It is progress if you mean Subway making progress into another market.

Because that is all it is.

NOTE: Malibu Greek 12" footlong Will be reduced to 8" after this Sunday and at twice the price.

Vegans have been eating at Subway forever. It's just not an actual meal—and without meat/dairy subsidies, not particularly cheap, pound for pound. My kid's usual is mustard, a ton of black olives, iceberg lettuce, oil and vinegar. A condiment sandwich. He's crazy about it.
We'll sample the new options but most US corporate attempts at vegan are SAD (Standard American Diet) redux, and ... well, sad. Inviting and deserving mockery.
They're no threat to home cooking. But sure, Subway, why not. Everybody loves crap.

@4: I thought vegans could not eat bread, because it is made with active yeast cultures.

Little living creatures, those.

I figure I'll eventually see if Subway has a Reuben sandwich if that I Heart NY Deli (or viable alternative) doesn't come back.

Are they saying that their veggie patty (which I find delicious, and I'm not vegetarian) is not a vegan option?

Subway tastes like rancid shoe leather. (Sorry for the insult, rancid shoe leather.)

Sure, this is progress in the sense that it indicates that there is a growing demand for vegan food in the US. Clearly a major fast-food brand like Subway has done tremendous market research and has determined that vegan options will be profitable.

It is very heartening to see that people are increasingly recognizing the benefits and pleasures of adopting a vegan lifestyle.

Though it is a pity that for some people their first taste of vegan food will come in the form of a barely edible, preservative laden Subway "product". But fake-meats may be helpful in making the transition to a vegan diet. In a desperate pinch, I used to get an all-veggie Subway sandwich and throw on some Tofurkey slices.

Now, if you're looking for a quality vegan sandwich in this town, you're in luck:

I highly recommend Sage Cafe and Hillside Quickie. All their sandwiches and burgers are mind-blowingly delicious! Just don't expect a light meal here, as these sandwiches are very rich and full-flavored.

Chaco Canyon's sandwiches are equally delicious, and a little lighter on the oil. I love the lentil burger and the THC (smokey tempeh, humus, and cucumber) with extra tempeh.

You can also swing by PCC and grab a tandoori tofu sandwich, Vietnamese tofu sandwich, hazelnut Field Roast burger, or (my favorite) the blackened tempeh sandwich.

Bon appétit!

Curse you, Bethany! I love Other Coast's turkey and swiss -- something about their bread...

I'm eating a lame PBJ from home.

Some of Seattle's amazing vegan diners:

Chaco Canyon
U District

Sage Cafe
Capitol Hill

Hillside Quickie
U District

Flying Apron (vegan & gluten free)
Fremont

Sunlight Cafe (vegan/vegetarian)
Roosevelt

Pizza Pi
U District

To add to @11's recommendations: ChuMinh Tofu & Veggie Deli at 12th and Jackson is a rad all-vegan Vietnamese deli that, in addition to a vegetable-heavy hot entree selection and fresh soymilk & tofu, has some delicious chili lemongrass tofu banh mi. A sweet li'l hole in-the-wall place with good food.

And more Seattle vegan options:

http://www.thestranger.com/gyrobase/Loca…

@14: Neat! We will add to our listings, thanks.

Thank you, Ipso Facto and Anne X, for going to the trouble to make all the recommendations that should have been included in the original post.

Guess what, you always could eat vegan there. it's called the veggie, hold the cheese. I like mine with vinegar, oil and lots of oregano and pepper.

Is it really possible to be truly vegan? Aren't there traces of bug in everything we consume? Is the occasional swallowed bug allowed in veganism?

@20:

It is possible to be someone who makes deliberate choices to not participate in the exploitation and killing of sentient beings. This is what a vegan is.

It may be that we can never ensure that no animal is ever inadvertently harmed by human activity.

But what conclusion are you attempting to draw from this?

Is it your supposition that if we can't avoid killing an insect now and again, then it is ethically permissible to continue exploiting and slaughtering cows, pigs, goats, lamb, chickens and so on?

Does that really make any sense to you?

@21 - Are all vegans this preachy?

@ 11, when I lived in Seattle, I always wanted to go to Chaco Canyon Cafe and ask if they had any Man Corn on the menu.

And so the Stranger's coffee-house frequenting, limousine-liberal image is solidified another ten fold.

Heaven forbid one should be poor and busy enough not to eat exceptional food all the time and every day.

Maybe some people can't afford a ten dollar sandwich. Maybe some people, between 3 part-time jobs which offer neither benefits or a future and two needy children can't afford to spend the time to always make home-prepared meals.

Maybe you guys can eat a dick?

Hey, 21. In my experience, meat eaters can be just as obnoxious. Simply mention the words vegan or vegetarian and some douch will feel the need to go on and on about how delicious a rare steak is and how could anyone live without hamburgers and mmmmbacon ! blah blah blah . Most vegans I know are pretty quiet about it just so they don't have to listen to these kind of rants

Hey, 21. In my experience, meat eaters can be just as obnoxious. Simply mention the words vegan or vegetarian and some douche will feel the need to go on and on about how delicious a rare steak is and, How could anyone live without hamburgers ? And mmmmbacon ! blah blah blah . Most vegans I know are pretty quiet about it just so they don't have to listen to these kinds of rants.

I’m sure no one’s checking in here now, but to elaborate, @21:

If every organism is sacred (except edible vegetable matter), where does a vegan draw the line? I’m sure everyone’s got their personal line, humans are astoundingly similar in their differences and all that.

But shouldn’t vegans eat organic since pesticides are terrible for the insects (and humans, for that matter)? If all non-edible-vegetable-matter-life is important (hence avoiding strawberry drinks at starbucks) then is eating at subway (non-organic) a bad thing anyway? (And back to starbucks: I don’t get that – isn’t it better for our world, our bodies, our environment for us to color our “food” with insects than with chemicals? Wouldn’t fewer bugs be killed if we didn’t have the by-products of chemical manufacturing?)

I know I’m lumping two separate news stories together, but they are related. I’m not being facetious, and not saying that because we inadvertently eat bugs it’s okay to house other animals in tiny cages and treat them cruelly; I’m truly interested in how this is rationalized and worked out in real life.

(and again back to starbucks - isn't there milk in that drink? If veganism was truly about treating creatures well, a vegan wouldn't be drinking that strawberry drink, not because of the insects used in coloring, but for the cows forced to keep producing milk long after they should.)

@Allyn vegans go for soya milk or other milk substitutes when going to these places like Starbucks.

What is it you want to rationalise?

That some people choose to live their lives causing as little harm as possible to our fellow earth dwellers?

There is no line in the sand to draw here. Each person had their own standards but the main tenet is the same.

How do you rationalise the exploitation and murder if animals so people can eat meat?

I think that's a more pertinent question.

@Allyn vegans go for soya milk or other milk substitutes when going to these places like Starbucks.

What is it you want to rationalise?

That some people choose to live their lives causing as little harm as possible to our fellow earth dwellers?

There is no line in the sand to draw here. Each person had their own standards but the main tenet is the same.

How do you rationalise the exploitation and murder if animals so people can eat meat?

I think that's a more pertinent question.