Notorious Auckland bar HeadQuarters' vile rant at vegan's food request

HeadQuarters Viaduct owner Leo Molloy [left], seen here with Hone Harawira. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

A successful yet controversial Auckland bar has unleashed a nasty attack on a customer who asked whether the bar had vegan options on its menu.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, messaged HeadQuarters Viaduct on Facebook, inquiring about the menu.

But instead of receiving a simple yes or no response, the bar instead mocked the customer and unleashed an attack on vegans.

In images obtained by the Herald, the bar said they offered up "cardboard" and a three-course meal of water and said they could serve up pet food to patrons.

"We do a very nice lime in water, a small glass as an entree, a jug for a main (frozen if you like solids) with a gorgeous H2O sauce," the HeadQuarters page wrote in response.

"Other than that we can offer the menu, it's cardboard, should taste like 97 per cent of vegan food, you could eat that maybe.

"We'll cut in three if you'd like three courses."

"Or we have two pet rabbits, pie and stew, you could have some of their nuts and lettuce. Let us know (BTW it's all carbon neutral food)."

"Can someone lock up the f**king chimpanzee, he's on Facebook again pretending he works here."

HeadQuarters' response to a customer who asked about vegan options on the menu. Photo / Supplied

The message was signed off in a rather controversial manner. Photo / Supplied

Despite the rant, HeadQuarters owner Leo Molloy told Newshub they're "not set up to cater to vegans" but would "cater to them" if one came into the restaurant.

He also claims it wasn't him who sent the message.

The customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Herald the response left her speechless.

"I was so shocked. I was pretty disgusted that someone would say that."

A number of Auckland vegans have taken to Facebook to hit out at the bar, with many saying they'll boycott the restaurant.

What a s**tty business. We definitely won't ever go here," one said.

Another wrote: "Stuff like this makes me so angry, and stops me from going places like that, so while they may think they are 'hilarious' they aren't just impacting vegans, they are also losing business from people who are not vegan as well."

It's not the first time HeadQuarters has been in the spotlight.

In May, high-profile owner Molloy caused a stir describing rival restaurants as hangouts for "old white people", "girls with flappy lips" and "young mums in active wear with screaming babies".

He also took to social media in June to bag a rival venue, attacking Sky City's Sugar Club calling it a "god awful restaurant" and claiming the consortium it belongs to survives off gambling profits.

"When you live in a city that demands a certain amount of wankerage (new word) if you are to make an impression you tend to develop a certain tolerance for posers and tossers, even those from Ponsonby and Grey Lynn.

"But surely this tripe from The Sugar Club exceeds all reasonable levels of 'self pleasuring' and should come with an obligatory box of tissues."

Molloy told the Herald he was just "saying the truth, as I always do".