Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant/Dining Help Thread

Oh my! I forgot to add Disney Springs stops to my report yesterday! (Thanks for reminding me, Lady_hlh, with your mention of Blaze!)

Blaze Pizza: Very good! We mentioned to the first CM that we were vegan and asked what they could do. She began saying "we have two vegan crusts, lots of toppings, vegan cheese..." And my princess was just saying "I guess we'll do the traditional crust" when another very eager CM popped out from behind the first saying "I've just changed my gloves for you and we have the traditional crust right here. Would you like to start with the vegan cheese?" Then she loaded us up with a great serving of the vegan cheese and she even paused to ask if that looked like enough! So very sweet and thoughtful of her! Tons of toppings later, and a little oregano that she sprinkled like "Salt Bae," and we had a perfect vegan pizza pie! We also love the specialty beverages with free refills (blood orange lemonade is the best!) and the little touches like having real Sriracha in the condiments area. Pro tip: if you're light eaters or just looking for a snack, my princess and I just split one pizza and found it to be enough. On the other hand, it's great pizza so I know I could put down a whole one by myself most of the time. I don't know the actual dollar value comparisons, but I imagine one of these pizzas loaded with enough toppings might be the most food it's possible to obtain for one QS credit on the dining plan.

Morimoto: It's our third trip to Morimoto and the third time the menu has looked a little different. Now we don't even see our two vegan dishes listed on the menu, but our server assured us they can still do both the Veggies and Tofu dish (stir fried, I think? The sauce they do it with is super tasty.) as well as the vegan rendition of their Pad Thai. I am in love with this Pad Thai. They use tamarind in their sauce and that just makes it so lively and different from a Pad Thai you'd find anywhere else. Usually my princess gets the tofu and I get the pad thai and then we each have a bite of the other person's. This was the first time with both got the Pad Thai. Princess GF liked it enough to clean her plate, but said next time she'll be getting the tofu again and that she actually prefers the way I make pad thai! She doesn't understand why that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, but I've been riding high ever since, thinking "I have defeated Iron Chef Morimoto!!!" :P

Side note about DS: Seems like Disney Springs cast members are more likely than parks CM's to know what "vegan" means. The only other CM's I found who seemed so knowledgeable and eager to assist were at Grand Floridian and many of those places aren't available to non-guests (room service) or simply aren't open at lunch time. I only wish the Springs were closer to Magic Kingdom so we could solve some that problem of the most vegan-friendly place in MK also being the most popular ADR in the park at this time.

Side note about my previous post: the vegan woman-owned makeup we found was through Amazon! Sorry for failing to finish that thought! Happy Halloween-prep season, everyone! :)
 
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MisplacedUnderwear: Great report! Fellow vegan here. Did you get to Erin McKenna's bakery at DS? Everything there is both vegan and gluten-free.

I also love Blaze Pizza. The chili at CHH is not my idea of something good to eat (I don't do spicy, even a little spicy) and CHH recently took their delicious hummus sandwich (which could be made vegan by leaving off the slaw) off their menu. There's basically nowhere to have a real vegan meal at a QS restaurant in MK now, and there used to be two places--CHH (the Lighthouse Sandwich) and Cosmic Ray's (they had a vegan veggie burger). Hard to believe that 10 years ago it was easier to do vegan QS at MK than it is now.

I've written to WDW several times to pretty much beg them to keep at least some vegan veggie burgers available at at least one QS place in MK, but so far they haven't done that.

Speaking of the GF and being vegan, one of my favorite meals is at the GFC (sit-down, need a reservation usually). They'll make the miso salmon with tofu instead of salmon, and it is delish! And they have vegan rolls there, vegan "butter," and either Tofutti or something like it for dessert.
 
Did you get to Erin McKenna's bakery at DS?

