Vegetarian Fast Food

Greetings!

I do not know if any of my fellow herbivores frequent this Board, but just in case, (or if anyone happens to be interested) I wanted to go ahead and rank my Top Fast Food Chains for Vegetarians!

Fast Food is almost universally bad for you, but sometimes it represents your only chance to eat a meal that day. You will notice that not all Fast Food chains are included, in fact, most are not. I am including only those to which I have gone with the intention of having a meal within the last three (or so) years:

IN ORDER:

Taco Bell 1-10 = 9

-I am very satisfied with Taco Bell as a good place for Vegetarian Fast Food. In addition to the fact that many menu items already come with refried beans, you can also substitute beans for meat at no additional cost on any item. Furthermore, Taco Bell has recently introduced the Fresco Menu, which is essentially a menu consisting of low-fat low-calorie items in which better vegetables (it seems) are used. The Fresco Menu is also only slightly more expensive than the offerings from the regular menu.

Taco Bell receives a deduction of one point because, in a sample size of about ten, they have failed to substitute the meat for beans on one occasion. It was on the receipt, so this was clearly the result of an inattentive food prep. Unacceptable. I called the establishment in order to complain, as it was drive-thru, without any expectation of getting anything (I wasn't going to ask) and I was offered free food of equal or lesser value on my next TWO visits. This offer was more than fair, otherwise, it would have been a two point deduction.

Burger King 1-10 = 7.5

-Burger King is a good place for a Vegetarian because they offer MorningStar Farms Veggie Burgers at $2.99/sandwich. These burgers are most assuredly kept frozen, but Burger King makes up for this by nuking them and then putting them on the grill for probably about 30 seconds per side. The burger is then dressed very well with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles. They are very generous with the lettuce.

-The coffee at BK is also outstanding. It is some of the most olfactory pleasing coffee I have ever encountered. The second you open the spout of the cup the entire vehicle fills with the rich aroma of fresh bean. The coffee tastes devine, as well. It is the rich and flavorful taste of fresh bean (if you like to nibble on warm fresh coffee beans you know what I mean) along with a hint of hazelnut and something woody at the end. There's also an undertone of fresh pine sawdust in the fragrance.

Burger King loses a point and a half because, in a sample size of seven, they gave me a burger with meat once, and when I drove back around to have it replaced...THEY DID IT AGAIN! I heard one of the food prep guys (I walked in the second time...angrily) yelling at the Manager, "See, you're not going to fool him. I told you! If we're out of something, just say we're out of something!"

There are two BK locations near me, so I have not returned to that one. To intentionally give meat to a vegetarian...twice...is disgraceful.

The other point BK loses is because they charge extra if you would like cheese on your Veggie Burger. I understand that they could just include the cheese and up the price to $3.29, but for Veggie Patties that can be had at the store for $2.99 for a box of four (much more than they pay, I'm sure) it seems petty not to include cheese in the price if one is a Vegetarian as opposed to a Vegan.

Dairy Queen 1-10 = 6.5

-Dairy Queen is on this list, not because they have Vegetarian Burgers, but because they offer a grill-ironed grilled cheese sandwich which is pretty tasty. I will also say that Dairy Queen's fries are the best Fast Food fries I have ever had. They are thick cuts of potato, crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside with no taste of frying oils whatsoever. They are not exactly steak fries, but close.

The only reason Dairy Queen loses points is for not having any kind of Veggie Burger. Some locations also either do not use or do not have the iron for the grilled cheese, so they just do it on the grill which results in a soggy mess. In a sample size of three, two had the iron and one did not.

Subway 1-10 = 6

-I have actually been to Subway more frequently than any of the others, so it would be higher on the list, but I am grading it as a chain rather than the nearest location. Some Subways offer a Garden Pattie which is nice and spicy, goes great with Red Wine Vinagarette, and spruces up what would otherwise be a boring vegetable sandwich. The Garden Pattie ($6.25/ft long as opposed to $5.00) is also three times as substantial as just a regular veggie sandwich, so two people can share a foot-long and it is more than enough to eat, especially if you run it through the garden.

Subway loses points because not all Subway locations have this sandwich, in fact, in a sample size of five, three do not. Furthermore, Subway is woefully inconsistent (even in the same store) with how generous they will be with respect to how many vegetables you get on the sandwich. For instance, I have had a person literally put FIVE BLACK OLIVE PIECES on a footlong...FIVE! That's deplorable. That person should be ashamed of himself. I did not tip $1.00 that day, and I almost always do. Subway gets some points back for being a very healthy option, though, otherwise it would fail due to inconsistency of the product.

JFTR, the location I most frequent has excellent consistency and always treats me very well.

Panera Bread 1-10 = 5.5

Panera Bread is a restaurant (except for the bakery side) designed to appeal to the health-food market, which includes vegetarians. In addition to a strong offering of salads, fruit salads, breads and herbal teas, Panera Bread also is proud to offer at least one (and usually two-three) Vegetarian friendly soups at all times. Panera Bread also has a strong loyalty card program, My Panera, which caters very well to the customer's preferences with their offers and comps. Occasionally, I will receive a Free Danish/Cookie offer, though I have never bought any such thing from there, but other than that, the offers are almost always for Soups/Salads. If you like attractive and friendly college ladies, I would also say that prerequisites for working at Panera are having a bubbly personality and being at least a 7 on a 1-10 scale...lol

In any event, Panera Bread is slightly overpriced, so it loses points there.

