-
chain restaurant vegan items (USA & Canada)
I've been starting to do research into what items chain restaurants (i.e., Applebee's, Denny's, etc.) have that are "vegan friendly" as my parents like to go out to eat when I visit and I get tired of them saying, "you're too picky, it's impossible for us to go out to eat." I've just started emailing companies (describing, in detail, what a vegan won't eat) and reading up on this, so I thought maybe some of the other members have already found out some information. I also thought it might be nice to know for being "on the road" and not knowing local restaurants (which some of you have mentioned in your area, but chain restaurants might be easier to find).
Here's what I've learned so far:
Appleby's: other than salad, nothing listed as vegan friendly; however, they were willing to work with me and I got a baked potato with steamed veggies and a bit of teriyaki sauce and soy sauce over it. All their rices have meat broth on them.
Denny's: as far as I can tell, mainly the fruit cup and oatmeal are vegan for breakfast, but you have to request the oatmeal without butter (or they put a big glob on the top); also some of the breads (for toast etc.) are supposed to be OK, but I don't know the specifics; I also put hershey's syrup on my oatmeal. They have a Boca burger, but it has cheese IN it.
Anyone else have any info on common CHAIN RESTAURANTS?
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
PF. Changs has a great coconut curry tofu dish.
Dont be fooled by Chili's veggie burger is has egg in it.:(
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
vaderesque
I've been starting to do research into what items chain restaurants (i.e., Applebee's, Denny's, etc.) have that are "vegan friendly" as my parents like to go out to eat when I visit and I get tired of them saying, "you're too picky, it's impossible for us to go out to eat."
Join the club! I can't be bothered to go out to eat any more because I always get the same old cardboard like garbage while everyone else has a veritable feast:(
My aunt invited me out for lunch and I just said no thanks because I'm bored of the same old baked potato with no butter with plain veg or beans, I can eat better at home for less money. I was tempted to ask her if we could go out and get pissed instead but she is a rabid evangelical christian and wouldn't approve :)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
What about Chinese and Indian restaurants. I couldn't care less if people think I'm picky, because I find it's mainly English food that has loads of meat and dairy, so I'm being adventurous!
Most places I go have loads of veggie dishes on the menu and are happy to point out ones without meat/fish stock, butter ghee, cream etc. Even easier if you pick vegetarian, but say you have a dairy and egg allergy.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
ewww, burger king http://hopchat.fire-chains.com/vomit.gif
Personally, I don't trust chains, only individual stores. Unless a chain makes a point of all it's stores knowing exactly what vegan is and how to prepare vegan items, just because the food was vegan it doesn't mean the individual store will cook it right.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Found this on a vegan blog, a letter from Romano's macaroni grill (they also warned that their "tomato sauce" contains butter):
Tomato Bruschetta - order with No Cheese
House or Garden Salad - order with No Cheese or Croutons
Salad Dressings: Balsamic Vinaigrette, Italian, Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Capellini Pomodoro - available through February 2006
Penne Arrabiatta - order with No Cheese; available through February 2006
Any Pasta with Garlic and Oil
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
For those in Canada, East Side Marios has some vegan stuff, or so I heard. But you have to ask for it specifically.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Just my 2 cents worth, although I am not in America - it is important to support the vegan products that come out because if we ever want it to be mainstreamed, that is the way to do it. I was disappointed to learn that the veggie burger at McDonalds has been scrapped in Australia. I never had it btw... What a shame that there is now no option other than dead animal :( And before I get the "McDonalds is evil, don't spend your money there" lecture, I believe that McDonalds isn't going anywhere whether we like it or not, so any improvement is better then none.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
Tigerlily
For those in Canada, East Side Marios has some vegan stuff, or so I heard. But you have to ask for it specifically.
I have never heard of that chain. They must be an east-coast establishment. What kind of stuff do they sell?
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
It's Italian restaurant...
click me please!
I ate there a few times before my veganism.......
I would never consider going there or any chain restaurant again...
Roxy - they have one in kelowna if you're ever curious! ;)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Thanks for the link and the Kelowna tip lol. I have just checked our their menus on line and to be totally honest - it all looks pretty gross. Good place to order a heart-attack on a plate. :o
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
that's exactly what it is!
with every meal you get unlimited bread and salad...the salad consists of iceburg lettuce, croutons, maybe some tomatoes and cucumber and a hot pepper ontop.
Your basic chain restaurant salad... nothing special!
actually it might be with certain meals... but most of them.
anyway..you go there if you pretty much want to pig out all night long!
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
i know someone online who works at an east side marios. (i met him on the internet like five years ago!) we dont have one here.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
OK, if anyone ever has the guts to eat at a mall foodcourt, please be careful at Panda Express. Their mixed vegetables are cooked in chicken broth!
