Day 27: Restaurants and Fast Food

     Today I faced the challenge of eating vegan airport food, but since my vacation I have learned so much when it comes to surviving non veg-friendly restaurants that it was no sweat.

     Here is a little bit of what I learned on my vacation in Orlando Florida:

1)  When going out to a non veg-friendly restaurant with your friends or family it is always a good idea to call ahead to get a general idea of what they offer.

2) If they do not offer any vegan options you can always ask if they are willing to swap out an ingredient or two in order to make your own vegan option.

3) If the waiter or waitress is unsure, ask if you can speak with the chief and they will normally be willing to make some thing that caters to your dietary needs. (I have found that often the more high end the restaurants are the more likely they will be accommodating)

4) If all else fails, and they are really not being very helpful you can always say you have certain "dietary restrictions" or food allergies. That way they are more likely to take you seriously for they think that if they mess up they could make you sick. I actually told one of the managers at a restaurant that I was vegan and he specifically told the chief I had food allergies which I thought was very interesting.

    While eating out at non veg-friendly restaurants can be a hassle it can also be a lot of fun for you often get the meet the chief and some times even get custom made dishes specially for you.

     Often we are also faced with the challenge of having to go to a fast food restaurant because of various reasons and they are definitely not going to change anything for you. I found this site called Vegan Eating Out which does a good job of listing different fast food restaurants and their vegan options. It definitively shows you that there are plenty of options out there it is just up to you to make the effort to look for them.