We didn't go on this trip, but I've been a couple of times in the past. My first visit, when it was still called BabycakesNYC, was actually the first time in my life having a vegan cupcake...and it was such a disappointment. Really dry, flavorless and crumbly. And I even made the mistake of buying extras to take with me to my mom's house in northern FL and they were even worse the next day! After the name change, we gave them another shot and I tried a Samoa doughnut that I mostly enjoyed--- great flavor, but it seemed overpriced and small, and I still felt it was a bit too crumbly and not chewy enough. That said, I'm truly spoiled now. I work in downtown DC so I can get Sticky Fingers delivered to my office. They've won that show Cupcake Wars against bakers who use milk and eggs. And there's a vegan doughnut shop that opened a couple of years ago on the route we drive up to the "mountains" most weekends that we go hiking up in Catoctin (the pseudo-national park where the president's retreat Camp David is located). After having those, I just don't see a reason to go to Erin McKenna's. Honestly, I'm actually somewhat against mediocre vegan food. I think it represents our people badly and keeps away potential converts. When I take meat eaters to real vegan restaurants in the city here, they go "okay, I get it! I could go vegan and eat this stuff everyday." If you take an omnivore to Erin McKenna's they're gonna say "eww. I guess I would eat this if I was allergic to all other sweets." I think that may have something to do with the gluten. I'm not sure there's a way to make most types of bread products both good and gluten-free. That wheat protein is the chewiness of the bread and I don't know if there's a way to replace or replicate it. And I'm actually pretty pro-gluten. My new favorite vegan Disney tip from this last trip was the discovery of Amazon Prime Now -- it's so much better & cheaper than Garden Grocer -- because I can get Primal Strips vegan jerky delivered to the hotel! But vegan jerky is generally just Tempeh which is just a fancy way of saying "gluten." Strangely, vegan jerky is one of the few things that's difficult for me to get near my home so finding out I can have it delivered for a very reasonable price while I'm at Disney World is new and exciting. My princess was joking that my new favorite Disney snack isn't sold by Disney! :P

Thanks for the tip about Grand Floridian Cafe. I suspected that they could do something good, but I screwed up and lost track of time so I tried to visit when they weren't open between lunch and dinner times! We'll definitely have to keep them in mind as an MK option! :)

Any chance anyone here knows anything about Sprinkles' vegan red velvet cakes or if there's a vegan option from Amorette's? I'm gonna need a birthday cake for my princess on the next trip and I just can't follow up last year's Sticky Fingers' Chocolate Devotion cake with some questionable thing from Erin McKenna's...
 
Any chance anyone here knows anything about Sprinkles' vegan red velvet cakes or if there's a vegan option from Amorette's? I'm gonna need a birthday cake for my princess on the next trip and I just can't follow up last year's Sticky Fingers' Chocolate Devotion cake with some questionable thing from Erin McKenna's...

My vegan teen says that the red velvet vegan cupcake at Sprinkles was fabulous. She also didn't care for any of the cupcakes from Erin McKenna, said they were nasty. My teen is quite the connoisseur of vegan baked goods because near my folks place in PA there is a bakery called Vegan Treats that is fabulous.
 


Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had information on what is served to vegetarians at Garden Grill. This time I will have my two little guys with me so I was also wondering about vegetarian kids there.
 
Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had information on what is served to vegetarians at Garden Grill. This time I will have my two little guys with me so I was also wondering about vegetarian kids there.

I ate there a few weeks ago. The salad has meat (bacon, I think?) and eggs, but you can ask them for one without. I was brought a separate vegetarian platter with veggie loaf, mashed potatoes, fries, green beans, and Mac and cheese with a few goldfish crackers on top. There may have been some stuffing and/or white rice on there too, I can't remember. There's also the rolls that you get in the beginning of the meal as well as the berry shortcake dessert. The veggie loaf tasted like a soft (as in not crunchy) stuffing to me and it's covered in a tomato sauce. I thought it was good. There are green spots throughout it (from the veggies), though not any actual discernable chunks of vegetables. I mention that because I don't know how picky your kids might be based on how it looks. I found this image online of it. Ignore the sweet potato fries, as they were replaced with regular fries a while back.IMG_20170916_231903.jpg
 
