat-eaters pay for a sandwich loaded up with meat and whatever vegetables they want (I don't even put cheese on my sandwich, though I now get the cheese on the side for my toddler). This is particularly galling as Subway actually raised the price of the Veggie Delite sub to $5 for the same promotion in which it lowered the price of meat subs to $5. So it goes--one gets used to it (I could just stop going to Subway, but living mostly vegan, Subway offers a good, healthy meal). Most restaurant menu salads include meat; ordering such a salad without meat sometimes lowers the cost, but often doesn't. Sometimes I just have to be happy if there is a vegetarian entree available (at a recent trip to Champps, basically the appetizer menu was all that was available to me. Of course, eventually I just don't go to restaurants that don't offer good vegetarian options, and frequent those that do...or eat at home, of course. If you mostly eat fruit and vegetables, there's no need to frequently get it served to you).

But I was surprised and pleased recently at Panda Express. At Panda Express, the entrees are primarily flesh-based, and the sides are vegetarian. To get food there, I fully expected to need to turn the sides into entrees. But after ordering the fried rice, lo mein, and mixed veggies, the cashier rang it up as three sides--which made the meal about $3 cheaper than if the sides were turned into entrees. I even said "Really?" and the cashier confirmed that yes, it's just three sides, so it's cheaper. It turns out to be a cheap, filling vegetarian meal.

Yay, Panda Express. At a different blog, "Yay, Panda Express" might follow with an exclamation point. But this is a blog of restrained feelings (look at the title). At this blog, you reallllly have to earn your exclamation points (though apparently you don't really have to earn extra consonants). I've also got a problem with parentheses.