A List of Safe Restaurants

[marcusm]

I second the recommendation by PamW of the Fresh Choice chain of restaurants. it is always easy there to find good things to eat without added fat. The fact they clearly label things, including the ingredients in the soups, is a big plus.

I've also had good luck at steak places like Sizzler as they offer a nice salad bar and often a variety of cooked veggies that either don't have added fat or can be ordered that way.

Other than that, I've not had much luck with chain restaurants but really look forward to visiting some mentioned here. Most of the time when eating out I look for a Japanese or Chinese place where things can be cooked to order. Veggie sushi, steamed rice and miso soup are always nice to have and If I talk to the server at the Chinese places and use the magic phrase "dry wok" I can get things cooked without oil.

I should also add a good word for a place in Santa Cruz, California called Dharma's. They've been around since 1981, feature organic worldwide veggie cuisine and no special order or request ever causes a problem. They even have a whole gluten-free menu. Nice folks!

http://www.dharmaland.com/

[Miramel]

Souper Salad

http://soupersalad.com

This is my new favorite place to eat. Buffet-style salad and soup bar. Huge selection of salad toppings and (at least at my local one) everything is very fresh. I usually avoid the dressings since everywhere it seems likes to sneak oil into even the fat free ones, but the website lists several of their dressings as vegan.

They have baked potatoes as well. They have a daily vegetarian soup (check website for daily menus) of which many are vegan. I usually only have a little bit of the soup as I'm not sure if it has oil or not (website lists the two soups I've tried as zero fat so...hopefully!) but they are also incredibly salty, so I usually just get a little bit to use as a topping for my baked potato.

They have absolutely delicious unsweetened ice tea as well.

[Mirrim]

The local Hometown Buffet can be safe if you choose the right things. I often make a large Salad with dressing from home. They also usually have a cabbage soup-type vegetable soup. Baked potatoes are good with salsa, and the salad bar always has plain garbanzos and kidney beans. They also have a mexican section with whole pinto beans and fresh salsa.

[frozenveg]

I hope I'm not belaboring the obvious here, but of course there is Wendy's, where you can get the baked potato with just the chives, and the side salad with no dressing.

And I just made a discovery today--Popeye's has corn on the cob, and if you ask, they don't put butter on it, so that was safe. I could tell by the taste that there was no oil in the water that was cooking it, too. What a great thing that was! If I hadn't brought in my own potato, tomatoes, snap peas, and carrots, I probably would have ordered 3 instead of 1.

I'd put the links, but there's not much point, since the nutritional information in both cases includes the butter, sour cream, dressing, and so on.

[JeffN]

mama fu's

www.mamafus.com

very accomodating.

my favorite is the steam bowl with bown rice.

enjoy!

Jeff

[eaufraiche703]

side salad at McDonald's..... it's $1, and quite lovely! the new angus wrap can be ordered w/o the angus, cheese and mayo.... BUT it's a white wrap (so, it could have mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, pickles)

if you needed a quick salad, McD's is better than Wendy's. ALL of McD's salads are lovely.... nice greens, grape tomatoes, slivery slices of carrot.... just skip the meat, cheese, dressings, etc

[Langeranger]

New Delhi in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Small buffet had only one non-vegan offering. Not low fat, but otherwise it's clearly the one-eyed person in the land of the blind.

Don

[Vanilla Orchid]

Le Tasty, an Asian restaurant in Oakland has a vegetarian menu, brown rice on request, and they will prepare dishes without oil--and they are not just your boring steamed veggies either.

No website, although I did speak to the owner and ask her to check out this website and get some publicity. She said she's not real computer savvy. Perhaps she needs our help. I'd like to see her prosper.

Address is 1437 Franklin Street, Oakland CA 94612 (510) 786-8811.

If somebody tells me how to do it, I can post the menu here. I have it scanned.

Then, of course there is Millenium. Bring plenty of money. Or go on Wednesday, which is convert a carnivore night, and bring a carniverous friend for a discount. http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/ Ask for oil free options.