Furthermore, while Panera Bread offers these Vegetarian Soups, they are insipid, at best. They come from a large plastic bag in which they are heated and dumped unceremoniously into the hot pot. This has occurred right in front of me. The very least they could do is take the pot in back for the dump so you don't know that the soups are coming from a plastic bag. They do not have one soup that rivals the flavor or heartiness of a can of Amy's Organic Soup nuked in a microwave...and the Amy's is also cheaper. The price of the fruit salads is also egregious given the pathetic serving size, and the fact that some sort of strange dressing is poured over the fruit to hide the fact that the fruits aren't actually particularly fresh.

Basically, the offerings are strong, but the food just kind of sucks.

Wendy's 1-10 = 5

Wendy's is actually not that bad for a Vegetarian. It is true that they do not actually have a Vegetarian Burger, but they offer their $1.99 burger and triple up on the vegetables. You may also add the Mushrooms in Cheddar Sauce to the sandwich at no additional cost. Wendy's is also kind enough to put the bun on the grill for about fifteen seconds so that gives it the feel of a hot sandwich. Wendy's uses very generous and thick cuts of tomato, fresh lettuce, and they do not skimp on the mushrooms in their cheddar mushroom sauce in any way whatsoever.

While the result is a pretty good sandwich, the fries are extremely oily and border-line inedible. Their new Sea Salt Fries just taste like seawater. Blah. The coffee there is bland, but at least it is not actually bad coffee, there's just nothing to it. Other than that, it just loses points for not having a Vegetarian Burger.

Steak & Shake 1-10 = 4

Steak & Shake and Wendy's are basically in the same boat, and my description of the sandwich is the same. The fries and coffee at Steak & Shake are both worse than those of Wendy's. Steak & Shake also charges you extra for the mushrooms, even though you are not getting any meat on the sandwich, which is patently ridiculous.

Long John Silver's/KFC 1-10 = 2.5

I will give these combined locations credit for a tremendous array of side dishes including Mashed Potatoes (w/o gravy), Fries, Hush Puppies, Corn on the Cob, Cole Slaw, Mac & Cheese, Biscuits and others. The KFC biscuits are out of this world good. They are light, airy, flavorful, and have a perfect light buttery taste with excellent consistency throughout. The Mashed Potatoes could be worse.

The other side dishes are putrid, however. The Corn on the Cob is always wet, the fries and hush puppies are so greasy that even smelling them will give you indigestion, the Mac & Cheese has the taste and consistency of a box of Kraft, except imagine Kraft if you used Vegetable Oil in place of milk, gross. The Cole Slaw is entirely too tart and liquidy and does not use nearly thick enough (or enough, in general) cuts of cabbage.

McDonald's 1-10 = 0.5

McDonald's is far and away the worst possible choice for a vegetarian. I have given them every reasonable opportunity to produce something decent and they always fail epically.

First of all, in attempting to get a Happy Meal for my son, on one occasion, they gave him a cheeseburger with an actual burger, though the receipt said -meat. On another occasion, the window-person handed me an empty Happy Meal box because she thought that was amusing, in a hurry because the baby was cranky, I did not notice this and thanked her and pulled away before she could stop me.

My son loves their fries, even though I have tried to convince him that DQ has the best fries. I want you to imagine this: You have a four-year old son who just gets out of preschool for the day and loves McDonald's Fries more than any other food in the world, but is almost never allowed to have them because they are terribly unhealthy. This one day his Dad says, "What the Hell," and the son is so excited because he just LOVES these fries. Dad is in a hurry because there is also a one-year old baby to get out of the car, so he grabs the box without noticing its lack of weight, he's also carrying the son's backpack in the same hand. The boy runs to the door knowing his fries are near, Dad sets down the baby on the floor and places the backpack and box on the kids' Mickey Mouse Table, eagerly the boy opens the box to find...NOTHING!!! Can you imagine the terrible disapointment after looking forward to those fries the whole way home? It's completely unfair that any kid should have to be disappointed like that.

In any event, I called McDonald's and explained what had happened. The girl who answered the phone was actually the window girl who apologized and explained that she handed out the empty box as a joke because I asked that no meat be on the sandwich. In the meantime, I still have a very upset four-year old sobbing in the background because, for some reason, he got the impression that this was an act of unfathomable cruelty on MY part. "Why would you give me an empty box, Dad, did you eat all of my fries? You said (sniff) you don't like Mr. Donald's fries!"

She offered to refund me the money and I could come and get the Happy Meal. I was pretty irate when she explained that the whole thing was a part of some stupid joke, so I declined the offer and said, "No, give your Manager the phone and consider yourself unemployed as of ten minutes from now." That's what happened, too.

Let's see...Getting past that, their coffee is abyssmal, at best. It has absolutely no fragrance whatsoever unless you take off the lid and inhale deeply, then you might get a hint of dirt. The taste of their coffee is that of potting soil, when it does have a taste. Other times, it simply doesn't have any kind of a taste at all.

The fries are the oiliest and wettest fries I have ever encountered, and the inside is not airy, it is mushy.

They do not have a Vegetarian Burger, and they always charge if you want to put mushrooms on any of their burgers, despite the fact that you are not getting any meat on it.

I would also like to add that the amount of vegetables they put on sandwiches is pathetic and embarassing, and they do not improve this quantity for someone ordering a sandwich without meat. When I have gotten a sandwich with mushrooms, they are always almost impossibility thin cuts of mushroom and the amount is so poor that they all stick to the underside of the top bun, there are not even enough mushrooms for there to be any still on the sandwich when you take the top bun off.

The Egg McMuffin without Canadian Bacon is pretty tasty, when it is not rubbery, but it has only been rubbery once in my life (apparently someone ordered an Egg McMuffin, ended up not getting it, so it sat for awhile, is my guess) so that gives them a half point.

