Redditor Berated By Vegan Friend For Going Out For Pizza After Having 'Vegan Lasagna' Dinner At Her House

It can be a mixed blessing and a curse when a friend invites you over for dinner.

It's always nice to spend time and share a meal with close friends.

On the other hand, there is no guarantee that you'll like what your friend is serving.

Leaving every possibility that you'll leave the party hungrier than you arrived.

Redditor Suspicious-Taste1572 was recently invited to dinner by a close friend, who promised a tantalizing main course.

Unfortunately, the promised food wasn't exactly what the original poster (OP) or any of the other guests expected.

Leading them all to go and get alternative food.

After learning how offended their host was by their actions, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I the A**hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:

"AITA for leaving a dinner party early because of 'vegan lasagna'?"

The OP explained why they found themself looking for sustenance following a dinner party:

"I was invited to a friend’s dinner party. Beforehand, she told everyone she was making vegan lasagna."

"I’m not vegan, but I like plenty of vegetarian and vegan foods, so I figured I’d give it a try."

"When dinner was served, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t really lasagna at all."

"There were no noodles, no cheese, and no sauce."

"It was basically layers of vegetables stacked together."

"The 'pasta' layers were lettuce leaves with slices of tomato and other raw vegetables in between."

"I ate my serving of 'lasagna' but was still hungry afterward."

"I didn’t complain about the food or say anything negative about it to her as she is just getting into the vegan lifestyle and trying new foods."

"After dinner, I decided to leave early."

"A few of the other guests ended up leaving around the same time, and we went to a local pizzeria and got dinner together."

"None of us made a social media post about it or anything, but somehow she found out."

"She later called me and said it was rude and insulting that we went for food after she spent time preparing dinner for everyone."

"I told her I appreciated the effort she put in, but I was very hungry and didn’t want to ask for something else to eat in front of other guests."

"She says the fact that multiple people left and went out to eat made her feel humiliated and like everyone was making fun of her cooking."

"Some friends think I should have stayed longer and sucked it up."

"Others think if you invite people over for dinner and tell them you’re serving lasagna, it’s reasonable for them to expect something more substantial than layered lettuce and tomatoes."

"AITA?"

Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:

• NTA - Not The A**hole
• YTA - You're The A**hole
• NAH - No A**holes Here
• ESH - Everyone Sucks Here

The Reddit community unanimously agreed that the OP was not the a**Hole for getting pizza after his friend's "vegan lasagna".

Everyonee agreed that the OP was in no way insulting their host, but rather managing their hunger, with everyone agreeing it was a stretch for the OP's friend to call what she served "lasagna":

"NTA."

"I’m vegan and you can still make a banging lasagne with you know, actual pasta."

"She just served you a nice layered salad lol."- Sad-Factor-4031

"NTA, she gave you a salad."- LimeGreenTangerine97

"NTA, she made a fancy salad not vegan lasagne. You are not responsible for her feelings, especially based on how neutral and polite you were as a guest."- hyundai-gt

"NTA."

"How embarrassing for her."

"One person leaves your dinner party for pizza, yeah, maybe they're an a**."

"Multiple people do?"

"You didn't feed your guests enough."- ExeUSA

"NTA."

"That wasn’t vegan lasagna."

"That was a stacked salad."

"You didn’t make any rude comments or insult the host."

"You were just hungry and needed more food than what was provided."- TheBaldNerd

"NTA."

"You didn't insult her and you ate the food."

"There's plenty of good vegan dishes out there."

"If she made a 'meal' that was so insubstantial that EVERY guest left hungry, that's on her."

"She should do more self-reflection and less blame."- Technical_Eye_4343

"I’m a long time vegan (decades)."

"I’ve had vegan lasagna in many restaurants and many people’s home."

"What she served was not lasagna."

"She should have been humiliated for offering lasagna but serving layers of raw vegetables."

"You were all polite about it and went to eat a real dinner afterwards."

"NTA."- Primary_Iron3429

"I hope you weren’t the only one to get this phone call."

"You were very polite and ate her cooking and was respectful to them."

"My family did the same thing when an aunt made 'tofurkey” for thanksgiving dinner."

