Cosi

When I lived in Columbus, Cosi was one of my favorite spots for lunch.  They have an amazing Signature Salad (shown below) with pears, grapes, dried cranberries, pistachios and sherry shallot vinaigrette.  It also has blue cheese, which I obviously omit.  They also have several vegetarian sandwiches including Hummus and Veggies on their incredibly flavorful flatbread.  

So on a recent visit to Ohio, I stopped in and happened to ask what they had that was vegan (last time I was there I wasn't vegan).  The girl behind the counter replied, 'not much'.  I was surprised...so I mentioned the hummus, the salads, the bread.  She got out their Nutrition booklet and told me that the bread contains evaporated milk, the hummus was to be avoided for people with a milk allergy, along with all of their dressings and spreads except for the sherry shallot and balsamic vinaigrettes.  That left me with only one option, a salad with no bread.  I used to think I had lots of great options at Cosi.

I was so sad.  How could there be dairy in hummus?  The ingredients weren't listed, so it could have just been that it's processed in a factory that also processes dairy.  I've emailed Cosi to confirm, but have not received a response yet.  Unfortunately, the bread is completely off limits.  I have always really enjoyed Cosi and I'm so hoping that they'll add more vegan options to their menu.  Or at the very least, clarify which items actually contain animal products.  

If you'd like to contact Cosi and let them know your thoughts, you can do so here.  Click on Talk To Us/FAQ.  Maybe if they get enough friendly requests (meanness doesn't get you anywhere), they'll make a change.