Prior to my kidney failure, I was a vegetarian for 15 years in an attempt to preserve my kidneys for as long as I could. (Eventually I went on dialysis and then red meat was required to help dialysis do its, job, and then I was blessed with a transplant.)

During the time I was a vegetarian I became an expert on Veggie fast food. Grilled cheese sandwiches became essentials, and Jack In The Box has the best and I still eat them today. A "veggie Big Mac" at McDonalds usually comes loaded with extra lettuce because the manager felt sorry for me. Del Taco had great BRC, bean and rice and cheese burritos and I also got the deluxe taco salad without the meat-- yummie. Yoshinoya (not sure its outside of Calif) has a great veggie bowl with rice. Surprisingly, some of the sides at Kentucky Fried Chicken are marvelous including macaroni salad, potato salad, mashed potatoes.

In N Out was great for their grilled cheese sandwiches.

I ate plenty of Italian food too -- meatless pastas but loaded with vegetables, and there are many kinds of chinese foods and even veggie sushi. Sometimes, a little fish in the sushi was okay.

I had to give up sushi all together post transplant -- too much danger of infection.

Don't forget the veggie subs at subway.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Prior to my kidney failure, I was a vegetarian for 15 years in an attempt to preserve my kidneys for as long as I could. (Eventually I went on dialysis and then red meat was required to help dialysis do its, job, and then I was blessed with a transplant.)

I am glad that you were able to get a transplant. By the way, what is the show you have? Is it anywhere on-line? I would like to watch it.

Quote:

During the time I was a vegetarian I became an expert on Veggie fast food. Grilled cheese sandwiches became essentials, and Jack In The Box has the best and I still eat them today. A "veggie Big Mac" at McDonalds usually comes loaded with extra lettuce because the manager felt sorry for me. Del Taco had great BRC, bean and rice and cheese burritos and I also got the deluxe taco salad without the meat-- yummie. Yoshinoya (not sure its outside of Calif) has a great veggie bowl with rice. Surprisingly, some of the sides at Kentucky Fried Chicken are marvelous including macaroni salad, potato salad, mashed potatoes.

McDonald's scored the worst on my list, by far, but there was no manager to feel sorry for me nor was there any reason to feel sorry for me. I'm just a vegetarian because I do not agree with the treatment of the animals. If I raised my own, and treated/killed them in a humane way, then maybe, but probably not now. I am a much improved cook as a result of being a vegetarian.

I have not seen either of those salads at KFC, perhaps that varies by location.

There are no Jack In The Boxes, Del Tacos or Yoshinoya's near me. I have seen JitB's either in Pittsburgh or Columbus, I think, so if I do see one again I will remember to try the Grilled Cheese, thank you for the tip. How are the fries?

Quote:

In N Out was great for their grilled cheese sandwiches.

I am not sure I have ever seen one.

Quote:

Don't forget the veggie subs at subway.

Subway was fourth on my list with an overall score of 6. If I considered only my most frequent location, they would be second on my list (only to Taco Bell) with an overall score of 8.5.

Ever tried Fazoli's ? We grabbed a quick bite
there before Friday night HS football.

ps: Our team was out-played and lost a high
scoring game. Which was too bad because
we had more fans on the visitor's side than
the home team had on their side.

I'm afraid I do not recall ever seeing a Fazoli's.

Well apparently I'm not the forum's vocal vegetarian anymore...

Taco Bell - They got rid of the cheesy bean and rice burrito, so I don't go there anymore.

Burger King - Probably the only fast food place I'll go to, and that's only on road trips when there isn't another choice. $2.99 for a regular veggie burger is ridiculous.

Dairy Queen - Only for ice cream.

Panera - Their stuff is okay, but I like others in the soup/salad/sandwich upscale fast food category better, so I would only go there if someone else suggested it. If the broccoli cheese soup was vegetarian, I'd go there more.

Wendy's / S&S / LJS - I would never even think to go in one, except S&S for a shake.

McDonalds - Like their Rolo McFlurry.

Fazoli's - Not everywhere, but if I see one, and I'm gonna get fast food, then it's a good choice.

Subway / Jimmy John's / Quizno's / Firehouse / Jersey Mike's / Etc... - Usually what I would pick if given the choice for fast food, although Chipotle & Qdoba are good choices too. However, I've gotten food poisoning once in my life, and it was the Subway Veggie Patty sandwich, so I can't really stomach Subway much anymore.

My other post was long so I wanted to split it -

What I would really like to discuss is best vegetarian options in Vegas. However, I'm not quite sure if there's enough vegetarians on this board to even make it a worthwhile conversation.

I could possibly go the way of a vegetarian but two things hold me back, salmon & an almost bloody prime rib.

I have one comment about being Vegetarian in Vegas:

I am probably the only one who ever hosted a combination vegetarian/gluten-free Thanksgiving family dinner at the old Nero's steakhouse.

This was about seven years ago. My daughter is not only a vegan, but she can only eat gluten-free foods. I was a vegetarian at the time. We had the "side room" and I had about 20 close relatives there for thanksgiving dinner. Two of the 20 ordered the prepared turkey dinner. Everyone else was a mish mosh of special orders.

During the meal, the chef came out from the kitchen to check on us. He came over to me and said "never in my career have I had a group of orders like your family's orders. I hope everything came out all right."

