When i was new to being a vegetarian, i thought the world of eating out was a scary place! I learned from experience that the easiest way to find out if a food is safe is to just ask. If your waiter doesnt know the answer, a manager is sure to be just around the corner waiting to help! Here are some tips and things i learned when it comes to eating out:

steamed veggies- most places have these, just ask if they are made with or without butter. Your waiter will be happy to make them w/o butter.
pastas- many places have basic pastas with marinara
burgers- you would be surprised as to how many places offer veggie burgers, its amazing!
salads- ive had salads made for me in the weirdest places, if lettuce is on the menu your good to go

Here is an amazing site i use for finding out some quick answers:
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/OtherInfo/FastFoodRest.htm

Hope i helped! If anyone can think of more tips please post! :bobo:

It really is surprising to see how many places offer veggie burgers now. I'm actually shocked if I don't see one on the menu.

Baked potatos are a great option as well.
Or try eating at ethnic restaurants:

At a mexican restaurant, bean burrittos (just ask if there is lard in the refried beans), rice (but check if it's cooked in chicken broth)Salsa and tortilla chips. Or with guac. And I do believe margarita's are vegetarian!

Thai, East Indian, Ethiopian, and Tibetan all have wonderful vegetarian options. Just be careful at Asian restaurants about fish broth, and be aware that many tofu dishes also contain meat, so make sure to ask for it without!

VegWithEdge, I would be sad if that is all I got. If I couldn't get a decient meal that I couldn't make at home, I wouldn't eat out at all. I eat out vegetarian about twice a month and I enjoy it. I love tasting new dishes. I have a favorate place now, but I also like trying other places too. If the choices are not to my approval I won't go back and I'll tell everyone I know not to go. I usually try to research ahead and ask about veg meals from others who have eaten there or see if I can find a review or menu online. There is also a guide to veggie dinning that is run by the vegetarian club at my sister's school. (my sister happens to be in the same city as I)

I avoid chains like the plague. I don't know of a SINGLE good chain.

Ethnic restaurants all the way, Thai Food and Japanese are my favs! Indian food seems to have good selectio but the time I went to an Indian Place I wasn't hungry. Reciently I tried Dim Sum with my roomate and everything had meat in it. (I figured if she offered to take me and she knew I was a vegetarian she would think a little more) I happily gobbled up spring rolls though (my fav) and tea. I still want to go to Dim Sum that is veg frendly and I already know a place I want to try.

VegWithEdge, I would be sad if that is all I got. If I couldn't get a decient meal that I couldn't make at home, I wouldn't eat out at all...

I don't always eat out with the expectation that my meal will be "as good as home-made"... usually it isn't.
Eating out isn't about the food - it's a social occasion for me and I will go out with friends to any restaurant, any time, anywhere, just for the socializing... I don't expect to eat much more than a salad or steamed veggies or a baked potato...
I don't expect every (or hardly ANY) restaurant to cater to me, a person whose eating habits make up less than 1% of the population... if by chance I DO end up with a wonderful vegan meal I am thrilled and consider it one of life's bonuses and I'll definitely compliment the restaurant management...
Life isn't about eating, and I would miss out on SO VERY MUCH if I only went out to places that served awesome vegan meals...
When it's MY choice, of course I choose an ethnic option, but it often isn't my choice...sometimes I AM "stuck" with a dry baked potato and bread... and I'm happy as a clam, (if I can use such an "un-vegan" phrase) because I'm in good company and am enjoying the experience and the privledge of being with friends...

Tofu, I didn't mean to insult you or anyone else. In my post was just pointing out there is places that serve great veggie meals besides just veggies and pasta. (even if the place isn't 100% vegetarian)

See when I eat out I do on my own terms, because I choose where my b/f and I go. (Because I pay) and I don't eat out with anyone else. So if I wasn't getting a good meal, I wouldn't eat out. It wasn't my intention to say you shouldn't go out with friends to an omni place. I'm sorry if I offended you or anyone else saying I'd be disapointed with a salad. It was only my attention to point out that I eat out vegetarian style happliy.

I just try to avoid eating out unless it is a family thing. I have never liked the idea of someone else making my food for me and touching it. Plus you never know where and what it was cooked with and whats really in it. It is also expensive and somtimes just a hassel, so yeah thats my take on it, lol.

