Here's a tough one.
You've made the commitment, you're going vegetarian or vegan. You do a good long cleanse, you fill the frig with fresh fruits and vegetables, you get online and find tons of recipe ideas that will keep you from getting bored with the new dietary discipline and, after a while, you're feeling pretty good about your choice and you start to notice an improvement in your general health and and an increasing sense of well-being and then you get an email from the boss, "We're having a mandatory staff meeting at a restaurant" or friends call you up and want to go to lunch or dinner, or you're taking vacation and you'll be in a strange city for a week, having to eat three meals a day at restaurants. Now what? Do you abandon your dietary discipline? If you're at a staff meeting at a nearby restaurant and everyone is eating lunch, then not eating is not an option. (bad office politics mojo) Since the restaurant probably won't allow you to bring your own food (and if you did you'd look like a complete dork) you need to think your way through this and you need to do it fast.
I've assembled some tips that can help you.
1. I found this great website, Happy Cow This website (among other things) has a listing of vegetarian and vegan restaurants across the world! The first thing I would try in is saying, "Great! How about you let me pick a restaurant and I'll get us some reservations."
I checked the website for my home town of Salt Lake City, Utah, and found 78 restaurants that were either vegan, vegetarian, or "veggie friendly." This is a surprising trend that I've noticed. More and more restaurants are recognizing the need to provide meal options for people that don't eat meat or that don't eat any animal protein. You would like to think that this trend signals a positive shift in the social consciousness, but I think it's just a case of big business realizing an untapped marketing potential... I'm not a misanthrope, I'm pragmatist.
2. If your boss, friends, family (whatever) won't let you pick the restaurant jump on line and look up the restaurants menu. Even if there are no vegan or vegetarian menu options you can generally find one or two items that can be changed around to accommodate your life style. Stir fries are a great example. Usually when ordering a stir fry the waitress will give you the option, "Chicken, Beef, or Shrimp?" simply saying "None of the above please, I'd like that vegetarian if possible." will suffice. Ordering salads is pretty simple as well and there are vegetarian and vegan salad dressings that exist naturally. For the most part Italian dressing is vegan as is a raspberry or strawberry vinaigrette. Plan ahead.
3. Call the restaurant ahead of time and ask it they have vegetarian or vegan options. Most restaurants will bend over backwards to accommodate you and this is especially true if you give them some advanced notice. You can even try asking for a particular meal by phone and ask if they can have it ready for you. You're not being a pain in the A** you are helping them to elevate their social awareness.
4. I've been at restaurants looking over a menu and not found anything suitable and just asked, "Do you have anything that can be made vegan?" and have been told, "Oh yes, we have..." and I get quite a list. One time my wife and I were in one of our favorite restaurants and my wife was looking for a veggie burger that they used to have available and she couldn't find it. She asked the waitress and the waitress told her the menu had been changed and the veggie burger was now called a garden burger and was located under a different section. Ask, "what do have that's vegan, or can be made vegan?"
5. Get creative, especially with side dishes. No one is going to turn their nose up at you if you ask for something to be made without butter, or to hold the cheese, or even hold the meat. I have a friend that (years ago) managed a McDonalds. He was telling me once that in the neighborhood there was a large Indian population. His McDonalds he would often get people from India coming in and asking for a Big Mac, hold the beef, he tells me this was pretty common and they would just serve those who asked a meatless Big Mac.
6. My favorite option, ethnic food.
I have recently discovered Indian food and I love it! I'm usually the sort of person that thinks, "I like what I like, don't mess with it." I have foods I know I like, foods I know I don't like and I don't care to experiment. My wife, on the other hand, is open all kinds of new things, new ideas, new foods. For a long time my wife was talking about how she wanted to try Indian food, finally I gave in and we tried it. I figured, how bad could it be? I should be able to find something on the menu that I will eat. There are two things to note about Indian food; 1. It's awesome and 2. Indian cuisine has many vegetarian and vegan options. If you walk into an Indian restaurant you will be able to find both vegetarian and vegan menu selections. Indian food is always a viable option for eating out.
7. Drinks are usually pretty straight forward as to whether or not they're vegan but did you know that many alcoholic drinks are processed with honey (not vegan) or filtered using Isinglass (made from fish bladders) or sometimes gelatin, egg whites, and even sea shells? How do you know if you're drink selection is vegan? I have a great website for you, Barnivore has a huge listing of types of alcoholic beverages and answers the question as to whether or not your drink is vegan. Before you order a drink whip out the smart phone and check.
8. Finally don't go out over confident. If you've done all your homework and applied all available options and there's still nothing edible on the menu don't freak out. If you've looked at the menu online or called the restaurant you should know this in advance, have something to eat before you go out so you won't be hungry and order a side salad with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Then if comment cards are available or they ask for your comments online let your voice be heard. The more this happens the more people in business will began to get the bigger picture.
Do you have any tips or tricks you can share?
Feel free to comment and let us know.
