Going out to eat is a great way for you to catch up with friends and family! It can be relaxing to let someone else prepare your food while you sit back and enjoy the company. Although it’s definitely a treat to go out and eat, if you’re a vegan, a relaxing dinner out can be transformed into a stressful occasion. To help make sure you have a positive dining experience, here are a few tips for eating out when vegan.

Go to a Vegan Restaurant

The easiest way to ensure you have plenty of vegan options when eating out is to go to a veg-friendly restaurant. Go online and do a little research to see if there are any vegan friendly restaurants in your area. Don’t forget to check with your vegan friends as well. They’ll be able to tell you the good, the bad and the ugly for some of your local restaurants.

Ask for a Vegan Menu

Some restaurants have additional menus that contain different foods for vegans and others with dietary restrictions. Don’t be afraid to ask your waiter if they have a vegan menu or a list of vegan-friendly foods you can order. You might be surprised by the many accommodations the restaurant will make to help you have a wonderful dining experience.

Check Ingredients

If the restaurant doesn’t have a specific vegan menu, you can still find vegan-friendly meals! Go through the menu and find a few meals you might be interested in. Once you have an idea for what you want, ask the waiter questions about what’s in the meal. If the waiter is unsure of all of the ingredients, you might want to see if the chef can come out to your table. The chef will better be able to tell you not only the ingredients used in the meal, but also what’s used to help prepare the food!

Make Changes to the Meal

Just because a meal comes with cheese or cream doesn’t mean that you can’t have it! When ordering your meal, you can make some changes. Order your bean burrito without cheese on top or see if they can substitute cream for soy or almond milk. Most likely, a few simple changes will transform your meal into a vegan-friendly dish.

Order a Salad

Sometimes, you might be stuck at a restaurant that simply doesn’t have any good vegan meals. When this happens, a house salad can be a good backup. Although this might only tide you over until you can get home and make your own meal, at least you’ll have something to munch on while out with your friends or family. Just be sure to mark that restaurant off of your list the next time you want to go out for dinner.

What are some of your tips for eating out when vegan? We’d love to hear your advice!

Related posts: