Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant/Dining Help Thread

[bumbershoot]

Alas I've never used a dining plan.

Which is why I like HBD, because paying two TS credits for the noodle bowl would be ridiculous IMO.

Sorry I steered you astray.

 

[itchin2go]

Hi all! I tried the "new" vegetarian offering at Liberty Tree this past November:

Vegetarian Proclamation - roasted seasonal vegetable sandwich, fresh greens, and tomatoes topped with a tasty vegan mayonnaise spread with fresh fruit or sweet potato fries $12.49

Just wanted to let you know, it was EXCELLENT. It was heavy on the mushrooms, which I'm not typically a big fan of, but they were marinated in something heavenly, and were just delicious. My carnivore husband tried it too and was really impressed. I would have this again in a heartbeat. I'm craving it right now!

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Anyone have an up to date copy of the vegetarian menu at La Hacienda and/or San Angel?

Thanks

 

[prudence64]

Anyone have pany thoughts on the veggie items at the Wave?

 

[Shane Fireopal]

I have a question about the Vegan Tonga Toast at Kona Cafe. When I made my reservation I made sure they included my allergy but how do I insure that they will have the ingredients available? Do you have to e-mail the dietary needs? Sorry if I posted this in the wrong spot, I'm new to Disboards. TIA

 

[Shane Fireopal]

I have a question about the Vegan Tonga Toast at Kona Cafe. When I made my reservation I made sure they included my allergy but how do I insure that they will have the ingredients available? Do you have to e-mail the dietary needs? Sorry if I posted this in the wrong spot, I'm new to Disboards. TIA

Hello,
I copied and pasted this from the special dietary request website. I hope it helps! :

Guests with requests associated with the list below should contact Walt Disney World Resort at Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com at least 14 days prior to arrival and after booking all dining arrangements for their entire visit:

 

[Taraven87]

Ok guys, I need help! My fiancé (will be husband by the time our trip to Disney World rolls around) is vegetarian, but also a very picky eater. He will not eat tofu, eggplant, eggs (ok as an ingredient, just doesn't like the taste/ texture), or mushrooms... We were at Disney World in 2010 and he'd heard that he could work with restaurants to customize entrees, we called in advance and were told to just let our waiters know, and without fail, every single waiter would just point out the existing vegetarian option. If he indicated he'd like a different option, they acted really put out and made minimal effort. For instance, 2 separate places their solution was to give him a double portion of the kids pasta. We were never offered the opportunity to speak with a chef. Now, we don't expect special treatment or off-menu entrees at home, but all of our research indicated that Disney was very happy to accommodate individuals with unique diets to make sure they enjoy their meals, and that was not our experience.

He is very shy and HATES putting people out, so he never pressed the issue. But the problem is that he was always made to feel that he was putting people out, and it sounds like you guys have had some really amazing experiences with Disney food. It's very important to me that he enjoy his meal options, and I've been trying to only book restaurants that have something to his taste, but it's hard when so many of the restaurants are as much about the experience as the food selection. So, any tips for ways to bring this up to waitstaff that might be more successful? Should he treat his dislikes more as an allergy (I hesitate to ask because that seems to be abusing the system/ disrespectful to people who really do have serious allergies)? It just makes me scratch my head when I read these boards because I have to wonder if we went to the same Disney World!

 

[itchin2go]

Ok guys, I need help! My fiancé (will be husband by the time our trip to Disney World rolls around) is vegetarian, but also a very picky eater. He will not eat tofu, eggplant, eggs (ok as an ingredient, just doesn't like the taste/ texture), or mushrooms... We were at Disney World in 2010 and he'd heard that he could work with restaurants to customize entrees, we called in advance and were told to just let our waiters know, and without fail, every single waiter would just point out the existing vegetarian option. If he indicated he'd like a different option, they acted really put out and made minimal effort. For instance, 2 separate places their solution was to give him a double portion of the kids pasta. We were never offered the opportunity to speak with a chef. Now, we don't expect special treatment or off-menu entrees at home, but all of our research indicated that Disney was very happy to accommodate individuals with unique diets to make sure they enjoy their meals, and that was not our experience.