I ate there a few weeks ago. The salad has meat (bacon, I think?) and eggs, but you can ask them for one without. I was brought a separate vegetarian platter with veggie loaf, mashed potatoes, fries, green beans, and Mac and cheese with a few goldfish crackers on top. There may have been some stuffing and/or white rice on there too, I can't remember. There's also the rolls that you get in the beginning of the meal as well as the berry shortcake dessert. The veggie loaf tasted like a soft (as in not crunchy) stuffing to me and it's covered in a tomato sauce. I thought it was good. There are green spots throughout it (from the veggies), though not any actual discernable chunks of vegetables. I mention that because I don't know how picky your kids might be based on how it looks. I found this image online of it. Ignore the sweet potato fries, as they were replaced with regular fries a while back.

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that it tastes good. Luckily my boys eat veggies so I think they should be able to eat it too. Although the macaroni and cheese with fish crackers will probably be a hit. :)
 


...I'm glad to hear that it tastes good...

Just to represent the other side, I had a pretty bad experience dining at GG with my better half in the spring of last year. We're both vegan and found the food beyond disappointing. At the time they were doing a stuffed pepper that was passable at best and, as this restaurant claims to have very few raw ingredients in the kitchen, the best they could do for sides was white rice, fries, and unseasoned steamed broccoli. There was also a salad that was frustrating to begin with -- if I'm paying $100 for two people to eat in a restaurant that's literally attached to a greenhouse, wilted iceberg lettuce shouldn't even cross the "chef's" mind -- and naturally we found a hair in ours. I know that can happen anywhere, but it's like serendipity that everything went exactly right to make this restaurant just the worst dining experience possible. To top it off, we found out that my better half gets motion sick in slowly revolving restaurants! Chip & Dale are awesome and Farmer Mickey is adorable and they all spent a significant amount of time with quality time with us. My personal recommendation: if you're down to pay $40 per person for a great meet & greet then this GG is an awesome choice. If you care at all about the food, then you should consider eating much better food (for way cheaper) at Sunshine Seasons downstairs and then go back out to the character spots about 100 yards away in Future World. Bonus complaint/pro-tip: it took so long to get our "special allergy food" that it more than accounted for any time we'd have spent waiting in those Character Spot queues. :P

I wish you luck with whatever you choose and hope that you have a magical vacation!
 
Just to represent the other side, I had a pretty bad experience dining at GG with my better half in the spring of last year. We're both vegan and found the food beyond disappointing. At the time they were doing a stuffed pepper that was passable at best and, as this restaurant claims to have very few raw ingredients in the kitchen, the best they could do for sides was white rice, fries, and unseasoned steamed broccoli. There was also a salad that was frustrating to begin with -- if I'm paying $100 for two people to eat in a restaurant that's literally attached to a greenhouse, wilted iceberg lettuce shouldn't even cross the "chef's" mind -- and naturally we found a hair in ours. I know that can happen anywhere, but it's like serendipity that everything went exactly right to make this restaurant just the worst dining experience possible. To top it off, we found out that my better half gets motion sick in slowly revolving restaurants! Chip & Dale are awesome and Farmer Mickey is adorable and they all spent a significant amount of time with quality time with us. My personal recommendation: if you're down to pay $40 per person for a great meet & greet then this GG is an awesome choice. If you care at all about the food, then you should consider eating much better food (for way cheaper) at Sunshine Seasons downstairs and then go back out to the character spots about 100 yards away in Future World. Bonus complaint/pro-tip: it took so long to get our "special allergy food" that it more than accounted for any time we'd have spent waiting in those Character Spot queues. :P

I wish you luck with whatever you choose and hope that you have a magical vacation!

