In the words of a chain of restaurants featuring fresh, made to order pita sandwiches, “There’s a new protein in town.”

Vegetarian Star can only say, “Yum, yum and triple yum!”

Pita Pit, which has over 100 restaurants in major cities and college towns across the U.S., has put a vegan black bean veggie patty on its list of already friendly veggie pitas like the falafel, the garden and the hummus.

Compassion Over Killing, a vegetarian and animal rights group that is also trying to convince Subway to add more vegan items to its menu, worked with Pita Pitt to make the patty available.

“Much like Subway, Pita Pit makes your sandwich fresh with the ingredients you want—though Pita Pit, with its motto “Fresh Thinking, Healthy Eating” goes several steps further: it not only offers a wider variety of toppings, including hummus, artichoke hearts, spinach, and dried cranberries, starting on May 9, 2011, you can also get your sandwich made with a hearty, protein-packed black bean patty,” writes Erica Meier from Compassion Over Killing at her D.C. Veg Examiner column.

“With the increasing consumer demand for meat-, egg-, and dairy-free options, it should come as no surprise that more and more restaurants are dishing out “meaty” vegan cuisine.”

Since Pita Pit has always been veg-friendly, it’s a safe bet the black bean patty is here to stay. But as with all vegetarian and vegan offerings in mainstream restaurants, you have to get it to make it last. Visit Pita Pit’s website to find a location near you. Gobble up that black bean patty and tell the manager how thankful you are for it being added to the menu. And spread the word via blogs, Twitter, Facebook and word of mouth–when it’s not stuffed with vegan food from Pita Pit.

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