You've made the commitment, you're going vegetarian or vegan. You do a good long cleanse, you fill the frig with fresh fruits and vegetables, you get online and find tons of recipe ideas that will keep you from getting bored with the new dietary discipline and, after a while, you're feeling pretty good about your choice and you start to notice an improvement in your general health and and an increasing sense of well-being and then you get an email from the boss, "We're having a mandatory staff meeting at a restaurant" or friends call you up and want to go to lunch or dinner, or you're taking vacation and you'll be in a strange city for a week, having to eat three meals a day at restaurants. Now what? Do you abandon your dietary discipline? If you're at a staff meeting at a nearby restaurant and everyone is eating lunch, then not eating is not an option. (bad office politics mojo) Since the restaurant probably won't allow you to bring your own food (and if you did you'd look like a complete dork) you need to think your way through this and you need to do it fast.
I've assembled some tips that can help you.
1. I found this great website, Happy Cow This website (among other things) has a listing of vegetarian and vegan restaurants across the world! The first thing I would try in is saying, "Great! How about you let me pick a restaurant and I'll get us some reservations."
I checked the website for my home town of Salt Lake City, Utah, and found 78 restaurants that were either vegan, vegetarian, or "veggie friendly." This is a surprising trend that I've noticed. More and more restaurants are recognizing the need to provide meal options for people that don't eat meat or that don't eat any animal protein. You would like to think that this trend signals a positive shift in the social consciousness, but I think it's just a case of big business realizing an untapped marketing potential... I'm not a misanthrope, I'm pragmatist.
2. If your boss, friends, family (whatever) won't let you pick the restaurant jump on line and look up the restaurants menu. Even if there are no vegan or vegetarian menu options you can generally find one or two items that can be changed around to accommodate your life style. Stir fries are a great example. Usually when ordering a stir fry the waitress will give you the option, "Chicken, Beef, or Shrimp?" simply saying "None of the above please, I'd like that vegetarian if possible." will suffice. Ordering salads is pretty simple as well and there are vegetarian and vegan salad dressings that exist naturally. For the most part Italian dressing is vegan as is a raspberry or strawberry vinaigrette. Plan ahead.
3. Call the restaurant ahead of time and ask it they have vegetarian or vegan options. Most restaurants will bend over backwards to accommodate you and this is especially true if you give them some advanced notice. You can even try asking for a particular meal by phone and ask if they can have it ready for you. You're not being a pain in the A** you are helping them to elevate their social awareness.
4. I've been at restaurants looking over a menu and not found anything suitable and just asked, "Do you have anything that can be made vegan?" and have been told, "Oh yes, we have..." and I get quite a list. One time my wife and I were in one of our favorite restaurants and my wife was looking for a veggie burger that they used to have available and she couldn't find it. She asked the waitress and the waitress told her the menu had been changed and the veggie burger was now called a garden burger and was located under a different section. Ask, "what do have that's vegan, or can be made vegan?"
5. Get creative, especially with side dishes. No one is going to turn their nose up at you if you ask for something to be made without butter, or to hold the cheese, or even hold the meat. I have a friend that (years ago) managed a McDonalds. He was telling me once that in the neighborhood there was a large Indian population. His McDonalds he would often get people from India coming in and asking for a Big Mac, hold the beef, he tells me this was pretty common and they would just serve those who asked a meatless Big Mac.
6. My favorite option, ethnic food.
I have recently discovered Indian food and I love it! I'm usually the sort of person that thinks, "I like what I like, don't mess with it." I have foods I know I like, foods I know I don't like and I don't care to experiment. My wife, on the other hand, is open all kinds of new things, new ideas, new foods. For a long time my wife was talking about how she wanted to try Indian food, finally I gave in and we tried it. I figured, how bad could it be? I should be able to find something on the menu that I will eat. There are two things to note about Indian food; 1. It's awesome and 2. Indian cuisine has many vegetarian and vegan options. If you walk into an Indian restaurant you will be able to find both vegetarian and vegan menu selections. Indian food is always a viable option for eating out.
7. Drinks are usually pretty straight forward as to whether or not they're vegan but did you know that many alcoholic drinks are processed with honey (not vegan) or filtered using Isinglass (made from fish bladders) or sometimes gelatin, egg whites, and even sea shells? How do you know if you're drink selection is vegan? I have a great website for you, Barnivore has a huge listing of types of alcoholic beverages and answers the question as to whether or not your drink is vegan. Before you order a drink whip out the smart phone and check.
8. Finally don't go out over confident. If you've done all your homework and applied all available options and there's still nothing edible on the menu don't freak out. If you've looked at the menu online or called the restaurant you should know this in advance, have something to eat before you go out so you won't be hungry and order a side salad with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Then if comment cards are available or they ask for your comments online let your voice be heard. The more this happens the more people in business will began to get the bigger picture.
Do you have any tips or tricks you can share?
Feel free to comment and let us know.
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