It’s amazing that Seattle wouldn’t be more on top of that, but you’re right–it’s the same everywhere (we had a similar experience in Portland). It’s kind of funny where we’re at. Ann Arbor is supposed to be the “cultural” city and Ypsi more “gritty”. But in truth, AA is much fluffier–lots of vegetarian stuff, but far fewer vegan options (though it’s still pretty easy to find something to eat). Ypsi, on the other hand, actually does have a vegan pizza option.

I guess the best we can do is keep politely bothering them about offering real vegan cheeses until they either (a) get it or (b) alienate their vegan customers.

I recently went through the same frustration with soy cheeses. It was around the holidays and I was to make a lasagna for Christmas dinner. I had wanted to put some of the Follow Your Heart soy cheese on top but the local coop was all out. The rest of the selection of soy cheeses they carried were filled with disappointment since they all had whey or what have you in them, including an almond cheese. I ended up making a faux ricotta to go on top instead which actually turned out to be perhaps even better (crumbled tofu, tofutti cream cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, and tons of nutritional yeast!).
I also hear from friends around here in Seattle that a lot of the pizza places claim to offer a vegan pizza with soy cheese, but it is like the one you encounter. There are a lot of vegans in Seattle so I think many restaurants jump to offer a “vegan” option but fail to do their homework on the actual ingredients they utilize. Restaurants should hire a vegan consultant when planning to add vegan dishes to their menu!

I do agree they have scrumptious beers at JP.