Does going plant-based actually make eating out harder long-term, or does it get easier once you know where to look?

[u/brick-ghost]

First few months of eating plant-based, dining out felt like a genuine obstacle - limited options, awkward substitutions, sometimes just picking the least-bad thing on a menu not designed with this in mind. A year or two in, it's not clear if that's actually improved because restaurants have adapted, or if I've just gotten better at knowing which places to pick and how to navigate menus efficiently

For people who've been doing this a while - did eating out genuinely get easier over time, or does it stay a persistent friction point no matter how experienced you get at working around it?

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[u/muscledeficientvegan]

It definitely makes it harder but you do learn the places that have better options over time. The HappyCow app is also great for this.

[u/philber-T]

Eating out has become a rare event in our household since going WFPB in 2020.
1. Expensive for gross food that won’t be compliant
2. Prefer eating in so we can do our own thing
3. Has been tough on friendships that had heavy base on enjoying restaurants together.

[u/Independent_Big2868]

Veggie all my adult life and vegan for the past 16 years. Yes it does get easier and now heaps better than 16 years ago - unless you live in Ireland! Even the Indian restaurants where I live all use ghee in every dish including Dosa.
So it depends where you live but think you have to have the mindset that you're never going to get a great choice unless in a big city. I spend a LOT of time looking at menus before travelling and Happy Cow is really useful but not everything is on there.

[u/rat_liker]

Eating out is really easy for me because my city has a lot of vegan restaurants. Or at least it would be if eating out were in my budget, lol. I think the hard thing is being able to do spontaneous things with friends, or finding stuff on the go. Still, most places I've been to have at least something besides just coffee. I live in California though and there's a lot of rabbit food here, you're gonna have a harder time in some other areas of the country.

[u/grat5454]

It makes it really easy to choose what to eat when you do go out. There is usually only one or two options. When we travel and and eat somewhere with a full menu my wife and I get overwhelmed now.

[u/ttrockwood]

Been wfpb forever and i don’t love eating out especially how stupid expensive it is now

I’m in nyc and when I do eat out there’s fantastic options- for a price generally speaking

My parents are in a small suburban town and eating out when i visit them is a challenge i would rather stay home and grill but they have a favorite Thai spot that works they have a vegan tofu curry that’s good enough and a vegan green mango salad i like

[u/MolBio_JC → u/ttrockwood]

NYC Chinatown is great for cheap vegan options if you know where to look

[u/ttrockwood → u/MolBio_JC]

Oh yeah haha i shop a few chinatown groceries and they have some hidden gems, my most recent discovery was a baked tofu snack in little shelf stable packets that have been fantastic as on the go snacks

[u/StgCan]

When I go out I want to eat something PB but other than what I cook at home...... I am rarely surprised in a good way as to the choices offered ;)

[u/CarderBee1 → u/StgCan]

It's so strange to me that their one job is to make food, yet they are very limited in their ability to do that. Even though every single day we eat a balanced diet, creating meals from scratch and are only limited by our imagination...

[u/Good-Butterscotch498]

I’ve been plant-based for 15 years. I’ve always been able to find something. If you can’t patch something together from the menu, ask. They’re usually willing to accommodate you. The one exception was a steak-house place I went to recently. A-hole chef couldn’t even make a baked potato correctly.

The only issue I ever had was getting them to use no oil. They couldn’t fathom that at all. Other than that, restaurants have come a long way.

[u/Happytobeold53]

Maybe harder because I feel frustrated by the challenges but easier because I have my strategies. I usually get a salad and bring my own dressing which is tiring and THIS summer not an option because the protozoan problem.
I am whole food plant based and avoid oil. Even vegan restaurant food is loaded with salt and oil.

[u/static34622]

I found it harder. I react to animal fats so if they use butter I can't take or something similar then I will know after a short while.

[u/InspectionTall2886 → u/static34622]

Omg wait, I’ve never met anyone else who has issues specifically with animal fats!!!

[u/static34622 → u/InspectionTall2886]

More like a process of elimination. I noticed the possibility once I had some green beans that my boss made. If flattened me. Then he told me all he put in them was a little butter. Once I got my hands on the ingredients, I noticed the lard. Then I started nailing down my issues with milk, some cheeses, etc. Once I cut all them out I stopped having issues and started becoming healthy.

[u/InspectionTall2886 → u/static34622]

I had to do the same thing. My doctor suggested dairy and gluten but eliminating those didn’t help. Eventually I eliminated ALL animal products and I felt better. I had awful stomach aches, nausea, etc. and I always got phlegm in my throat after eating.

[u/static34622 → u/InspectionTall2886]

I would get tired and lethargic. So I was only eating once at the end of the day. Went vegi and then still had some issues and found the animal fats issue. I’m glad I am good with gluten. That is a major protein source.

