They have a huge uphill battle against going national sticking with a vegetarian menu. If their target is McDonald's something huge would have to change to make that possible in the US. Chipotle was able to grow because they have meat. Vegetarianism just isn't common enough here right now.
I went to Eatsa a few weeks ago (after finding it listed on HappyCow, a vegetarian restaurant directory). I noticed at the time that Eatsa itself never used the word "vegetarian" in its marketing materials, and indeed, it doesn't seem to appear on their site (e.g. in https://www.eatsa.com/ or https://www.eatsa.com/story).
Elsewhere in the vegetarian world I've seen people refer to "plant-based food" as an alternative to calling things vegetarian, presumably to avoid potential negative reactions from some audiences.
Perhaps many non-vegetarian customers won't notice the absence of meat options in context when ordering from the Eatsa interactive menu, because they're being invited to choose from a set of presented options. (I know that situation has been studied quite a bit in psychology, but I forget the relevant key words.)
> Perhaps many non-vegetarian customers won't notice the absence of meat options
In some areas that might be possible, but not where I live in the midwest. The first question most people will have about each offering is "What kind of meat is in it?"
Right or wrong that's america today, and for that to change something major has to shift.
If Eatsa wants to be the driver of that change their meal offerings have to be delicious and significantly cheaper than fast food that has meat in it (which should be possible right since meat is so wasteful?)
> ...their meal offerings have to be delicious and significantly cheaper than fast food that has meat in it (which should be possible right since meat is so wasteful?)
This would be the case if externalities were priced into meat production. But meat producers don't pay for draining the water table, creating antibiotic-resistant strains or the massive waste problems that usually accompany large-scale meat production. I'm not among the militantly-anti-meat and even consume some on occasion, so I'm not going to tell people how to live their lives or what to eat, but we shouldn't be under the delusion that meat isn't more expensive just because most of the costs will be paid by future generations. If meat producers had to run sustainably, the cost of meat would be too high for most people to afford on a regular basis.
I'm not a vegetarian but eating meat at every meal shouldn't be normal. That people identify with eating meat to the point vegetarianism offends them speaks how well marketing works. Everything in moderation. I treat meat as a luxury, eaten on occasion.
As a lacto-vegetarian I'm always confused by how personally offended some people can become when I simply pass over the meat at the dinner table. Even today I heard the "boy, where do you get your protein you're going to starve to death" schtick while my styrofoam plate was cracking under the weight of vegan baked beans, steamed broccoli, and mashed potatoes with way more butter than necessary.
