It may not be a dog eat dog world anymore now that Heather Buckley opened a vegetarian restaurant in East Lansing.
Green Cuisine, 1135 E. Grand River Ave., opened its doors Friday for vegetarians looking to dine out.
“I am a vegan, that is a vegetarian, but I don’t eat any dairy, and there really isn’t anything around here,” she said.
Offering tofu spinach lasagna and black bean salad, vegetarians have a place to eat their favorite dishes.
The tofu spinach lasagna is her biggest seller, Buckley said.
“People have been really supportive, I haven’t done any advertising, and yet lots of people have been coming,” she said.
Buckley said one customer told her she had been coming back since the day the restaurant opened for lunch.
And if customers still want to eat a burger, Buckley also offers several sandwiches that have meat substitute.
She said she makes her steak sandwich from seitan, a wheat product.
“You make like a dough and rinse it under water,” she said. “Then I boil it and add spices and then grill it.”
Buckley said she has been a vegan for a year.
“I had been a vegetarian for four years, and I thought it was hypocritical when the same treatment is applied to the dairy industry,” she said.
Buckley said she decided to become a vegetarian in the eighth grade because people can still eat healthy without killing an animal.
But the restaurant may not have happened if not for Habib Jarwan, owner of Bell’s Greek Pizza, 1135 E. Grand River Ave., had not offered her the space.
Her restaurant is part of the same building as Jarwan’s restaurant.
Jarwan said the restaurant is one of the few all-vegetarian places in East Lansing.
“She is a good cook and it’s in a college town, so there is a lot of people so it should do well,” he said.
Bob Robinson and his wife, Marilyn, ‘65 MSU graduate, said they are vegetarians at home.
The Ann Arbor residents were visiting the capital for a campaign finance reform rally. “When we go out, it’s hard to find a good vegetarian restaurant,” Bob Robinson said.
Marilyn Robinson said she thought the inside of the restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere.
“Being a vegetarian is really better for you,” she said.
Ypsilanti residents Scott Street and Arthur Wheeler were also at the rally.
The two were not vegetarians, but said the restaurant was definitely needed.
“People should be able to eat what they want,” Wheeler said. “If restaurants want to attract people, then they should have something vegetarian on their menu.”
Street said for now he thinks he’ll stay a meat eater.
“I like vegetarian food, but I haven’t been able to dedicate myself 100 percent,” he said.