Yeah, you can usually find something to eat at PF Chang's that's ok. They also do brown rice, which I don't see that often in mainstream restaurants.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I actually read that on another vegan blog. The vegan had emailed Panda express and was told that nothing was suitable for vegans because of being cooked with chicken broth. Lots of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese restaurants do similarly. I wish I had a Chang's around here...are you sure there's no broth in their stuff? [Not that it matters, the closest one to me is a couple hours away:(]
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I also found that at some Great Steak & Potato company restaurants (usually in mall food courts), the veggie delight is vegan if you get it w/o cheese. The french fries are cooked in peanut oil and the garden salad is OK. You can also get a baked potato with broc (no cheese).
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
Banana
Just my 2 cents worth, although I am not in America - it is important to support the vegan products that come out because if we ever want it to be mainstreamed, that is the way to do it. I was disappointed to learn that the veggie burger at McDonalds has been scrapped in Australia. I never had it btw... What a shame that there is now no option other than dead animal :( And before I get the "McDonalds is evil, don't spend your money there" lecture, I believe that McDonalds isn't going anywhere whether we like it or not, so any improvement is better then none.
I agree with that! If we don't support when a big chain caters to vegans, I don't know how much will change because the big chains aren't going away. That's why some (I haven't, at least not as yet) vegans eat the BK veggie, even with the bun containing a bit of butter, to encourage them to keep the veggie burger and further ask them to change to a vegan bun.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Unfortunately, the BK veggie is vomit-inducingly vile. :mad:
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
vaderesque
That's why some (I haven't, at least not as yet) vegans eat the BK veggie, even with the bun containing a bit of butter
You'd eat something with a bit of butter in it? Then claim you're doing so to help veganism? :eek:
Personally I think a vegan eating something non vegan is determental to veganism - it lets companies know they don't have to cater for vegans properly because they're flakey!
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I refuse to eat in any big chain 'restaurant' even if I was starving to death!!! Even when I ate meat I wouldn't eat that garbage!
I would rather support small cafes and local businesses than any McChain.
Happily I've just heard about 3 great veggie places in Brighton so may try them all over the next few weeks :)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
Hemlock
Happily I've just heard about 3 great veggie places in Brighton so may try them all over the next few weeks :)
Yea, you do live down the road from a mecca for vegans ;)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
vaderesque
I actually read that on another vegan blog. The vegan had emailed Panda express and was told that nothing was suitable for vegans because of being cooked with chicken broth. Lots of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese restaurants do similarly. I wish I had a Chang's around here...are you sure there's no broth in their stuff? [Not that it matters, the closest one to me is a couple hours away:(]
You know, it's possible that Chang's does the same thing, it just hasn't occurred to me. I haven't been there in over two years, so if you ever plan on going, you should email them. I've noticed that most companies are quite good at getting back to you.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I received a reply from Ruby Tuesday's. The rep said that if you order the veggie burger w/o cheese or mayonnaise, it is vegan. I have emailed to ask if any sides (including fries) are vegan.
I appreciate that many of you are anti-chain restaurants (which I have no argument with), but I thought it would be nice to at least know what those of us who aren't militantly anti-chain restaurants could eat if we needed or wanted to go to onehttp://veganforum.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
They already emailed me back and said that the fries are fried in the same oil with the chicken tenders, so they are not vegan.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
vaderesque
I appreciate that many of you are anti-chain restaurants (which I have no argument with), but I thought it would be nice to at least know what those of us who aren't militantly anti-chain restaurants could eat if we needed or wanted to go to one
http://veganforum.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif
I agree, in an ideal world we'd never go to any of these restaurants again. However, one person can't always dictate where a large group of friends want to go, and it's useful to know what's available to you. :)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Cracker barrel says the following are vegan: vegetable soup, oatmeal, baked potato, and tossed salad.
They also said: If margarine is not a problem, they eat also eat corn, carrots, and fried apples. (I have emailed to ask them what is in the margarine they use, but I bet it isn't vegan!) It should also be noted that all of our fried vegetables are fried in the same oil as our meat products. We want to make sure you know that some of our offerings, like turnip greens, green beans, corn muffins, hashbrown casserole, and pinto beans are made the old-fashioned way using meat seasonings and are not strictly vegetarian.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Found this link on another board here:
http://www.peta2.com/stuff/s-eat1.asp
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I received a less than helpful response (I was very specific about what a vegan would NOT eat--especially about not wanting any dairy products) and got a form e-letter to vegetarians from Olive Garden including:
Depending on your personal philosophy, we can suggest the following
items as meatless, but not necessarily vegetarian or vegan as they may
contain some ingredients which do not comply with your personal
philosophy:
Minestrone Soup
Garden Salad
Marinara Sauce
Capellini Pomodoro
Eggplant Parmigiana
Fettuccine Alfredo
I think it's pretty obvious that a few of these have dairy in them (especially the alfredo sauce), but they seem to imply that some other non-vegan in the possibility of broth or the like:mad:
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
papa johns has a vegan option. i've read it on here somewhere and i asked about it. Theyre dough is vegan and when you get no cheese they use a special bad ass sauce and then you can get like five veggies on it for not that bad. [well here at least..] that's the only place i 've tried. I'm too paranoid and overly nervous to eat anywhere else. I just eat at home, where i get to watch the food get made and what surfaces it's touched, what utensils were used etc. and if there's a gross hair in my food i at least know it's mine. :rolleyes:
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
i don't know how nation wide cottage inn pizza is, it started in ann arbor, mi, but my friend and his brother own one and they put togeter a wonderful vegan pizza for me.
a few pizza places i have been to say their pizza dough and sauce is vegan, but they forget about the butter or margarine, which they use in their pans. i just stick to cottage inn because i know the owners.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
Mr Flibble
You'd eat something with a bit of butter in it? Then claim you're doing so to help veganism? :eek:
Personally I think a vegan eating something non vegan is determental to veganism - it lets companies know they don't have to cater for vegans properly because they're flakey!
