From New York to Los Angeles and Cape Town to Tel Aviv, restaurants have been joining the Meatless Monday movement in encouraging numbers -- Meatless Monday being a modest proposition for carnivores to forgo their carnivorous habits for that one day, and for restaurants to help by serving only meatless meals. Think of it as a weekly 24-hour reprieve for your health -- and for the lives of animals.
This past week, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill joined the movement. Lime is a South Beach original that has grown into an eight-branch business (with a ninth under construction and many more planned up the east coast). According to CEO/Founder John Kunkel, Meatless Monday is a comfortable progression for the company.
"We've always been pretty health conscious about what we do. We started Lime as a healthy version of Mexican food. All the meats we bring in have been humanely raised -- we're the only chain in the United States to have all-certified humane meats. Our Chief Operating Officer John Tims is a lifelong vegetarian, so from the first menu we rolled out six or seven years ago we've had several varieties of vegetarian items. And customers also have the ability to turn any of our items to vegetarian items -- easy to do because we don't cook with lard. So the Meatless Monday movement was such a natural fit for us."
It's also been a big success. "It's probably the best received promotion we've done," says Kunkel. "Not even our certified humane movement gained as much steam as this Meatless Monday."
Moral of the story? Sometimes doing the right thing pays off.
Follow Short Order on Facebook and Twitter @Short_Order.