It did, he was marvelous how he skillfully made exciting dishes for a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I think my daughter and I made history -- eating our vegetarian dinners at Nero's (the steakhouse). And most of the others had fish and lobster and sea foods. It was crazy. Oh, we did advise the restaurant about four weeks in advance, and actually gave them suggested dinners and left it to the chef to come up with something.

the vegan, gluten-free dinner for my daughter was his biggest challenge.

Mission,

I know it's not considered "Fast" food but what about Pizza?

Do you have any Vegetarian Pizza preferences among the nation wide chains?

Just wondering.

I almost choked when you mentioned refried beans at Taco Bell. I had to search that....evidently they use vegetable shortening instead of lard!

Quote: ten2win

Mission,

I know it's not considered "Fast" food but what about Pizza?

Do you have any Vegetarian Pizza preferences among the nation wide chains?

Just wondering.

I almost choked when you mentioned refried beans at Taco Bell. I had to search that....evidently they use vegetable shortening instead of lard!

I can talk pizza all day and night, it's my favorite food!!! I'll pay anything for a good pie!

Thank you for the interest in my thread and opinion!

I checked on Taco Bell beforehand, of course, to make sure they were Vegetarian refried beans, if not, I'd probably just replace meat with rice or eat the tasty Cheese Roll-Ups!

I consider Pizza very much, "Fast Food," you just have to call in!

"Thanks for calling Pizza Hut, will this be pick-up or delivery?"

"Delivery."

"Phone number?"

"xxx-xxx-xxxx,"

"Address?"

"Your parking lot."

"We don't really take orders out to the parking lot."

"It's easy. I have my kids in the car. I've got five bucks for whoever brings it out to me, I'd be there in twenty minutes."

"Oh, yeah, call when you pull in, ask for Emily!"

"Cool, Emily, thanks, Silver PT Cruiser!"

I'm only going to do National or Semi-National Chains, because I was it to be relevant to you.

Pizza Hut 1-10 = 8

Pizza Hut produces a perfectly average pizza, which is darn good by National Chain standards! The main reason Pizza Hut gets a good score is that they are currently (at least, this one) running a promotion by which you can get any Large Pizza, any toppings, for $10.00. They have been running this here for months! I usually get a Thin-Crust with Onions, Green Peppers and Pineapple, light sauce and light cheese. I always feel guilty asking for the light stuff because that is an unfair imposition upon people, but they tend to drown the crust with sauce and use waaaayyyy too much cheese if you don't.

Papa John's 1-10 = 6.5

I think that Papa John's has a slighty more flavorful pizza (more basil in the sauce) and I love the Garlic Sauce for dipping the crust. The main area where Papa John's loses points is because they do not often run very good specials, and those that they do run, are not always honored correctly. For example, they were running an any three-topping Large for $10.00 at one point, so I called and asked for a Triple-Pineapple pizza (goes well with the garllic sauce, excellent contrast!) In any event, they told me it would be $12.00 for two extra pineapples. I said, "No, it's a three-topping pizza, I want Pineapples, Pineapples and Pineapples!" They wouldn't do it, so I went somewhere else.

The other area where Papa John's loses points is due to my personal digestive system, so I don't know if this is the case with everyone, but the next morning after eating Papa John's is very unfortunate for me. I even suspected the Garlic Sauce at one point, so did not use any, and that did not change the result the following day.

Vocelli 1-10 = 5

The Vocelli that was in the area has now closed, but their pizza was better than both Papa John's and Pizza Hut. They advertise that they use exclusively vine-ripened tomatoes from California and never deep-freeze their sauce and I believe it. The sauce is divine and tastes like fresh tomato sauce that I make at home, sometimes. Needs more basil, though. Anyway, that sauce packs a wallop of freshness and is the only pizza place at which I have never asked for light sauce. In any event, Vocelli loses a ton of points (and I doubt this is National) because the pizza was never ready when they said it would be. Waiting around in front of the building for ten minutes seriously defeats the purpose of paying someone $5.00 to bring it out to me.

The other area in which they lose points is because the cheese is rubbery and awful. The cheese adheres to itself to such an extent that the whole slice ends up having just one clump of cheese that falls completely off when you take the first bite and pull the slice away from your mouth. I resorted to eating their pizza with a knife and fork most of the time, to avoid losing my cheese and staining my clothes!!!

The other problem was that it was never really hot, even when I waited an extra ten minutes, so theoretically it should have come right out of the Pizza Oven. That sucks. You could take out a slice from the box and eat it straight-away (if you wanted a messy shirt) and it should be too hot to allow that to occur.

Sam's Club (what?) 1-10 = 5

Sam's Club actually produces a reasonably good ready-to-go pizza at an outstanding price! One pizza can feed a family of four, with ease. If you get one of the $1.89, "Slices," it's basically the equivalent of 1/3rd of a pizza anywhere else. There is no means by which to obtain the pizza without getting out of your car, though, so it loses points for that. $5.00 is not enough, apparently, to entice anyone to bring you the pizza. Of course, they don't even offer delivery, so that's understandable.

The pizzas are ready-to-go, as mentioned, but they are such a popular item there that they barely sit under the lamp before you get them! The cheese is really much oilier than need-be, but it's pretty good if you pat of the excess with a napkin as best you can. The sauce comes light, but bold and explosive. It tastes of vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh basil, even though there is no way they use fresh basil. The cheese is somewhat clumpy, but Sam's is far from being the worst offender, if you take smallish bites and avoid using anything except your Incisors, then you'll be fine. The crust leaves much to be desired, it is not at all airy (in fact, it is the most compact crust I have ever encountered) comes off occasionally slightly too crispy (i.e. burnt, but not visibly so) and just really doesn't have any flavor to it. I have had more flavorful pieces of enriched white bread.

