Restaurants w/vegan friendly food?
 

Ok so I'm newly trying to go vegan and would love to hear some places that have tasty vegan-friendly foods... so when I do have to go out with friends I'll have an idea of what to get...

Obviously when in doubt order salad (no cheese, meat or egg kind) but what about dressings? and you can't always order salad lol

I did have a friend tell me Pizza Hut has a really great Vegan Veggie Pizza. :carrot:

The thin crust pizza from pizza hut is vegan although I've never had it (the other crusts aren't vegan as far as I know).

Chipotle is great - black beans, grilled veggies, salsas. I'm not sure if their rice is vegan, I think it is but I never get the rice. The tortillas may be vegan as well again I don't know because I don't get the tortillas.

Vegan restaurants - I would suggest searching some out

Chinese restaurants - it varies from place to place but chinese food generally doesn't use dairy and you can ask for no egg.

Thai restaurants - they do use fish sauce but many places will omit if you ask.

Other restaurants - honestly, just ask. You can generally navigate the no dairy, no egg, no meat in most restaurants. Some places use meat broth so you do have to be careful of that. Some veggie burgers aren't vegan and often times bread isn't always vegan. It really does depend on your comfort level. If you want to be 100% vegan, sometimes it can be difficult in an omnivore world if you rely on others to cook your food for you.

Here are some other sites to reference:
http://www.vegcooking.com/restaurantGuide.asp
http://www.vegcooking.com/ChainRestaurants.asp
http://www.happycow.net/
http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.htm

Also, depending where you live, you may be able to find an online veg guide for your area. DC has vegdc.org which is great for identifying veggie options at restaurants in the area.

Oh awesome.. thank you =]

I'm currently living in South Carolina which is HORRIBLE for vegan food and restaurants!

Going out is the only rough thing I've encountered since going vegan! For salad dressings I normally just go with your basic oil and vinegar so there's no question of hidden ingredients. I'm not really a fan of chain restaurants but I do enjoy Ruby Tuesdays for their huge salad bar. I can make an awesome salad from their options - last time I went they even had soy beans and chick peas on the bar - woot for protein! They also have a veggie burger that is vegan if you leave off the mayo and cheese. I don't really like it but some do. Otherwise just learn to ask. It still bugs me from time to time but it is the server's job to make you happy so just clearly state what you will and won't eat and ask them to find out what will satisfy your requests.
Good luck!

I know P.F Chang is vegan friendly. I usually call ahead about their vegetarian dishes to make sure they're vegan. I've personally found that around here, most of them are.

Oh and for salad dressings, I usually use salsa as my salad dressing.

Oh salsa.. hmm... I do love salsa and spicy things but I'm not sure if I would like as a salad dressing, I'll have to try that... Has anyone tried Annies Natural: Goddess Dressing? Organic viniagrette? These are ok right?

Also I was wondering about Agave Nectar and Honey... are both of these vegan?

Thanks!!

Agave nectar is...while honey is not

jill - the salsa you usually get in restaurants isn't spicy, its just chunky and is usually mostly chopped tomatoes with a little salt and garlic. I do buy mild salsa at home as well for salad dressing.

Dang honey isn't thats sad for me lol

I think you haven't tried the agave syrup yet? I find it has a similar taste to honey.

Oh cool! Yeah I havn't tried it yet. I'm going to get some when I'm back home in a couple weeks :)

same taste and texture/stickyness?

Not the same taste exactly, just similar. But not as sticky, which is great - it dissolves much better in drinks.

I think brown rice syrup is more honey-like, and much better for your blood sugar levels than honey. :)

Oooo good to know!! thank you :)