He is very shy and HATES putting people out, so he never pressed the issue. But the problem is that he was always made to feel that he was putting people out, and it sounds like you guys have had some really amazing experiences with Disney food. It's very important to me that he enjoy his meal options, and I've been trying to only book restaurants that have something to his taste, but it's hard when so many of the restaurants are as much about the experience as the food selection. So, any tips for ways to bring this up to waitstaff that might be more successful? Should he treat his dislikes more as an allergy (I hesitate to ask because that seems to be abusing the system/ disrespectful to people who really do have serious allergies)? It just makes me scratch my head when I read these boards because I have to wonder if we went to the same Disney World!

I have similar tastes as your husband. There was only one place I ever had a problem - Yachtsman. They had a mushroom entree and wouldn't do anything different. I also HATE for people to make a fuss over me, so when I ask, and they turn me down, I feel doubly sad.

I don't know if you'll like my advice, and it's not foolproof, but I STUDY the menus and find places with menu items that sound good to me. I will try to put together a list for you, but off the top of my head (and this is probably obvious), I would recommend Sanaa, Boma, California Grill, both Mexican restaurants in Epcot, Chefs ... I think Raglan Road has some stuff that sounds good. I'll keep brainstorming, but yeah ... I don't count on anyone "whipping me up" something on the fly. Others may have had a different experience.

Edited to say: I think the reason they're more likely to customize something for vegans is because very often, there's nothing on the menu that fits that diet. Since they DO tend to have vegetarian items on most menus, they're less likely to bend over backwards to accommodate someone who just doesn't like the available menu item.

 

[Taraven87]

I have similar tastes as your husband. There was only one place I ever had a problem - Yachtsman. They had a mushroom entree and wouldn't do anything different. I also HATE for people to make a fuss over me, so when I ask, and they turn me down, I feel doubly sad.

I don't know if you'll like my advice, and it's not foolproof, but I STUDY the menus and find places with menu items that sound good to me. I will try to put together a list for you, but off the top of my head (and this is probably obvious), I would recommend Sanaa, Boma, California Grill, both Mexican restaurants in Epcot, Chefs ... I think Raglan Road has some stuff that sounds good. I'll keep brainstorming, but yeah ... I don't count on anyone "whipping me up" something on the fly. Others may have had a different experience.

Thanks for the suggestions! We've been looking over the menus and trying to find places that hit both the "experience" we want as well as have something for his tastes. It's difficult as it seems the menus change often, but thank you for the recommendations! And it's somewhat reassuring to hear that not everyone has chefs coming to their table to craft them a customized menu. We don't expect that kind of treatment, but we'd heard so much about it, we went into the 2010 trip thinking it was kind of standard!

So far over the course of our 12 day trip we've got Jiko, Sanaa, Spice Road Table, Teppan Edo, Sci-Fi, BOG (lunch and dinner), Kona Cafe (breakfast), Le Cellier, Les Chefs de France, California Grill and Victoria & Albert's. I think most of these will work well for him, with just a couple of exceptions. Oh geez, typing it all out, that sounds like a TON of food... In my defense, it's our honeymoon, and we wanted to experience a lot of the restaurants we may not be able to justify splurging on during a future trip!

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Ok guys, I need help! My fiancé (will be husband by the time our trip to Disney World rolls around) is vegetarian, but also a very picky eater. He will not eat tofu, eggplant, eggs (ok as an ingredient, just doesn't like the taste/ texture), or mushrooms... We were at Disney World in 2010 and he'd heard that he could work with restaurants to customize entrees, we called in advance and were told to just let our waiters know, and without fail, every single waiter would just point out the existing vegetarian option. If he indicated he'd like a different option, they acted really put out and made minimal effort. For instance, 2 separate places their solution was to give him a double portion of the kids pasta. We were never offered the opportunity to speak with a chef. Now, we don't expect special treatment or off-menu entrees at home, but all of our research indicated that Disney was very happy to accommodate individuals with unique diets to make sure they enjoy their meals, and that was not our experience.