Overall, though, it's a good slice and a good deal, just don't forget to use only your incisors, or that cheese is coming right off!!!


Domino's 1-10 = 3

Domino's produces the second most rancid, disgusting, nasty, abyssmal, deplorable, embarrassing pile of dog shit of any National Chain in my area. It is truly putrid, and consistently. They would score a, "1," except they are using the new garlic crust now, so the crust is quite flavorful. They go a little over the top with the garlic, but at least the crust has SOMETHING to it now, it used to taste like the cardboard box from whence it came.

Unfortunately, Domino's has the same cheese-clump problem that Vocelli has, but worse. I learned to request that Vocelli put the other toppings under the cheese, so at least when the cheese would clump off, the other stuff would remain. I have requested this at Domino's, but it still doesn't help! The cheese on their pizza is not only self-adherent and clumpy, but it is also oily, so it slides off rather than falls off, taking all of the toppings and sauce with it regardless of where the toppings are!!! Disgusting. It's very oily, too, the next time I get a pizza from there with little pockets, more like puddles, of oil right on top of the cheese will by no means be the first. Horrid. The sauce is also excessively bitter, there's no positive fresh and vibrant flavor to be had, honestly, it kind of tastes like a pot of stewed tomatoes where the tomatoes were just starting to go bad, so you hurried up and stewed them up rather than pitching them in the trash.

Which, coincidentally, is where a Domino's Pizza should go.

However, I will hand it to Domino's for trying to help out those unfortunate people who otherwise could not afford pizza or to eat out. The promotions are strong, the goal being to make money on volume. This includes the very popular Welfare, I mean, Walk-In Wednesday by which a one-topping Medium can be had for $3.00. I apologize if my little joke is offensive, I am truly glad that people of extremely low income have a cheap option for eating out, it's a shame when a family is too poor to go out to eat once in a while...trust me...I know all about that from when I was a kid...so I am glad that Domino's makes it possible for people. The kids don't know how cheap it is, they just know that other kids talk about going out to eat and they never get to do that, so it's good that, with this, they do.

Little Ceasar's 1-10 = 0

Ceasar's Palace should sue just because this abyssmal shithole even has the word, "Ceasar's," in the name. These people sell a deplorable and nasty no flavor crust, nothing sauce, clumpy cheese, indigestion and vomit-inducing pizza for $5.00 pizza. The cheese is very often quite sour. There was some Little Ceasar's at a kid's birthday party my son went to, recently, so I decided to give it another shot. I took one bite of this sour cheese pile of fucking (excuse me) garbage and went into the bathroom and vomitted violently. It was horrible. The cheese was so sour it made my mouth pucker as if I had taken a bite from a lemon, except I like lemons, you expect a lemon to be sour, so you brace yourself for it, pucker up and close your eyes! It's a good time.

They should be ashamed of themselves for asking for $5.00 for their deplorable piles of crap. It's going to cost the customer twice that, after he runs over to Kroger, CVS or Wal*Mart for a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

Quote: FinsRule

My other post was long so I wanted to split it -

What I would really like to discuss is best vegetarian options in Vegas. However, I'm not quite sure if there's enough vegetarians on this board to even make it a worthwhile conversation.

I've got to run right now, but I'd be glad to contribute later on today or tomorrow. Vegas is SUPER vegetarian/vegan-friendly, if you know where to look. You'd be surprised.

deleted

hey Mission--- if you are vegetarian because of the treatment of animals, and not because of some health concerns, then why do you accept milk products? Cows locked in a stall with suction cups applied to their teets...

Vegetarian Fast Food = Carrot

deleted

Vegetarian Fast Food = potato Cannon.

Quote: Mission146

I can talk pizza all day and night, it's my favorite food!!! I'll pay anything for a good pie!

What, no mention of DiCarlo's? Okay, they are not national or even semi-national, but where would you rate them?

The Wendy's pomegranate vinaigrette is to die for. And I like Subway, even though it's "boring" - just put some veggies on wheat, throw some oil and hot sauce on the whole mess, it's tasty. Also, even though it's not technically fast food, those Barilla pasta packs deserve a mention for when you're on the go.

Also, you're aware McDonald's fries use a meat-derived flavoring, aren't you? Not just common oil, a deliberate flavoring? (Because they used to be cooked in grease, and they don't want to dispense with the taste.)

Mission - hate to burst your pizza bubble, but pizza hut is not vegetarian. Their sauce has meat in it. Papa johns is the best vegetarian friendly place as their cheeseless pizza is actually vegan! Although that's not really even pizza...

You would literally have to pay me to eat little Caesars...

Quote: SOOPOO

hey Mission--- if you are vegetarian because of the treatment of animals, and not because of some health concerns, then why do you accept milk products? Cows locked in a stall with suction cups applied to their teets...

With exception to restaurants, because I am not going to stop eating at restaurants, I only use organic milk and cage-free, free-range organic eggs. Even MorningStar Farms does not guarantee that all of the eggs in their products are free range, so what can you do?

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Mission, I give Little Caesars a -100! I ran into Mike and Marion Illitch at Motorcity casino about a month ago (she own Motorcity and they both own Little Caesars) as they left the Signature lounge and I said real loud the their pizza sucks!

They deserve it, they should be embarassed. I'd rather put out a good pie and live week-to-week than profit off that crap.

Quote: teddys

What, no mention of DiCarlo's? Okay, they are not national or even semi-national, but where would you rate them?

teddys- I thought the same thing. I grew up eating DiCarlo's 3-4 nights per week.