My family always eats out and i always try to make the best of the situation. Infact, i went out to a steak house with low expectations and walked out the doors with a full stomach. The options i listed are not all you can get when you eat out, i was just mentioning some last resorts if your stuck in a very unfriendly place. And like tofu said, half the time eating out is a social event.

My favourite go-to, usually places that do 24 hour breakfasts: veggie omelette, minus the eggs and cheese but with extra veggies if I can get it (I'm not LO). The toast will be dry sourdough (they usually have the jelly on the table but if not, I'll ask for it) and if they have a fruit bowl offered, I'll get that, too with no milk, no yogurt unless they have soy yogurt.

If eating out were just about eating out, I wouldn't eat out at all. But since it's a social thing in my circles, I'll eat whatever I can find at whatever place I'm at and focus the attentions to the social aspect of it instead.

Tofu, I didn't mean to insult you or anyone else. In my post was just pointing out there is places that serve great veggie meals besides just veggies and pasta. (even if the place isn't 100% vegetarian).

No, no.... no offense taken at all.
I just wanted to offer a different opinion because "going veg" is already so big and scarey and possibly "restricted" feeling for so many newbies - just reminding people (as 4everGrounded mentioned) that eating out does not have to be a big deal.
It's usually the company you're with that "makes" a meal memorable (or it should be).
While every meal may not be a masterpiece you WILL find places that offer the best vegan meals EVER and other places where you have to wonder if they did anything suspicious to the lettuce... be happy with the plain baked poitato and the fact that you have good friends to enjoy the meal with...

Wow, my city must be the most veg-friendly ever (Vancouver)! I eat out all the time, and it's so rare that I can't find something veggie on the menu, even at gross steakhouse or fish'n'chips-type places. Even the Southern-style pub I go to has a veggie burger, though it's not on their menu and you have to ask... but everywhere I've been to recently has heard me order something vegetarian, and offered to make it vegan! Without me even asking. Reading some of these posts has made me so glad that I live where I do...

I agree that eating out is great way to socialize, but I can't help but feel ripped off when my meal costs $12 is wasn't even half as good as something I could have done at home.

On the other hand, I LOVE going to vegetarian or good ethnic restaurants. Those ones I don't normally feel ripped off in.

I'm looking foward to turning 21 so when my boyfriend's family invites me to the salt works, or texas roadhouse, or any other number of resturants where there is literally nothing vegan but plain lettuce (if that) I can just splurge on a nice frozen mixed drink (I only drink water normally so it would still be a treat for me). It was actually my moms idea but I think it's pretty brilliant.

Other than that I enjoy the company, eat before I go if I know it is somewhere questionable and enjoy more veg friendly resturant's with my boyfriend.

I have never liked the idea of someone else making my food for me and touching it. Plus you never know where and what it was cooked with and whats really in it. It is also expensive and somtimes just a hassel, so yeah thats my take on it, lol.

This is my general take on it.

I don't know if it's just me being unusually paranoid (it probably is) but I don't really trust restaurants. Maybe it stems off my working in one and knowing how even under the best circumstances, sometimes what you think you're getting and what you do get are two different things. I tried ordering a few pasta dishes, but even with calling before and asking about what was in it, I still was too worried through out the meal to really enjoy it. And as Tofu mentioned, I don't expect people to cater to me and my beliefs; even if they appear to want to.

I just go out for the social aspect of it now, ordering just a drink and focusing on the people I'm with, rather then worrying about whether what I'm eating is vegan.

It really is surprising to see how many places offer veggie burgers now. I'm actually shocked if I don't see one on the menu.

I agree..... I am a new vegetarian but we went to this restaraunt called Red Robin and its a hamburger place but they had a gardenburger and a boca burger. I was able to get the boca burger and it was great.

Personally, I NEVER eat veggie burgers that are offered at "regular" (i.e., non-vegetarian) restaurants, because odds are they cook them right alongside their dead-animal burgers, and I don't want any cross-contamination.

I've been veggie for almost 20 years, and in all that time I've never had a problem finding plenty of great things to eat at any mainstream restaurant. I've never done the 'dry baked potato' thing, because it's always been possible to have stuff added that made it great. For example, grilled onions and mushrooms, along with guacamole, make a very YUMMY potato!