[frozenveg]

Jen's Restaurant in Anchorage, Alaska:

http://www.jensrestaurant.com/

It is not easy to find ANY safe food at ANY restaurant in AK, but at the bottom of the dinner menu, it says, "Vegan dishes available; please ask your server."

My server was so attentive when I asked, and also listened to my requests for nothing sauteed and no added oil. The offering that evening was a delicious charred, roasted red pepper stuffed with wild rice, roasted veggies (green beans, mushrooms, onions, etc.), with a balsamic reduction over. It was incredible, and half the price of DH's pepper steak. (It is a $$$ restaurant, so it was my $20 to his $38).

The dessert server guided me to the Rødgrød med fløde, a
Classic Danish dessert, berry pudding served with cream. The cream is served in a little pitcher, so I left it off. It is a gelled berry assortment, so maybe a bit too much sugar, but it was a huge celebration--my birthday and our wedding anniversary, so it was my feast.

[StephORama]

I don't think I saw this mentioned yet, but Pei Wei will steam your veggies and tofu if you ask. They'll also put your sauce on the side. Their vegetarian dishes are marked with a leaf symbol, and they have brown rice.

[Mober]

Oddly enough the steak joints are almost better places to get a good McD meal than most. Just order baked potato!

I always like the ambience in Morton's Steakhouse in Rosemont near O'Hare, but multiple locations around Chicago and elsewhere. Giant baked potatoes. They will also steam basically a whole head of broccoli as well. Start off w/ a salad, dry. Last time I went I just ate the inside of the potato as it occurred to me to ask if they put oil/salt on the skin too late.

http://www.mortons.com/

[Mober]

I was reminded of another place I have had McD type meal. Blind Faith in Evanston has a macrobiotic plate. I didn't inquire at the time about salt, but they are very accomodating. It's a walk from the train from downtown, although it would be a long ride to get there from Mag Mile shopping just to eat.

http://www.blindfaithcafe.com/

I would recommend getting a salad or fruit somewhere downtown if you're shopping, there's lots of options even inside Watertower Place.

http://www.shopwatertower.com/dining-en ... t/foodlife

I have seen people eat a mountain of brown rice at Chicago Diner. But if you're a recovering gourmet vegan, you will be tempted here (and Blind Faith).

http://www.veggiediner.com/wp/

There's a ton of vegan places and even a few raw have popped up downtown. Unfortunately I didn't even know what a vegan was when I lived there!

[frozenveg]

Here I am on vacation in Boulder CO and I finally got to eat at Pf Changs! I had the Buddha's Feast and it was great. I also asked about a side dish with cucumbers, as to whether it had oil, and the server went and asked. She came back and said it did but that they would prepare it for me without the oil and told me the rest of the ingredients, which was so considerate! The server who brought out the food (a different person) also repeated the orders so that we had mo doubt our requests had been heard!

It was also the least expensive meal per person we had on this trip!

[Silver]

In Oregon - Cafe Yumm! They have locations in Beaverton, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Portland, and Springfield.

Their website is http://www.cafeyumm.com but it is not working right now.

I went on to check the content of the vegan soups for salt so I don't know about that right now. But you can get one of their Yumm! Bowls without with Yumm! sauce so I guess then it would be just a "Bowl". The Yumm! sauce is vegan but has oil. You will get Brown Rice (specify or you might get Jasmine) with black or red beans to which you can add diced tomato, avocado, black olives, cilantro, salsa, green soybeans, nori, or a vegan zucchini-corn-tomato stew (again not sure about salt in the stew).

They also have tofu and tempeh skewers with a barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce but on those too I'm not sure about salt/sugar.

[HealthFreak]

1) P.F Chang's - National Chain

http://www.pfchangs.com/index.aspx

BUDDHA'S FEAST
Vegetable medley with five-spice tofu served steamed or stir-fried

This dish will be made as plain as you want it, served with or without the tofu, and comes with steamed brown rice.

Thanks Jeff. I'll be ordering this today when I eat at the Westlake Mall PF Chang's in Seattle.