Price Center eatery Panda Express has promised to make its vegetable dishes suitable for vegetarians by replacing its current chicken-based sauce with a vegetable-based one, according to University Centers Director Gary Ratcliffe.
Guardian File
The change has come in response to a letter sent by the University Centers Advisory Board to Panda Express officials last week, expressing frustration over the restaurant’s lack of vegetarian dishes and failure to clearly indicate that the eatery’s vegetable dishes are unsuitable for those following a vegetarian diet.
The Chinese food establishment, which is ranked second among all restaurants in Price Center for sales, offers “mixed vegetables” and “eggplant with tofu,” both of which contain no pieces of meat, but are cooked in a chicken-base. No sign advises customers of this.
Ratcliffe said he had received assurances that the vegetable sauce would be changed, but he did not know whether or not the sauce for “eggplant with tofu” would be as well.
“I want to get all the specifics,” Ratcliffe said. “I want to know everything that is going to be cooked with that vegetable stock.”
UCAB had been working with Ratcliffe in an effort to get Panda Express to offer a real vegetarian dish or to put up signs advising customers of the food preparation methods.
The UCAB letter to Panda Express’ national leadership stated that “a large percentage of vegetarian patrons on our campus unknowingly eat food that is not prepared as vegetarian,” asking for “more flexibility” from the restaurant in the form of “at least two entrees that are not cooked in a meat-based stock provided at the branch in Price Center.”
Jay Campbell, a university employee and a vegan who said he eats at Panda Express when other choices are unavailable, said he had not been previously aware that the dishes served by the eatery were not vegetarian.
“I never knew at all. … I think it’s pretty gross,” he said.
Jiu Liang, manager of the Price Center Panda Express, said she has told people “right away” that the company’s dishes were not vegetarian, if they asked.
However, UCAB student chair Jessica Kort said that she had heard of at least one case in which a Panda Express employee had incorrectly told a customer that the vegetable dishes were vegetarian.
Ratcliffe said he and UCAB were aware that the restaurant’s current vegetable dish selections were not vegetarian when the restaurant’s lease terms were agreed upon in 2002, but said that at the time, offering vegetarian dishes was not a requirement for all campus restaurants, as it is now. He said he thought the restaurant would expand their offerings.
“Panda had indicated to us that they have a reputation for customizing their menus for different campuses,” Ratcliffe said.
Carrie Du, Revelle College junior and representative to UCAB, said the board first began discussing the issue with Panda Express management more than a year ago.
“We went to talk to the district manager and their general manager,” she said. “They seemed to really understand our concerns, and they looked like they wanted to address them.”
Readers can contact Ian S. Port at hiatus@ucsdguardianorg.
