Vegetarians...where and what do you eat at WDW

[tinkerrn]

Ok....trying to make some ADRs and am having problems. I have just recently changed my lifestyle in regards to eating vegetarian. I will eat dairy and eggs. I have looked at several menus on the allearsnet.com site, that is awesome. I was wondering where you eat for a nice dinner and for casual dining. I am not worried about breakfast.

I am also interested in grilled sandwiches, not veggies burgers. I understand that those at WDW are Bocca burgers...don't like them too much.

Is there a dish you ate at CG, Jikos, Spoodles, Artists Point, etc...that was incrdeible? Thanks!

 

[druidia]

My DH and I are both lacto-ovo vegetarians, like you. Our favorite places to eat are Artist's Point in the WL and Boma at the AKL.

At AP in WL, they have a few vegetarian side items on their entrees. You can ask them to put them together in a veggie plate for you and they will. The Tillamook Mac and Cheese is incredible, as well as the Sweet Potato Gratin. My husband likes to get the Potato Chive Potstickers. They are very accomodating at AP.

Boma also has a great selection of veg items. The hummus selection alone is fab! Jiko at the AKL also has a few good veggie items.

And although it is not your typical ADR restaurant, Victoria and Albert's at the GF was voted by Vegetarian Times as one of the top veg restaurants in the country.

The "Amber Waves of Grain" dish at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK is one of our favorites; we had them serve it at our wedding! Columbia Harbor House has a good sandwich on the menu that we had during the Keys to the Kingdom tour.

Suprisingly, one of the worst places to find veg used to be Epcot, but the new Seasons food court in the land has some great veggie options. Chefs de France has a few items on their menu, but that's about it in Epcot. This was evident from our wedding food; the chefs really didn't cook very good veggie items during our food tasting for our menu. We ended up having several meat items for our guests and just a few veggie items for us.

MGM has a better veg selection: Brown Derby and SciFi both have good veg dishes.

Sadly, not much at AK. We usually stop over in Africa at the fruit stand and get a fruit and cheese bowl for a light lunch and that's it.

CG and Spoodles have a few good items as well.

I've found that the higher end restaurants have the more accomodating and flexible chefs; that usually means the resort locations that don't cook like they are churning out fast food.

Two things:

I didn't say they were all healthy...some of them are way high calorie and quite delicious as a result.

We actually don't eat stuff that we know has animal fat or broth, stock, etc. You may not be that strict.

WDW has been very slow to come around on the vegetarian menus, but they are trying.

 

[blueroses]

California Grill has some great veg appetizers, like the beet salad, and they have had a pumpkin ravioli entree on the menu each time I've been there. The ravioli is SO GOOD. I also remember a review a few months back where someone mentioned having another vegetarian entree that sounded just incredible. It may have been a special.

Tangierine Cafe at Morocco in Epcot has a vegetarian platter with hummus, tabouleh, etc. if you're looking for counter service at that park.

Jiko does a vegan entree with tofu, grains, and vegetables. I love tofu, but I didn't like it - it tasted too healthy!

Happy Eating!

 

[jacksonsmom]

I have been to the California Grill twice and had a great experience there.

Each time the chef makes up a dish of different samples of vegetarian items. I am always surprise but never have been disappointed.

One thing that you have to try, if it is still on the appetizer menu, is the Goat Cheese ravioli! It is so good, I could have a plate full of that and be really happy.

I also agree on the "Amber Waves of Grain" at LLT. Very good!

I never go hungry at WDW. If you don't see something on the menu, never been afraid to ask too!

 

[tinkerrn]

YUM!!! Everything sounds sooo good. I will try AP and CG, we are have ressies for our anniversary at Narcooses, but looks like I will change.

 

[Stitch1404]

Anyone have any suggestions for Citricos or 50's Primetime? I am a vegetarian and also allergic to any kind of pepper.

 

[LErin26]

I am an ovo-lacto veg and I just got the book "Vegetarian Guide to WDW and greater Orlando." It has great suggestions for all the parks, Universal/IOA, and greater Orlando. It doesn't cover Seaworld though. This book has been a lifesaver for me. Can probably get a used copy off of Amazon for less than $10.

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

I'm an ovo-lacto and have been for 17 years and have been to WDW over 40 times in that stretch...and I love to go just for the food! My absolute favorite and must do every trip is CG for the wild mushroom, bleu cheese, and onion jam flatbread! It is AWESOME! Almost everywhere I have eaten has been very accomodating to my needs!

 

[Stitch1404]

Should I ask to speak to a chef? Or maybe just explain the situation to the server? Will they make something to suit my needs?

 

[J&J]

We have never had a problem each rest will help you and make something special for you. Rose & Crown know for their meat always gives us a veg plate.

 

[3DisneyKids]

...LOL...look at my tag and you will see that I have some experience with this...and I can tell you that it is a WHOLE lot easier to eat veg at WDW now than it was 20 + years ago!

Most of the "big" ones have already been mentioned (Boma, California Grill, etc.). However, pretty much all sit-down restarants are more than willing to accommodate. When I can can, I call ahead and speak to someone on the staff and try to work something out ahead of time. However, you can't always be that organized (or don't want to....sometimes I just want to decide on the spur of the moment where to eat).