Quote: Mission146

With exception to restaurants, because I am not going to stop eating at restaurants, I only use organic milk and cage-free, free-range organic eggs. Even MorningStar Farms does not guarantee that all of the eggs in their products are free range, so what can you do?

I'm not saying what you should do, but many just choose not to eat any animal products, which eliminates eggs and milk products. If you want to go to the absurdum... google 'Jainism'....

Quote: teddys

What, no mention of DiCarlo's? Okay, they are not national or even semi-national, but where would you rate them?

Inconsistent, at best. Anywhere between a 3 and a 7 depending on which one. I'd comment further, but I've only had it probably three (or less) times in seven years.

My top 3 Pizzas from this area, in order, are Greco's, Fabio's and DeFelice Bros. Pizza.

24Bingo & FinsRule,

Thank you for the information! No more McDonald's or Pizza Hut, then. I'm surprised the latter uses a meat sauce, nothing about the former could ever surprise me.

As long as we're outing stuff for not being vegetarian when it should be, consider anything with a white creme filling made by Hostess. Why would they use whipped beef lard to make the delicious center of a Twinkie?

It's what everyone used until recently - anything that uses hydrogenated oils or palm oil, if they're old enough, probably once used lard or tallow.

That's gross about the Twinkie!

Good thing I haven't had one since I was a kid...

According to this:

http://www.pizzahut.com/files/pdf/ph_ingredients.pdf

Pizza Hut does not have meat in the sauce.

Quote: Mission146

According to this:

http://www.pizzahut.com/files/pdf/ph_ingredients.pdf

Pizza Hut does not have meat in the sauce.

Then that is a very recent development

MakingBook,

How do you feel about Greco's, Fabio's and DeFelice?

Quote: Mission146

MakingBook,

How do you feel about Greco's, Fabio's and DeFelice?

I don't recognize the names?

Of course, DiCarlo's had multiple locations. We had a few other shops that only had a single location such as Marko's, DeCeasars, and a few other names I can't recall. It was all the same style pizza. Good stuff back in the 1980's- not sure what's back there now.

Did you ever have Manini's (Warwood Avenue, Warwood) before they closed? That place was outstanding, it was like DiCarlo's, except much better. I think they poured an entire bucket of cheese on every square pizza, but it was always really fresh cheese that didn't have the clumpy property because they cooked the crust and the sauce for a few, and then added the cheese. No lazy pizza there.

Incredible.

I asked my wife to help with the names of the pizza shops we had in the 80's, and she mentioned Manini's (different location than yours) and Iggy's.

My home base used to be around Toronto, Steubenville.

I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with that area. I've probably actually stopped in Steubenville five (or less) times in my entire life. I do remember that I ate at Lancelot's restaurant, but I don't remember whether or not it was any good because it was over a decade ago. It was probably neither very good or very bad, since I don't remember either way.

Isn't being a vegetarian unpatriotic? I remember that's what I was told when I was a vegan for a number of years. Anyway, I thought I'd comment on your list. My remarks will probably seem harsh, but I abhor fast food and if you've ever worked at a place that makes it you probably do too, or you just weren't paying attention to how disgusting it is. Anyway...

Quote: Mission146

Taco Bell 1-10 = 9

Seriously, this is your top choice? I consider Taco Bell emergency rations at best.

Quote: Mission146

Burger King 1-10 = 7.5

I didn't even know they had this option. Now that I'm a carnivore again I like Burger King, I think it's one of the better values for the money if you must eat fast food.

Quote: Mission146

Dairy Queen 1-10 = 6.5

I was a vegan so I never went there then. I still don't like dairy enough to stop there.

Quote: Mission146

Subway 1-10 = 6

You couldn't pay me enough to eat at a Subway, I hate food poisoning and I'm pretty sure that's all they serve there.

Quote: Mission146

Panera Bread 1-10 = 5.5

I don't think of this over-priced smug joint as fast food. It kinda reminds me of Starbucks but for food that comes in small portions.

Quote: Mission146

Wendy's 1-10 = 5

I never thought of this as a place to go when I was vegan, the idea of a grass burger just doesn't appeal to me. I hate their marketing now so I still don't go.

Quote: Mission146

Steak & Shake 1-10 = 4

This is another I never would have thought of when i was vegan. I've tried it since reverting to carnivore but it's nothing to get excited about.

Quote: Mission146

Long John Silver's/KFC 1-10 = 2.5

I didn't used to eat fish or bird and well, I still don't. I wouldn't go to a fast food joint to load up on side dishes, especially not the carborific fare you listed.

Quote: Mission146

McDonald's 1-10 = 0.5

I don't know why anyone subjects themselves to McDonald's for any reason.


I think you should have had Chipotle on your list. It's not exactly fast food, but you can see what you're getting before they slop it into your food and you can have a little control over your culinary destiny. Though I have found the workers to be about as stupid as they come. You order a Veggie burrito and they ask you what kind of meat you want, then try to slide it past the Guac without giving you any. But once you argue your way through the process it's not a bad value for the money. Though I'm not a fan of the bizarre pseudo-hipster environment they try to foster there.

Quote: FinsRule

Mission - hate to burst your pizza bubble, but pizza hut is not vegetarian. Their sauce has meat in it. Papa johns is the best vegetarian friendly place as their cheeseless pizza is actually vegan! Although that's not really even pizza...