Thanks for this perspective. I'm sorry it turned out so badly for you. We are just vegetarian and have no other restrictions so hopefully this turns out okay. The main reason I picked it out was for the characters because my four year old is obsessed with Mickey. Glad that they changed it from the stuffed pepper which doesn't sound pleasant. I'll report back on the veggie loaf.
 
Thanks for this perspective. I'm sorry it turned out so badly for you. We are just vegetarian and have no other restrictions so hopefully this turns out okay. The main reason I picked it out was for the characters because my four year old is obsessed with Mickey. Glad that they changed it from the stuffed pepper which doesn't sound pleasant. I'll report back on the veggie loaf.

Being just vegetarian, I wouldn't think you'd have to wait too long at Garden Grill or most any of the other restaurants on property for your food. I think vegetarians are rather common down there and they seemed to easily accommodate me without a wait most everywhere. At GG, I actually received my platter of food before the rest of my group received the meat platter. The only restaurants I went to that were slow with bringing my vegetarian meal were HDD (moreso because the waitress took forever to take my order- once she did, the food came out quickly, but everyone else had been eating for 5 mins before she took my order), and Trail's End. That one was a messed up experience that I will eventually explain further on this thread, but overall, it wasn't a good experience.
 
Thanks for the information everyone! We are making a trip down this weekend, and will be testing many of these recommendations.

Will post here when we get back with some reflections!
 
My vegan teen says that the red velvet vegan cupcake at Sprinkles was fabulous. She also didn't care for any of the cupcakes from Erin McKenna, said they were nasty. My teen is quite the connoisseur of vegan baked goods because near my folks place in PA there is a bakery called Vegan Treats that is fabulous.

Interesting! When I was last in Florida I really enjoyed all the baked goods I got from Erin McKenna's (the cookies especially!) - I thought they were better than Sprinkles.

...but I could be spoiled on Sprinkles (I live in SoCal and there's a Sprinkles just a few miles from my work). I really appreciate that their frosting is light (coconut based!) and not that heavy, bogged down "creEm CheeZ" frosting most vegan cakes generally have.
 
I've mentioned this before, but Allears.net is a pretty good general source for Disney restaurant menus. Here's the link
http://allears.net/dining/menu/
The menus don't point out specific vegan dishes, but they're updated regularly.

There is a special section for vegetarian/vegan dining, but it hasn't been maintained for years - so the menus are generally as you'd see them at WDW.

I know the vegan disney page on facebook has been mentioned already as well, but I want to link that here for ya -
https://www.facebook.com/groups/509637195830619/
 
Heading to Disney in March with my 17yr old daughter. We eat mostly vegetarian (but also eat eggs, dairy (17yr old is sensitive), fish and shrimp, but not other shellfish). Cross contamination with meat and poutry is a big concern for us.

Here is what we're considering so far:

Tues
Lunch: Morimoto Asia Street Food / YeSake / Daily Poutine (French Poutine) / Blaze Pizza

Dinner: Beaches & Cream / Fontera Cocina / Trail's End (intrigued by reports of Chef TJ)

Wed:
Breakfast: Boardwalk Bakery

Lunch: Sunshine Seasons / Yorkshire County Fish (not veg, but we eat fish) /
Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie

Dinner: Tokyo Dining (Sushi!!) or Chef's De France

Thurs:
Breakfast: Grand Floridian Cafe / Beaches & Cream

Lunch: Afternoon Tea at the Garden Room Tearoom (if we can score a reservation)

The premise of our trip is a bit of a foodie adventure. Are there any must do dining experiences on our list (or that we haven't considered)?

Aslo, I was wondering...I've seen in some of the vegan threads the the diner ordered fries (even when there are other fried items on the menu, like chicken fingers)...is it possible to get vegetarian fries at Disney (ie fries that are made in a separate fryer than meat items)...is this something that we would need to specifically request.

Appreciate any insights!
 
Heading to Disney in March with my 17yr old daughter. We eat mostly vegetarian (but also eat eggs, dairy (17yr old is sensitive), fish and shrimp, but not other shellfish). Cross contamination with meat and poutry is a big concern for us.