My favorite, though, is Wolfgang Puck's Cafe. I have been there twice in the last year, and each time it was BY FAR our best meal of the trip. The server and chef both came out and talked to us about what we liked, etc. Then came up with something spectacular. It seemed to us that the chef just really liked having FUN with food and made it a personal quest to come up with something awesome....he really got into it in the true Disney CM way.

Also, I didn't see anyone mention Crystal Palace. Yes, it is buffet, but it is well-known as the best veg buffet in the World.

Hope this helps. And yes, Deb's site is a life-saver for this, so glad you have already spent time there.

 

[tinkerrn]

My tummy is rumbling right now!!!! I am starving!!! Everything sounds soo good...the pumpkin ravioli, goat cheese ravioli, and the flatbreads. From what you guyys have said, it loooks like CG, AP, and Wolfgangs are tops. I did read Wolfgangs menu....delicious. Can't wait!!!

 

[jacksonsmom]

Anyone have any suggestions for Citricos or 50's Primetime? I am a vegetarian and also allergic to any kind of pepper.

Can't help you with Citircos but when I went to 50s Prime Time a few years back I didn't feel like Stuffed Peppers. That was the only veg item on the menu. I talked to the CM and she said that they have veggie burgers. NOw I know some people don't like them but I love them at times. So I had a veggie burger and onion straws! It was very good.

I haven't been to 50s since 2003 so I don't know if things have changed or not but we do have ADRs at 50s for our Oct trip

 

[Stitch1404]

Can't help you with Citircos but when I went to 50s Prime Time a few years back I didn't feel like Stuffed Peppers. That was the only veg item on the menu. I talked to the CM and she said that they have veggie burgers. NOw I know some people don't like them but I love them at times. So I had a veggie burger and onion straws! It was very good.

I haven't been to 50s since 2003 so I don't know if things have changed or not but we do have ADRs at 50s for our Oct trip

Yeah, looking at the menu I thought I was in trouble at 50's PT. The only veggie entree is stuffed peppers and I can't have peppers! I do like veggie burgers. Do they have these at many restaurants if you just ask? A lot of times they have peppers in them though, here we go again...

 

[Laura]

I had only one veggie burger the whole time I was in WDW, and that's because I was stupid and didn't eat breakfast. I was starving in MGM and Rosie's was the nearest CS place. I don't like the Boca burgers either, but it was okay--probably because I was hungry. I would have tried ABC Comissary or Backlot Express otherwise.

AK is the one park that is very low on veggie offerings at the CS restaurants (ironic for such an animal-friendly themed park), but they're opening an Asian restaurant next year, which should help with good veggie offerings. If you go to Rainforest Cafe, you'll have no problem (I haven't tried it, though). I actually had a kids mac-n-cheese meal at Tusker House to save room for the binging I did at Boma that evening. Also, there's Pizzafari and some lighter fare at Flame Tree.

If you want, you can read my dining review from our April/May trip here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1112124
I bolded the names of the restaurants we went to.

You're totally right not to worry about breakfast. If something on the menu has a side of bacon/sausage, they'll happily remove it or replace it with something else, like fruit.

 

[Kay1]

I think the veggie sandwich at Backlot Express (MGM) is beyond delicious - just fantastic. I also love the Columbia Harbour House Lighthouse sandwich. We just spent three nights at the Swan and had great veg dinners each night. Our first was the Fettucine Alfredo at Alfredo's, the Coconut-crusted tofu at the Brown Derby (heaven on earth), and the great Vegetable curry at the Rose and Crown.

Thanks to everyone who posted to this thread - great info.

 

[disnut1149]

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm also an lacto-ovo veg and have been for 13 years. I'm excited to try Boma and some other places after reading about them.

 

[tigerdragon]

We went on our first trip to WDW last October and I found it very easy to find vegetarian meals everywhere we went. One of my favorite meals was the vegetable sandwich at Tusker House in AK. I've heard they changed it though, which makes me sad because I was looking forward to it again on our next trip.

 

[smartestnumber5]

I think folks have already mentioned these, but I'll add my opinion.

Boma is tops for me in terms of variety and number of vegetarian options. I've also done California Grill with no problem. I actually tend to be more excited about appetizers than entrees and CG has a lot of vegetarian appetizers. Spoodles also has a number of vegetarian appetizers and a least one entree. I've done Chef Mickey's for dinner and 1900 Park Fare for breakfast--both are fine (for breakfast is always pretty easy to find veggie food) but for me Chef Mickey's isn't really very exciting.

I've done a couple of the meat heavy places with my family who all eat meat. At Ohana they made me a plate of huge plate of very good veggie lo mein and I ate the vegetarian sides that my family got as well (though this was a number of years ago before they changed the menu.) And at Whispering Canyon my family members all got the skillet and I got a pasta dish which was almost the same price as the skillet! The pasta was good, but I felt kind of left out with my family eating all that food and me with just this one dish that was only okay. We did ask our server if I could have a little of the salad and cornbread from the skillet and he agreed.

For our upcoming trip we're doing some new ones: Artist Point, Sci Fi, Chefs de France, Le Cellier