I'm looking foward to turning 21 so when my boyfriend's family invites me to the salt works, or texas roadhouse, or any other number of resturants where there is literally nothing vegan but plain lettuce (if that) I can just splurge on a nice frozen mixed drink (I only drink water normally so it would still be a treat for me)
You could always order them without alcohol. :) So they would just be a fruity slushy drink. Like a not so healthy smoothie.

I've tried that but most places seem to make things with not-so-great tasting w/o the alcohol mixers, if I know a place makes good virgin drinks I grab one but usually they taste like food coloring (which is why I shouldn't drink them!)

Personally, I NEVER eat veggie burgers that are offered at "regular" (i.e., non-vegetarian) restaurants, because odds are they cook them right alongside their dead-animal burgers, and I don't want any cross-contamination.

..... For example, grilled onions and mushrooms, along with guacamole, make a very YUMMY potato!

Not to burst your bubble, but don't kid yourself... the "grilled onions and mushrooms" are just as likely (in fact MORE likely than a "vegetarian" burger) to be cooked right next to the steaks and burgers to get that great browned color and taste... It's done in most every restaurant (since it's usually omni's asking for the grilled onions to top a burger or steak) UNESS you ask specifically that they not do so..

On the other hand, many restaurants (Red Robin, and other chains for sure) are very contientious about cooking the veggie burgers on a clean grill to cater specifically to the needs/wishes of their vegetarian customers... Just ask, they are usually very clear about it if they cook their burgers this way... and on another note - they HAVE to be because veggie burgers are cooked less time than a meat burger so the Health Dept. (in most states) requires seperate cooking areas or sides of the grill...

Not to burst your bubble, but don't kid yourself... the "grilled onions and mushrooms" are just as likely (in fact MORE likely than a "vegetarian" burger) to be cooked right next to the steaks and burgers to get that great browned color and taste... It's done in most every restaurant (since it's usually omni's asking for the grilled onions to top a burger or steak) UNESS you ask specifically that they not do so..
I was going to say the same thing...in fact they often are cooked in the same PAN as animals with NO cleaning inbetween! Also, just because the law mandates that things be done a certain way, remember that law actually has little bearing on what actually transpires in the kitchen! :( Sad but true :sweat:

... just because the law mandates that things be done a certain way, remember that law actually has little bearing on what actually transpires in the kitchen! :( Sad but true :sweat:

True, especially in more rural or un-"policed" areas, however not everyone is that way - you may be suprised... for example, the restaurant staff around here pretty much live in fear of the suprise visits from county Health Inspectors - I have a number of friends who work in the restaurant business (some, but not all, in nicer, upscale restaurants, I might point out) - and they actually follow the "rules" incredibly carefully.

Not to burst your bubble, but don't kid yourself... the "grilled onions and mushrooms" are just as likely (in fact MORE likely than a "vegetarian" burger) to be cooked right next to the steaks and burgers to get that great browned color and taste...Not when you ask that they be cooked in a clean skillet with olive oil. :lol:
they HAVE to be because veggie burgers are cooked less time than a meat burger so the Health Dept. (in most states) requires seperate cooking areas or sides of the grill...Unless something has changed since they introduced them, Burger King specifically told my daughter and me that their veggie burgers are cooked on the same grill as their animal burgers--without any sort of washing in between. When we expressed dismay at that, explaining that we're vegetarians and that it wasn't acceptable to cook them that way, they offered to cook them in the microwave. We declined...and left.

BK will nuke the veggie burgers. most of the grills CANNOT be cleaned between one burger and another... why? because it's automated and covered and you burn your fingers to a lovely blister...

I've been places where they offered to nuke the veggieburger (or falafa) for me without me asking.

BUT my theory is: as long as I don't know about it, can't taste it, I try not to think about it. If I worried so much about meat touching my food I'd never be able to eat. I don't want my veg*ism look like paronia.

... If I worried so much about meat touching my food I'd never be able to eat. I don't want my veg*ism look like paronia.

Even though I was raised vegetarian, I still appreciate and follow this attitude... I won't blatantly consume any animal products, but there are minor things I do not get neurotic over either...

I don't compromise my beliefs of course, but I know I've influenced/"converted" more people (and thus, saved more animals) by being an enthusiastic vegan who participates in potlucks, parties, BBQ's and restaurant dinners with omnis than I ever would by hiding alone in my kitchen out of paranoia over miniscule and often imagined 'contamination'...

Enjoy life, folks!