It's becoming easier and easier to eat out when you're vegan these days; it just needs a little bit of know-how and a tiny bit of planning. But with growing awareness of, and respect for this lifestyle, many establishments are making the effort to cater for us very well. It also makes good business sense, because the number of vegans in the UK, and globally, is rising at an unprecedented rate.
Our top tips for eating out:
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If you’re planning on being out of town ask the online Vegan community for places they’d recommend. People love to help!
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Head for Vegan restaurants / cafes as a first choice, but bear in mind that most vegetarian eateries understand and cater very well for Vegans too.
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Let technology work for you and make use of great websites such as Happy Cow and
Yelp as well as apps including
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Other places that tend to be knowledgeable and have menu items that are Vegan by default include Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Thai and Indian (but
check for ingredients such as meat stock and ghee (clarified butter) in Indian cuisine, for example. -
Never dismiss some of the larger restaurant chains. For example Toby Carvery offer two (labeled) Vegan main courses as well as most of the
vegetable choices of course and they also serve a Vegan gravy! Pizza Hut has a colour coded guide to all that’s Vegan – e.g. deep pan veggie pizza
(no cheese) is fine! Pizza express actually offer a Vegan pizza ‘Picante’ and Wagamamas restaurants are widely used by Vegans. -
A little homework beforehand can really help. If you can find a couple of places you like the look of you can see if they have an online menu for
you to peruse and maybe even contact them in advance to see what they can prepare for you. -
Never be afraid to ask how something is prepared and to also see if they might cook you something specially. If your approach is friendly, the vast
majority of establishments are only too happy to help and anywhere with a good chef will actually love the opportunity to do something different
and delight a customer. -
Remember that any place that’s rude to you was never worth eating at in the first place and you may wish to post a review on a consumer site such
as Trip Advisor. -
Relax in the knowledge that there is usually something you can create from most menus – even if it’s a baked potato and a salad from the side
orders. It means that you can still eat with your friends and family without any problems at all. -
Share
your happy Vegan dining experiences with others online, so that we can all benefit from them. -
Remember to thank establishments that have been helpful – it’s a great way to encourage them to do more!
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If all else fails and you really can’t find anywhere (extremely rare) then have a couple of handy snacks packed in your bag/car to keep you going
until you can get to somewhere more helpful.
New for Summer 2015! We’re currently building an Associate’s discount directory for the UK’s best Vegan-friendly cafes, restaurants and bars. Got a favourite? Please let us know and we’ll give them a call.