Here is what we're considering so far:

Tues
Lunch: Morimoto Asia Street Food / YeSake / Daily Poutine (French Poutine) / Blaze Pizza

Dinner: Beaches & Cream / Fontera Cocina / Trail's End (intrigued by reports of Chef TJ)

Wed:
Breakfast: Boardwalk Bakery

Lunch: Sunshine Seasons / Yorkshire County Fish (not veg, but we eat fish) /
Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie

Dinner: Tokyo Dining (Sushi!!) or Chef's De France

Thurs:
Breakfast: Grand Floridian Cafe / Beaches & Cream

Lunch: Afternoon Tea at the Garden Room Tearoom (if we can score a reservation)

The premise of our trip is a bit of a foodie adventure. Are there any must do dining experiences on our list (or that we haven't considered)?

Aslo, I was wondering...I've seen in some of the vegan threads the the diner ordered fries (even when there are other fried items on the menu, like chicken fingers)...is it possible to get vegetarian fries at Disney (ie fries that are made in a separate fryer than meat items)...is this something that we would need to specifically request.

Appreciate any insights!


No Boma? That's my favorite. Tusker House is good too. I might pick one of those.
 
I've heard reports that the chili nachos are vegetarian or vegan without the cheese at Min and Bill's in Hollywood Studios. Anyone try these or can confirm it?
 
No Boma? That's my favorite. Tusker House is good too. I might pick one of those.

I don't think we'll get out to AKL this trip. It's such a short visit. We also eat a lot of authentic East African and Indian food at home, so that's probably also why it's not as high up on our list. :oops:

I probably should have mentioned that the only park we're planning to visit is Epcot.
 
...fries that are made in a separate fryer...is this something that we would need to specifically request...

Yes, you will generally need to request it. Pretty much every Disney restaurant uses a shared fryer by default but most locations also have an allergy-friendly fryer available and they will use it for you only if you request it since it's out of the way of their normal process (though they may volunteer the separate fryer to you if you're already having the "allergy" discussion). That may not be true for some stands/kiosks that are too small to have separate facilities.

Edited to add: You may also need to consider what you're asking for to be fried separately -- remember that the allergy-friendly fryer is also for folks with allergies so they can't do a funnel cake or beignets that are full of eggs, milk, and wheat, for somebody who's just trying to avoid meat because that contaminates the fryer for everyone who needs to avoid those other items. Also, this is truly just a note from a former vegetarian who felt similarly and doesn't mean to shame you in any way: if you're concerned enough to avoid meat juices, you should look up what's in milk. I think sharing your fryer becomes less of a concern if you're willing to overlook all the other animal cells in what you're consuming. Again, I'm not judging because I had no idea until somebody pointed me in the direction of some good articles and studies... I hope you have a magical trip and eat well! :)
 
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Edited to add: You may also need to consider what you're asking for to be fried separately -- remember that the allergy-friendly fryer is also for folks with allergies so they can't do a funnel cake or beignets that are full of eggs, milk, and wheat, for somebody who's just trying to avoid meat because that contaminates the fryer for everyone who needs to avoid those other items. Also, this is truly just a note from a former vegetarian who felt similarly and doesn't mean to shame you in any way: if you're concerned enough to avoid meat juices, you should look up what's in milk. I think sharing your fryer becomes less of a concern if you're willing to overlook all the other animal cells in what you're consuming. Again, I'm not judging because I had no idea until somebody pointed me in the direction of some good articles and studies... I hope you have a magical trip and eat well! :)

Absolutely!! We are totally respectful of the needs those dealing with allergies. Protecting the integrity of those resources is more important than any special requests we might have. We typically just avoid fried foods in general, but sometimes fries are nice!

I hear you on the milk front. Neither of us consume much milk though we do eat baked goods with dairy and I take cream in my tea (organic at home).
 

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