He is very shy and HATES putting people out, so he never pressed the issue. But the problem is that he was always made to feel that he was putting people out, and it sounds like you guys have had some really amazing experiences with Disney food. It's very important to me that he enjoy his meal options, and I've been trying to only book restaurants that have something to his taste, but it's hard when so many of the restaurants are as much about the experience as the food selection. So, any tips for ways to bring this up to waitstaff that might be more successful? Should he treat his dislikes more as an allergy (I hesitate to ask because that seems to be abusing the system/ disrespectful to people who really do have serious allergies)? It just makes me scratch my head when I read these boards because I have to wonder if we went to the same Disney World!

My initial thought is I would never expect a chef to go off menu even at Disney. When they do it's awesome but don't go to a restaurant expecting it. You or he need to look at the menus before hand and be sure there's something on their that he'll eat or can easily modify.

Second I don't think marking it as an allergy would really help. The only one of his dislikes on the preselected allergy list is eggs. And as someone who had food allergies I really can't approve of marking a fake allergy.

With regards to what he received on the last trip, I have two thoughts. First place yourself in the chefs shoes. You've eliminated practically every typical vegetarian main ingredient and now your upset that your being offered plain pasta. Disney isn't going to have tempeh or quinoa on hand to come up with something and most of the chefs aren't going to know really creative vegetarian dishes that don't involve eggs mushrooms tofu or eggplant. Even as a vegetarian myself I'd struggle to come up with something other than a medley of sides, pasta, a stir fry, or a veggie burger. This sounds like what you were offered and in my opinion to expect more is to put upon people.

If he is going to be both very picky and a vegetarian my biggest recommendation would be the buffets. That way he can pick and choose what he wants and eat as much of it as he likes.

 

[Taraven87]

My initial thought is I would never expect a chef to go off menu even at Disney. When they do it's awesome but don't go to a restaurant expecting it. You or he need to look at the menus before hand and be sure there's something on their that he'll eat or can easily modify.

Second I don't think marking it as an allergy would really help. The only one of his dislikes on the preselected allergy list is eggs. And as someone who had food allergies I really can't approve of marking a fake allergy.

With regards to what he received on the last trip, I have two thoughts. First place yourself in the chefs shoes. You've eliminated practically every typical vegetarian main ingredient and now your upset that your being offered plain pasta. Disney isn't going to have tempeh or quinoa on hand to come up with something and most of the chefs aren't going to know really creative vegetarian dishes that don't involve eggs mushrooms tofu or eggplant. Even as a vegetarian myself I'd struggle to come up with something other than a medley of sides, pasta, a stir fry, or a veggie burger. This sounds like what you were offered and in my opinion to expect more is to put upon people.

If he is going to be both very picky and a vegetarian my biggest recommendation would be the buffets. That way he can pick and choose what he wants and eat as much of it as he likes.

I'm sorry if I've offended you with my questions; I tried to make it clear that his expectations were only set by the dozens of stories we'd read about Disney bending over backwards to accommodate individuals with different diets. I've seen people here on this board talk about fabulous off menu meals they've had whipped up for them on the spot, and I was only asking how they were given the opportunity to collaborate with chefs. If the answer is "that's not an option for you", then that's fine, I just wanted to know if there was a different process that we had not tried, since his experience was so different from a lot of the ones we have seen described here and on other blogs. At this point, a lot of the question is curiosity because it sounds like so many vegetarians and vegans have been offered the opportunity to talk to a chef about other options as soon as they mention dietary restrictions, and that was something that was never made an option for him. Really and truly, I'm just wondering if there's a different way to ask, and if not, that is A-OK. We never would have thought to seek out another option except for all of the blogs and board members we've found raving about the creative dishes chefs offered to make for them.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I'm sorry if I've offended you with my questions; I tried to make it clear that his expectations were only set by the dozens of stories we'd read about Disney bending over backwards to accommodate individuals with different diets. I've seen people here on this board talk about fabulous off menu meals they've had whipped up for them on the spot, and I was only asking how they were given the opportunity to collaborate with chefs. If the answer is "that's not an option for you", then that's fine, I just wanted to know if there was a different process that we had not tried, since his experience was so different from a lot of the ones we have seen described here and on other blogs. At this point, a lot of the question is curiosity because it sounds like so many vegetarians and vegans have been offered the opportunity to talk to a chef about other options as soon as they mention dietary restrictions, and that was something that was never made an option for him. Really and truly, I'm just wondering if there's a different way to ask, and if not, that is A-OK. We never would have thought to seek out another option except for all of the blogs and board members we've found raving about the creative dishes chefs offered to make for them.

