Tips For Dining Out Vegan
If you’re a Roots Frozen Desserts fan, chances are you’re interested in eating more plant-based foods. At Roots Frozen Desserts, we embrace a whole-food, plant-based diet. It’s a lifestyle that nourishes your body and soul, while drastically reducing your environmental impact on earth. We’re passionate about providing a 100% plant-based frozen dessert that satisfies your sweet tooth and excites your taste buds! We acknowledge that dining out vegan can be seriously intimidating at first. In fact, some fear taking the plant-based plunge because they’re afraid they’ll have to give up eating at restaurants. Luckily, these days it’s easier than ever to embrace a plant-based lifestyle. In this article, we’re going to share some of our favorite tips and tricks for dining out vegan, whether you’re vegan, an omnivore, or simply wanting to live a healthier lifestyle by eating less animal products.
Research ahead.
If you have the luxury of choosing where to eat, Google “vegan-friendly restaurants” in your city and check out some online menus beforehand. Meeting up with friends or family? While a vegan or vegetarian restaurant would be ideal for you, it’s likely that some of your friends and family members would be less than thrilled. Instead, try to find a place where there is something exciting for everyone.
If you are going to a predetermined restaurant, find the menu online beforehand and scope out the plant-based options. If you don’t see any obvious choices, or are unsure about a particular dish, call the restaurant and ask about plant-based options, or if menu modifications are possible. If the restaurant is unable to accommodate you and it looks like all you will be able to order is a veggie side or a garden salad, ask your party if they’d be willing to try a different restaurant. Worse case scenario: eat something before you go and keep in mind that you can eat afterward if you’re still hungry. Remember that the best part of dining out is the company and the atmosphere.
Don’t be afraid to speak up.
Ask your waiter if there are vegan options. Keep in mind that not everyone is familiar with the term “vegan”, so here are some keywords to use with waiters: dairy-free, egg-free, meatless.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask if you can modify the menu. Order the salad without cheese, or the pasta without the chicken. Ask if your food can be cooked in oil rather than butter, or if you can have lemon juice and balsamic vinegar instead of dressing. Going out for pizza? Ask if you can skip the cheese and have extra veggie toppings instead. Don’t worry about sounding too demanding; the waitstaff is used to customers making specific requests and accommodating dietary restrictions and allergies. In the end, you might be surprised with what the chef is willing to do.
Most importantly, don’t skip dessert!
If your idea of vegan dessert is fruitcake and sugar-loaded, radiation green sherbet, think again! Vegan dessert options are limitless, and if you’re at a vegan restaurant they should have some delicious plant-based choices. Unfortunately, if you’re dining somewhere other than a strictly vegan restaurant, chances are that most, if not all, of the dessert options contain dairy or egg products. But don’t let it get you down. You’ve chosen a healthy, plant-based lifestyle for a reason, and being out at a restaurant is no reason to break that. If you have an awful experience at a restaurant, or have to miss out on dessert, get out of there and go home to a pint of Roots Frozen Desserts ice cream to remind yourself that this healthy lifestyle is worth it! There’s nothing a scoop of decadent Chocolate Hazelnut or refreshing Matcha Green Tea can’t fix.