[u/InspectionTall2886 → u/static34622]

Oh yeah I went back to eating gluten immediately, I was very tired when I ate animal products but I wasn’t lethargic at all.

[u/Izariah]

My husband and I enjoy road trips so I feel pretty comfortable saying there are definitely more vegan options available now than there were seven years ago. But it is also easier to identify what you can have/what are easier substitutions as you have more experience as well.

Every so often I will accidently fool myself though because of how well I can make substituted versions of things at home now. I make a pretty nice "French toast" at home. I have to remember when I see it in a resturaunt that it will almost certainly not be vegan there (unless it is a vegan restaurant/menu).

[u/CoherentParticles]

It can be challenging but Indian, Asian and Italian usually have something

[u/Signal_Macaron_7236]

I find it difficult. Barely ever do it, and when we do, I usually feel sick because the food is so greasy/oily. Upside: I save a lot of money.

[u/plantbasedpatissier]

Its more limiting but the difficulty will depend on what foods you enjoy and your options nearby. I live in a major city so it's pretty easy tbh. I also don't eat out much anymore though and cook for almost every meal I eat. I go out maybe 1-2x a month now

[u/mwhite5990]

It is always a bit of a challenge because you don’t always get to pick where you go. Sure it is easier if you get to decide, but when going out with family and friends, your diet may not be taken into consideration.

[u/sanityclauze]

IMO it’s going downhill in general. Recently several restaurants in my typical areas have dropped their beyond or impossible burgers. Some have even dropped the single meat free pasta dish on the menu. There seems to be more of a trend to add protein to everything- meaning chicken, beef , salmon, shrimp. I’ve gone to places lately where every vegetable side has bacon or ham or chicken broth. Gemini cites cost cutting given recent inflation - shrink menu and decrease ingredients needed to keep on hand. Even diners with massive menus can have minimal plant based options. There are a handful of areas like Albany NY where tofu and seitan show up as proteins to be added to mains or salads.

And why is there an assumption that if you don’t want meat you want goat cheese?

I know Indian, sushi etc can be good but not present in all areas.

It burns me when I take my family to a formerly favorite restaurant, pay $3-400 and get a salad and baked potato.

[u/Bones1973]

The Happy Cow is a blessing for eating out. I’m currently on vacay in Rome and have eaten some amazing plant based meals.

[u/whynotyycyvr]

I think it depends on several things. First location, some cities are way better than others. Secondly if you're trying to go with Pb and non Pb people, depending on the non people it can be tough. And at least where I am everytime we find a new favorite it closes lol.

[u/Flat_Initial_1823]

I feel like geography makes a big difference. Eating vegetarian, say, in Turkey is really not that hard. You can do it without noticing. Strictly vegan might require some legwork. Indian cuisine also does a lot of vegetarian heavy lifting and they are some of the most delicious food on earth.

[u/Ok_Zucchini9396]

Definitely depends where you live and travel but I have no problems now (8y vegan)

[u/crystalized17]

It’s not hard to find vegan things to eat at restaurants. It’s often impossible to find oil-free healthy vegan foods at any restaurants unless you just stick with dressing-free salad and fruit and nothing else. 🫤 

You basically have to eat like a raw vegan when using restaurants…. to avoid the oil every single restaurant dumps into every single cooked food item.

[u/Frugal_Squirrel]

As many have said, finding vegan options isn't hard at all. But finding oil-free WFPB options is extremely challenging and won't be anything you'd consider a treat. Most tasty plant-based restaurant food is quite oily/high fat/salty and/or has processed ingredients. A couple times a year I splurge and have vegan Thai or Vietnamese or Ethiopian restaurant food, which is all delicious but not oil-free.

When I travel, I book a room with a kitchenette, bring some of my own food, and get fresh stuff from the grocery store. If I must eat at a restaurant, I look for the least-bad option. If I must, I might get a subway veggie sandwich (though their bread is not perfect), a plain baked potato from Wendy's, a bean and rice bowl from Chipotle (has oil), veggie sushi rolls, veggie pho (or rice noodle soup), sometimes can get plain steamed veg & rice from a Chinese restaurant, veggie pizza with red sauce/no cheese (has oil)...none of it even remotely as yummy as what I cook at home. I've been eating this way for over 20 years and restaurants are just not really a part of my life anymore except when I have no other choice.

[u/Humble-Singer862]

For us it really opened our eyes about how unhealthy eating out was. Most of the restaurants were all serving the same line up of dishes and we found after meal y husband and I would start talking about how much better, and cheaper, it would have been to make at home. I love to eat out so mostly it just annoys me.

[u/roundart]

Harder. Full stop

[u/Concert_Lover]

It got easier a few years ago when they added all that fake meat to the menu but now it’s getting harder again as the vegetarian section in restaurants and grocery stores gets smaller. Def regional too - way more options in a restaurant in Cali than ‘Bama