Not offended just trying to offer more realistic expectations. It sounded like you are/were expecting every chef to offer something off menu. The only times I've been offered truly off menu options were le cellier, Cali grill, and chef tj back in the day at 'ohana. I've on been offered to speak to a chef as a vegetarian/vegan at buffets. In other words I don't feel your past experience was entirely atypical and you should prepare for similar and look to a few noted places in hopes of some pixie dust but not expect things that aren't automatically there. I would normally recommend Jiko or Sanaa but since he's picky I'm not sure African/Indian style food would work. Maybe scifi for veggie burgers or Italy for pasta/pizza or Mexico.
If he really wants to talk to a chef at least one of you is going to have to be assertive about it and you need to be prepared to wait.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Not offended just trying to offer more realistic expectations. It sounded like you are/were expecting every chef to offer something off menu. The only times I've been offered truly off menu options were le cellier, Cali grill, and chef tj back in the day at 'ohana. I've on been offered to speak to a chef as a vegetarian/vegan at buffets. In other words I don't feel your past experience was entirely atypical and you should prepare for similar and look to a few noted places in hopes of some pixie dust but not expect things that aren't automatically there. I would normally recommend Jiko or Sanaa but since he's picky I'm not sure African/Indian style food would work. Maybe scifi for veggie burgers or Italy for pasta/pizza or Mexico

Also both the le cellier and Cali grill dishes were mushroom based and 'ohana's was tofu heavy so that wouldn't have helped in this case

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I don't know if you'll like my advice, and it's not foolproof, but I STUDY the menus and find places with menu items that sound good to me. I will try to put together a list for you, but off the top of my head (and this is probably obvious), I would recommend Sanaa, Boma, California Grill, both Mexican restaurants in Epcot, Chefs ... I think Raglan Road has some stuff that sounds good. I'll keep brainstorming, but yeah ... I don't count on anyone "whipping me up" something on the fly. Others may have had a different experience.

Edited to say: I think the reason they're more likely to customize something for vegans is because very often, there's nothing on the menu that fits that diet. Since they DO tend to have vegetarian items on most menus, they're less likely to bend over backwards to accommodate someone who just doesn't like the available menu item.

I cannot echo this enough! You should study the menus expecting that to be your choices just like you would at your local restaurant.

 

[itchin2go]

Thanks for the suggestions! We've been looking over the menus and trying to find places that hit both the "experience" we want as well as have something for his tastes. It's difficult as it seems the menus change often, but thank you for the recommendations! And it's somewhat reassuring to hear that not everyone has chefs coming to their table to craft them a customized menu. We don't expect that kind of treatment, but we'd heard so much about it, we went into the 2010 trip thinking it was kind of standard!

So far over the course of our 12 day trip we've got Jiko, Sanaa, Spice Road Table, Teppan Edo, Sci-Fi, BOG (lunch and dinner), Kona Cafe (breakfast), Le Cellier, Les Chefs de France, California Grill and Victoria & Albert's. I think most of these will work well for him, with just a couple of exceptions. Oh geez, typing it all out, that sounds like a TON of food... In my defense, it's our honeymoon, and we wanted to experience a lot of the restaurants we may not be able to justify splurging on during a future trip!

You have picked great places!

A couple of recommendations: At Sanaa - get ALL the dipping sauces with the bread service - so much fun and so delicious! At Le Cellier, we LOVED the Le Cellier poutine. I think it was french fries with melted cheddar and a red wine reduction - sinful and amazing. At Chefs, the only think I remember is that the kids cheese pastry appetizer was the best thing any of us had. See if they can bring you one of those. At Cali Grille - DON'T order the vegetarian entree - order the "Vegetarian Unplugged". Let them know he's not into mushrooms or whatever. The chefs will give you various side dishes or creations - 4 of them. Super fun. My server actually recommended that over the listed entree. It is not on the menu, but it well known. I am so self-conscious, that I was nervous to mention it. I needn't have worried. They won't bat an eyelash.