"We ate it, had seconds, and still had McDonald’s on way home lol but the most important part is we stayed, we ate, we respected their diet."

"No one has control of what we do AFTER the dinner."

"You, my friend, are NTA."- Tiggerriffic0710

"NTA she served a salad for dinner instead of the vegan lasagna."

"You ate it without complaining."

"She is embarrassed because she was a bad dinner host."- Temporary-Win4307

"I was vegan for 2 years and it sounds like she served you a small salad with no protein, so I absolutely don't blame anyone for still being hungry and needing to go elsewhere for more food."

"Hopefully she expands her culinary skills a bit because there's a ton of good, filling dishes she could make!"

"NTA."- Mrs_perd_hapley_

"NTA."

"That's not lasagna that's a stacked salad."- CerealSemantics

"NTA."

"It has nothing to do with being vegan, she just didn’t serve a substantial meal."

"Lasagna (even veggie lasagna) is typically filling, lettuce and tomatoes are not."

"She made a hosting mistake."

"You didn’t complain about it or call her out."

"She’s embarrassed and it’s coming out as anger."- Glittering-Sorbet574

"It critically depends on the manner of your leaving."

"I can remember (decades ago) serving an inadequate meal to a group, and everyone was perfectly polite and appreciative of what I did serve -- though in retrospect I imagine they went for pizza or something afterwards.

"Taking your description of your departure at face value, NTA."- SundaeDouble7481

"NTA."

"Inviting someone to dinner does not give them a license to control your food choices forever."- Powerful-Knee3150

"NTA."

"I'm a vegetarian who has been lactose intolerant in the past, that was not a f*cking vegan lasagne it was an abomination."

"Vegan lasagne just needs bechamel made with dairy substitutes and pasta without eggs in it, then veg or faux meat in tomato sauce."

"It's not that hard."

"Although, my sweet precious dad did once when I was lactose intolerant go out of his way to make me a dairy free vegetarian lasagne when he was making a big meat and dairy one for the rest of the family, but he didn't realise that my soy milk contained both sugar and a hint of vanilla it was awful!"

"Hahaha!"

"I ate one portion because he'd gone to so much effort, but it was rough."

" And yet! Still a better lasagne than whatever the f*ck salad your friend fed you!"- Anxious_Reporter_601

"NTA."

"So, she slaved away making a layered salad, and expected what from folks."

"Ya'll were nice enough to not laugh in shock as she presented that."

"Listen, I love a good salad for dinner, but I usually have it with potatoes, a hearty soup, or a thick bread with spiced olive oil."

"I also wouldn't be so bold to call it a lasagna!"- porkUpine51

"NTA."

"That's a cold salad with no dressing!"

"Marinara sauce and heat are vegan lol that sounds ghastly."- No_Aerie4466

"NTA."

"I see why her feelings may have been hurt but her reasoning for being hurt is in her own head."

"y'all DIDN'T go gossip about her layered salad, you just got something more to eat."

"She's making up a scenario that didn't happen and it's not on you to soothe her."

"All you can do is apologize for her feelings being hurt and move on."

"Desperately hoping that someday her brain will develop and she'll realize a raw, lettuce-based pile of ingredients is not remotely a lasagna."- lagelthrow

There were some, however, who did sympathize with the OP's friend, feeling even if her efforts were in vain, she still nonetheless went to some effort, even if they still agreed that the OP did nothing wrong by getting pizza afterwards:

"NAH."

"I understand her feeling humiliated but I see your side of it too, and as a vegan she should damn well know that a salad consisting of only raw veggies is not an adequate meal."

"Most pasta IS vegan so it's also weird that she'd call a pasta-free dish a lasagna."

"Nevertheless you ate it without complaining, so I don't see how you did anything wrong."

"What you did once you left is really non of her business, anyway."- Fearless-Name-754

Some people have larger appetites than others, and as such might crave a little pizza even after eating a traditional lasagna.

Based on everything the OP said, they were more or less served an appetizer, so having pizza afterwards was almost logical.

Perhaps after what transpired following this dinner party, the OP's friend might do a bit more research on vegan cooking.