Disclaimer: I was a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) from 1991 to 2000, when it was far from common where I lived. I’ve been dealing with the issue of vegetarian/vegan diet choices and the response from others for many years.
I think @janbb‘s “I don’t know because I’m vegan” is most likely. And in that case, it’s very reasonable.
@KNOWITALL: “It was more like your first situation, but with a bit of disapproval in her tone.”
I’m not saying that I don’t believe your table might have believed that there was a “bit of disapproval in her tone”. But I have heard this so much over the years, and more often than not, that “disapproval” says more about the listener than the speaker. It’s possible she said, “Well I can’t speak on how good this meat dish is because I’m a vegan and choose not to eat the flesh of dead animals, like you people”, and then gave the table the finger. But I suspect this didn’t happen.
Rather, back in the day, I would experience the following: The existence of vegetarians/vegans caused some real defensiveness in omnivores. I’ll repeat – just knowing that there are people who choose not to eat meat can cause some people to feel as though they are being judged.
So, “should” wait staff tell customers they are vegan? Why not? When I ask wait staff if they can recommend an IPA, and they tell me that they can’t because they don’t drink beer (or don’t drink), I know that they really don’t have a basis for providing me with any info on pros/cons of a particular brew. I’m not going to feel offended or feel that my alcohol consumption is in question.