Some places like Le Cellier change out their vegetarian entree seasonally, so do watch the menus leading up to your trip. Many times, they are very mushroom heavy.

Also, I would think V&A would be the exception as far as customizing the menu to his likes and dislikes. When you're dropping that much money, for sure ASK and see what they'll do. I bet it will be amazing.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

So far over the course of our 12 day trip we've got Jiko, Sanaa, Spice Road Table, Teppan Edo, Sci-Fi, BOG (lunch and dinner), Kona Cafe (breakfast), Le Cellier, Les Chefs de France, California Grill and Victoria & Albert's. I think most of these will work well for him, with just a couple of exceptions. Oh geez, typing it all out, that sounds like a TON of food... In my defense, it's our honeymoon, and we wanted to experience a lot of the restaurants we may not be able to justify splurging on during a future trip!

Again have him look at the menus! Based off your comments I'd have double check Teppan Edo (stirfry typically has mushrooms in it, is he okay with eating around them if they don't leave it out), Sanaa (is he okay with Indian type food, you said he was picky), Le Cellier (every vegetarian dish I've had there has mushrooms), and BoG (again not sure how he'd be with Rataouille since that contains both eggplants and mushrooms and seem exceptionally reluctant to go off menu).

Chefs has an amazing Macaroni and Cheese type entree that should work for him and a veggie lasagna (but I'm pretty sure that contains both mushrooms and eggplant). At Kona, they will sub fruit for the bacon with pancakes or waffles. SciFi has a veggie burger. Jiko has a separate vegan menu that you can look at.

V & A will definitely customize based on preference and should call you before hand to find out that stuff. Cali Grill may do vegetarian unplugged but if they're busy you either need to really emphasize you're willing to wait or be prepared to hear no. (This happened to me at fireworks time because the chefs were all swamped with orders and it takes a while especially when you're adding more restrictions)

 

[Taraven87]

No, not expecting people to work with us off-menu; I have just heard so many people say that they had a chef offer to, and it ended up being the best meal they had. I just wondered if there was a way to politely put in a request for the meal or two that might be a challenge for him, but if not, that is fine. The current selection at Le Cellier (at least last I checked) looked like a pretty tasty squash ravioli, he loves Indian food (hence Sanaa being a must-try), he's had the option at Les Chefs and liked it, and who knows about California Grill!? It looks like their options rotate really frequently, so I guess we'll just hope that it's something he'll enjoy when he's there. Kona is just breakfast so I'm not too concerned about that one for him.

I've spoken with V&A already on the phone and it sounds like all of their meals are semi-custom to start with, so that will likely be the easiest meal, from that perspective. It's mostly just the menus that rotate often that I'm concerned about, we tried to pick most of our meals based on restaurants that had something he'd enjoy. It's hard to predict what some of these places will have in six months' time. Oh well, I know I'll enjoy my food I am an adventurous eater and enjoy most everything.

 

[kboo]

I wish I'd heard of Vegetarian Unplugged when we went to Cali Grill last year! But I had a great dinner nonetheless, I felt like there were many options as a vegetarian. I also never had a chef come talk to me about customizing anything, but generally had a good experience by picking restaurants that had various veggie options too. Tusker House, Boma, Sanaa are all great options. BoG I just had the ratatouille, so if he's not a fan of eggplant, I might give that a pass. I will say, it's the ratatouille like it's made in Ratatouille, with thin slices of eggplant, not chunks, so it feels more like a veggie tart. The Land was actually surprising - it's family style but they also serve a quinoa stuffed pepper that is quite good and not on the menu. So my DH and kid got a great deal because they had the regular Land menu (and they brought out all the kids options even though DD was under 3 and they weren't charging for her), AND my stuffed peppers, and they brought more stuffed peppers when they saw that DH liked it too.

