If I was eating out...?!
Answers: if I was eating something with cheese (like a sandwich or something) on it would it be normal to ask if the cheese was suitable for vegetarians?
I don't see any problem with asking. However, the waiter might not know about what it is that might make cheese vegetarian versus non-vegetarian. You should never be afraid to ask to customize your meal, people with diabetes, allergies, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, acid reflux, vegetarians, vegans, and picky eaters constantly customize their meals. Nobody would bat an eye, especially if you were polite about it.
If by "normal" you mean "average" um no..the average person doesn't randomly ask if their cheese is vegetarian.
If you're asking if you CAN or if you SHOULD, you can do whatever you want, including asking if the cheese is suitable for vegetarians. I can guarantee in a typical restaurant they're going to have no idea, though.
Take the common sense way and say "no cheese".
I'd say 99% of the time, they won't know, and they'll just tell you "yes" assuming it's veggie. At the fast food place I worked as a teen, the manager told a group of veggies that the yogurt parfaits were vegetarian, assuming they were.
Do yourself a favour and ask for no cheese, call the head office, or if it's a smaller place, ask if they have any lists of ingredients.
Just ask if it is soy cheese or animal cheese. Your waiter will tell you and you can go from there. There is nothing wrong with making sure you are getting what you want.
It probably is a lot smarter to ask BEFORE you start eating it, don't you think?
Trace, dear. When you parade around flashing your moose knuckle, you are showing a lack of social skills.
Dear, ask if there is a vegetarian cheese for your dish. It's quite normal these days. Don't let the flexi's lies and hatred dissuade you. They are pesky mosquitos at best.
gomanyes----most cheeses have rennet, dear.
In my point of view, it wouldnt be a good idea to ask if it was suitable for vegetarians. Why? Because if you decided to eat this sandwich, it mean you assume that have cheese inside. As a vegetarian (if you are) you should know that some cheese (many of them) contains presure extracted from the stomack of dead baby-cow. Some vegetarian eat cheese without thinking of that, its a choice. For sure, vegan wont eat cheese at all, as for make cheese you need to exploit cow and to kill them when they are not productive anymore.
Regards.
What do you mean by "suitable for vegetarians"? I've never heard of cheese containing meat, so all cheese should be suitable for vegetarians. Maybe you mean "suitable for vegans"?
It's not "normal" and shows an utter lack of social skills. But it is what a lot of veggie heads do and that's the kind of stuff that gives us a bad name.