As noted earlier, Pizza Hut does have several vegetarian options, as do Papa John's, Little Caesar's, and Dominos. As to your second point, that's a common misconception. The original pizza Napoletana (from which all modern pizza is derived) was topped with marinara, olive oil, and herbs. If you travel in Italy, you'll find cheeseless pizza everywhere—at every pizzeria, in grocery stores, at food carts on the side of the road... it's simply another type of pizza. Granted, most major American pizza chains don't do a great job of reproducing the flavors of an authentic, Naples-style pizza, but they can still be pretty good, especially if you ask for extra sauce (they can be dry otherwise).

Quote: MonkeyMonkey

Quote: Mission146

Taco Bell 1-10 = 9

Seriously, this is your top choice? I consider Taco Bell emergency rations at best.

To be fair, Taco Bell probably goes further than any big-name fast food joint in the country when it comes to making sure that there are vegetarian options on the menu. The fact that they also go out of their way to prepare meat and non-meat ingredients separately tells me that they are serious about accommodating vegetarians on more than a superficial level. In contrast, Burger King offers a "vegetarian" burger that still contains animal products (Morningstar Farms is a terrible company) and is cooked on the same surface as all of the meat burgers.

At Taco Bell, nearly every item can be made not only vegetarian, but vegan—simply substitute beans instead of meat and order it "Fresco Style" (no upcharge for this, by the way) to replace dairy products with Fiesta Salsa, which is prepared fresh daily. My only gripe about Fresco Style is that 99% of Taco Bell employees think that guacamole is "dairy," so you have to also indicate that you want guacamole with your Fresco Style item. The rice, beans, tortillas (flour and corn), and crispy potatoes are all vegan. The Chalupa bread is not vegan.

Of course, fast food is usually far from the best option, but I'm on the road a lot, and sometimes that's all there is.

Another great choice (albeit limited) is Johnny Rockets. You can find these in Vegas and AC, among other places, and they have a vegan burger called the Streamliner. It's a Boca patty that's grilled separately (they also use separate, color-coded utensils to cook veg vs non/veg stuff) and comes with mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. The fries are also cooked separately from meat products. Unfortunately, the onion rings are not vegan.

Quote: FinsRule

However, I've gotten food poisoning once in my life, and it was the Subway Veggie Patty sandwich, so I can't really stomach Subway much anymore.

I'm always amazed when people who clearly have a solid grasp of probability and statistics make statements like this! However, I'm all for skipping the Subway patty, as it contains eggs (and dairy, if I'm not mistaken). Morningstar Farms strikes again... Incidentally, Subway is currently testing three vegan mock-meat products at some of it's East Coast locations. I think Washington DC is primarily where you'll find them. They are totally vegan, and hopefully they will spread to other stores before long.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/vegan-subway_n_1593289.html

Quote: FinsRule

What I would really like to discuss is best vegetarian options in Vegas. However, I'm not quite sure if there's enough vegetarians on this board to even make it a worthwhile conversation.

There are so many options in Vegas that I don't even know where to start. Here are a few:

Red Velvet Café: Sahara, a few miles west of the Strip, and a second location in the Fashion Show Mall across from Wynn. This is a sit-down kind of place, not fast food. The food is reasonably priced and the portions are usually unreasonably large; for example, my girlfriend and I once ordered a "side" of fries (vegan "cheddar bacon" for her and "fire fries" for me), and those each represented about 3 entrée-sized servings each, for around $7. Food ranges from comfort/junk food with vegetarian and vegan versions available to Asian and Mexican fare, to a seasonal menu incorporating fresh seasonal produce. They serve meat here also. The Japanese restaurant next door to the Sahara location has a sign on the door saying that they cater to vegetarians, but I haven't been in yet. It's on my list.

Veggie Delight: Chinatown, on Wynn Road and Spring Mountain. A tiny Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant that is 100% vegetarian, and nearly everything can be made vegan. They have a lot of stuff to choose from, but for a quick snack, they have an extensive Banh Mi list with sandwiches around $5-6 each. They also serve boba tea. The vegan black vinegar chicken is probably the best vegetarian Chinese dish in Vegas.

Komol Thai: A couple of miles east of Sahara, in a hard-to-spot shopping complex. The menu is extensive here and features several pages of vegetarian options, most of which are also vegan. My Thai friend agreed that the food was fairly authentic. There are lots of vegan versions of American-style Chinese food too, like orange chicken and General Tso's.

Wynn/Encore: Believe it or not, Steve Wynn is vegan, so nearly every single restaurant in both hotels have a vegetarian menu, available upon request. The buffets also have food clearly marked as vegan. At the Wynn, check out the sort-of-pricey vegan chicken and waffles ($25) at the Terrace Pointe Café and the "Wynn Burger," a vegan cheeseburger prominently listed on the Zoozacrackers menu—it comes with fries and a vegan chocolate milkshake. There are a ton of good options at the other Wynn and Encore restaurants, too.

Ronald's Donuts: Chinatown, on Spring Mountain near Veggie Delight. 80% of the donuts here (the top two shelves) are vegan. On my last trip, the shelves were kind of empty, but they are usually heavily stocked with every type of donut you can think of, with nearly all of them being 100% vegan. They're cheap, too.

Those are my usual haunts, but you'll find vegetarian food everywhere in Vegas. This even extends to the major Strip properties. Most restaurants there are designed to cater to the widest possible demographics, so they either have vegetarian options explicitly indicated as such on the menu, or there are servers that are more knowledgeable than average. In addition to the in-house restaurants, there are also vegetarian-friendly chains on the Strip, like Johnny Rockets over by Flamingo (or is it Harrah's?) and P.F. Chang's in Planet Hollywood. The latter has several very good vegan options, and their house gin & tonic is among the best I've ever had.