Good luck - I happen to love mushrooms and tofu and eggplant, so it wasn't really an issue for me.

Oh! Also - we had a GREAT impromptu dinner at the cave bar in Italy - Tutto Gusto - that had some phenomenal homemade pasta. And I say this coming from NYC where good Italian food is everywhere.

 

[itchin2go]

Again have him look at the menus! Based off your comments I'd have double check Teppan Edo (stirfry typically has mushrooms in it, is he okay with eating around them if they don't leave it out), Sanaa (is he okay with Indian type food, you said he was picky), Le Cellier (every vegetarian dish I've had there has mushrooms), and BoG (again not sure how he'd be with Rataouille since that contains both eggplants and mushrooms and seem exceptionally reluctant to go off menu).

Chefs has an amazing Macaroni and Cheese type entree that should work for him and a veggie lasagna (but I'm pretty sure that contains both mushrooms and eggplant). At Kona, they will sub fruit for the bacon with pancakes or waffles. SciFi has a veggie burger. Jiko has a separate vegan menu that you can look at.

V & A will definitely customize based on preference and should call you before hand to find out that stuff. Cali Grill may do vegetarian unplugged but if they're busy you either need to really emphasize you're willing to wait or be prepared to hear no. (This happened to me at fireworks time because the chefs were all swamped with orders and it takes a while especially when you're adding more restrictions)

FWIW, I am not much of a mushroom person, but I will order something with mushrooms in it, because I'm willing to try them, or just eat around them if need be. It's not the flavor I don't like, so much as the texture. I have eaten twice at Teppan Edo and gone away stuffed. Again, I don't have a problem with other veg being cooked with mushrooms, but if memory serves, each vegetable is cooked separately, but on the same griddle (which I'm sure is an insulting word for that majestic food surface they cook on ).

With regard to "picky", we don't really know what OP means, except in regard to eggs, eggplant, mushrooms and tofu. I grew up with a dad and brother who were "picky". They ate all kinds of meat, but wouldn't touch a sauce or vegetable to save their lives. Fast forward to my daughter who is "picky", which means that she'll eat many meats, and sauces of every kind, but won't touch a vegetable or fruit. She ADORED Sanaa, and I'm pretty sure my dad would have hated it. FWIW, I am not particularly fond of mushrooms or tofu (it would be ok with me if they didn't exist ), and I love eating at Disney World. I am MANIACAL about checking the menus though.

At Le Cellier, I had a good pumpkin or squash ravioli there once. Again, their vegetarian entrees are seasonal, so it's worth checking ahead ... and often. This last time, I had the poutine (shared) and a salad. That plus the bread was enough for me. It's not health food, but it was good.

I cannot help with BOG except to say I ate there at lunch and hated it. BAD french onion soup and a BAD dry flavorless quiche. Not going back there. It's the exception, though, not the rule. I also didn't really like Kona for breakfast, but I'm in the minority. I would think a buffet might be better?

 

[itchin2go]

No, not expecting people to work with us off-menu; I have just heard so many people say that they had a chef offer to, and it ended up being the best meal they had. I just wondered if there was a way to politely put in a request for the meal or two that might be a challenge for him, but if not, that is fine. The current selection at Le Cellier (at least last I checked) looked like a pretty tasty squash ravioli, he loves Indian food (hence Sanaa being a must-try), he's had the option at Les Chefs and liked it, and who knows about California Grill!? It looks like their options rotate really frequently, so I guess we'll just hope that it's something he'll enjoy when he's there. Kona is just breakfast so I'm not too concerned about that one for him.

I've spoken with V&A already on the phone and it sounds like all of their meals are semi-custom to start with, so that will likely be the easiest meal, from that perspective. It's mostly just the menus that rotate often that I'm concerned about, we tried to pick most of our meals based on restaurants that had something he'd enjoy. It's hard to predict what some of these places will have in six months' time. Oh well, I know I'll enjoy my food I am an adventurous eater and enjoy most everything.

Please write back and let us know what the menu at V&A turns out to be. Really jealous of that one.