I'm sorry if my statement made me sound like a "flaky vegan":( I don't think I'd eat a BK veggie unless I was in the middle of nowhere and there was only a BK around, but even then I wouldn't say, "I'm a vegan, but I'll put up with the butter" so that anyone would be able to argue that vegans are easily swayed. I'd probably ask for the patty microwaved and then not get a bun either in that improbable situation. I don't want to eat dairy at all because I feel much better w/o it--physically and psychologically:D
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Well, as some of you have mentioned in other subjects, Peta is a bit "sloppy" in their definition of what is OK for vegans to eat (per the above link), as I just received an email from Papa John's and everything Peta said was OK isn't. What is OK, from reading the ingredients list Papa John's sent me, is: cinnamon apples, cinnamon spread, pan pizza shells, regular pizza sauce, veggies, and special seasoning packets. The thin crust contains milk (as part of "natural flavorings"), the robusto pizza sauce likewise contains dairy, and the garlic dipping sauce contains lactic acid (from milk).
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Thanks for all the work you've done on this! I'm really amazed when there's ANYTHING at all for me to eat in restaurants lately. Don't mean to sound ungrateful, but do you live anywhere near a Cheesecake Factory?
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Nope, don't live near one, but if you want to email them and let us know (maybe one day some other vegan will be near one), go to this website, then "contact us" and ask them about their menu: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/aboutus.htm
I'm always VERY specific when I contact the restaurant, telling them that I am vegan and would like to know if any of their items--including breads--do not contain dairy products (including butter, cheese, milk), eggs, honey, or meat (including meat by-products such as broth).
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Done, let's see what they say. :)
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Tijuana Flats (Tex-mex)
Veggie burrito-no cheese and sour cream
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Here's the site where dunkin doughnuts gives info to determine what's vegan: https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/nutrition/
The nutritional info given lists allergens (i.e., milk and eggs), but also gives complete ingedient listings! From what I can tell, their dougnuts and most baked goods are not vegan (due to milk and eggs), but many of their bagels are (except the cheese ones obviously and a few have honey).
Krispy Kreme doughnuts use milk and eggs in all their food products according to their site:(
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
I was just reading through Dunkin Donuts beverages and they have them available with soy milk!
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
On the subway site:
Do your breads contain animal products?
SUBWAY® Italian bread contains no animal-derived ingredients. The wheat bread and deli roll contain honey, which may be considered an animal-derived ingredient. The Parmesan Oregano and other cheese-topped breads do contain milk-derived ingredients.
What menu items at SUBWAY® restaurants are vegan/do not contain animal-derived ingredients?
The menu items that do not contain any animal-derived ingredients are the Veggie Delite® on Italian bread and the Veggie Delite® salad. Also these individual items also do not contain animal-derived ingredients: all vegetables, oil, vinegar, mustard, sweet onion sauce and Fruizle. The wheat bread and deli roll contain honey but no other animal-derived ingredients.
-
Re: chain restaurant vegan items
Quote:
catalina
You know, it's possible that Chang's does the same thing, it just hasn't occurred to me. I haven't been there in over two years, so if you ever plan on going, you should email them. I've noticed that most companies are quite good at getting back to you.
PF Changs is very vegan friendly. It's one of my favorite places to go.
They can not guarantee the sugar they use in most of the dishes is vegan. Buddas Feast is 100% vegan and 100% excellent.
I usually get the coconut curry or Mao Poa Tofu.
The spring rolls have egg in them.
Please do email the restaraunts. I did and I have since deleted the email from them. I have been searching everywhere to see if I can find where I posted it in veganism or vegan_people on Livejournal but I can't seem to find it.
Do not eat at chilis. They emailed me to say that a small amount of chicken fat is present in the SALSA! That right there puts them off for me, but the rice, beans both have chicken stock in them.
Olive Garden and Applebees are interesting cases, as they appear to differ from each restaraunt so you have to deal with the local manager. But in my case the local manager told me outright (applebees) that the menu is as is and they do not do custom orders. He was very very rude with me. I will not be going there again. Olive Garden was polite but didn't have a clue.
Right now I am living off going to Jason's Deli. They have a fabulous organic greens salad bar and there is oil and vinegar there for dressing. I love that place. Such a great organic salad...and it's not too pricy at $5 here. Any other salad bar I go to it's at least $7 or more. Sometimes they have a few vegan soups. It differs from day to day.