This is a great resource, whether in Vegas or traveling elsewhere. I use it extensively when I'm on the road: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/nevada/las_vegas/?sortOrder=

Quote: MonkeyMonkey

Seriously, this is your top choice? I consider Taco Bell emergency rations at best.

Selection. Anything on the menu, just sub beans for meat. The Fresco stuff is also pretty fresh and vibrant tasting.

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I didn't even know they had this option. Now that I'm a carnivore again I like Burger King, I think it's one of the better values for the money if you must eat fast food.

They have to in order to be the King of Burgers!

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I was a vegan so I never went there then. I still don't like dairy enough to stop there.

My wife likes the Blizzards. I never get any ice cream stuff.

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You couldn't pay me enough to eat at a Subway, I hate food poisoning and I'm pretty sure that's all they serve there.

I would say I have a sample size of over 100 for three years and am batting .000 on food poisoning.

Quote:

I don't think of this over-priced smug joint as fast food. It kinda reminds me of Starbucks but for food that comes in small portions.

That's about right. The just get bonus points for the Vegetarian soups.

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I never thought of this as a place to go when I was vegan, the idea of a grass burger just doesn't appeal to me. I hate their marketing now so I still don't go.

I mainly went because I wanted to try the new fries, they sucked.

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This is another I never would have thought of when i was vegan. I've tried it since reverting to carnivore but it's nothing to get excited about.

I was with a friend of mine who loves the place, didn't want him to have to pull in to more than one place on my account. Their fries are awful.

Quote:

I didn't used to eat fish or bird and well, I still don't. I wouldn't go to a fast food joint to load up on side dishes, especially not the carborific fare you listed.

My, "Diet," contains a ton of Carbs anyway, makes little difference. I'm still consistently losing weight, just avoid sweets and any beverage containing calories.

Quote:

I don't know why anyone subjects themselves to McDonald's for any reason.


I think you should have had Chipotle on your list. It's not exactly fast food, but you can see what you're getting before they slop it into your food and you can have a little control over your culinary destiny. Though I have found the workers to be about as stupid as they come. You order a Veggie burrito and they ask you what kind of meat you want, then try to slide it past the Guac without giving you any. But once you argue your way through the process it's not a bad value for the money. Though I'm not a fan of the bizarre pseudo-hipster environment they try to foster there.

There is not a Chipotle even in the remote vicinity of where I live, nor have I ever been to one.

LonesomeGambler,

I wish we had a Johnny Rockets! Boca Original Vegan burgers are the best Vegetarian Frozen Burgers on the market! They're still nowhere close to my homemade Black and Red Bean Barbeque Burger, but they are good!

Do they use the Boca Vegan Burger? I thought they used the original burgers...

Quote: LonesomeGambler

As noted earlier, Pizza Hut does have several vegetarian options, as do Papa John's, Little Caesar's, and Dominos. As to your second point, that's a common misconception. The original pizza Napoletana (from which all modern pizza is derived) was topped with marinara, olive oil, and herbs.

Hell, originally it was just the bread; the word is cognate to "pita."

Quote: LonesomeGambler

If you travel in Italy, you'll find cheeseless pizza everywhere—at every pizzeria, in grocery stores, at food carts on the side of the road... it's simply another type of pizza. Granted, most major American pizza chains don't do a great job of reproducing the flavors of an authentic, Naples-style pizza, but they can still be pretty good, especially if you ask for extra sauce (they can be dry otherwise).

I remember young and carnivorous at an Italian restaurant, even then how tweeked I was at the idea of "pizza marinara" - I had never realized that was an option! Still hunt it down sometimes.

Chili's has a great black bean burger, one of the best I've had.

As an aside, my father is health-conscious and always orders a vegetarian entree when we go out to eat. (He's not vegetarian). He always says, "I don't eat meat." (He does). Without fail, he'll complain about how bad it is and say how he should have gotten the meat/fish/chicken dish that the rest of us are eating. I never fail to find this humorous.

Quote: Mission146

There is not a Chipotle even in the remote vicinity of where I live, nor have I ever been to one.

I thought you'd said you were in KCMO... I can think of at least 4 in that area without even trying hard: Up north, across I29 from Zona Rosa (near the Walmart), Midtown on 39th St, Overland Park near Metcalf and (I think) 91st. And Lee's Summit in the big shopping center on Chipman near 50 Hwy.

Mission, have you ever tried the vegan pizzas at CiCi's? I know it's a cheap joint, but back at my student days in America I really enjoyed their Italian Veggie!

Quote: Mission146

LonesomeGambler,

I wish we had a Johnny Rockets! Boca Original Vegan burgers are the best Vegetarian Frozen Burgers on the market! They're still nowhere close to my homemade Black and Red Bean Barbeque Burger, but they are good!

Gardein is better than Boca. You should try it.

Quote: LonesomeGambler

I'm always amazed when people who clearly have a solid grasp of probability and statistics make statements like this! However, I'm all for skipping the Subway patty, as it contains eggs (and dairy, if I'm not mistaken). Morningstar Farms strikes again... Incidentally, Subway is currently testing three vegan mock-meat products at some of it's East Coast locations. I think Washington DC is primarily where you'll find them. They are totally vegan, and hopefully they will spread to other stores before long.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/vegan-subway_n_1593289.html

I'm not saying I'm going to get food poisoning next time I go to Subway, I just say that I remember violently throwing up every time I see Subway... I used to love it, now I could eat there if I had to...

Dunno, I'm not a fan of vegen meals when crossed with mass-production tecniques. I'll stick to my once-a-week Subway Turkey or R. Beast w/L/T/ Black Olives. No sauces, thanks, I'll add a dash of mayo and mustard at home.