When one thinks of fast food, burgers, hot dogs, and buffalo wings come to mind. Vegan fast food?..Yes..It does exist! Vegan fast food restaurants have been cropping up across the globe. Food Swings in New York City is one of these restaurants. Their menu is quite vast and encompasses every imaginable, fast food item. Veggie burgers, veggie dogs, faux buffalo wings, faux chicken fingers, faux Philly cheese steak, Chile, and faux fish n chips are just a few of their delectable menu offerings!
The good thing about modernization and how quickly information gets from one place to another, is the fact that people become more aware of recent interests and concerns. This has led to having many restaurants catch on an increasing interest of people adopting a vegan diet and their demand for vegan restaurants. What this means to us is that eating out doesn’t have to be a pain, like it used to be back in the old days. Now you can find restaurants that can make you a dish tailored to your specific needs.
One thing you could do before going out, is surfing the web in look for vegan restaurants, or restaurants with vegan choices around your neighborhood so when you get there, you know what to expect from their menu.
Also even if you find a dish you like but it is not 100% vegan, you could tell the person helping you if the chef can take some ingredients out of the dish so it could be vegan. What helps me when ordering food like that, is saying to the waitress or waiter that you are allergic to some ingredients in the dish you want to order and if they could make it custom for you. Out of 10, 8 will have no problem doing it as they want your business and they would not risk a law suit.
As you can see, eating out as a vegan should not be hard at all. With time, you will get to know restaurants that can meet your specific needs and you will feel more confident asking the waitress or waiter to help you out with your vegan needs. Eating out should definitely be part of your vegan experience as it might get a little dull staying home preparing all of your meals. So plan ahead and make your research to find out which restaurants are vegan friendly as this will take out some of the stress people find when they try to eat out on a vegan diet.
Faux meats and faux cheeses are made of soy, wheat, gluten, or other non-animal products. Typically, soy is the ingredient of choice. For the newly vegan or carnivore guest, I can assure you that these faux substitutes will not disappoint you! You may even convert to veganism yourself. These faux meats and soy cheeses will even please the palate of a carnivore!
My first experience at an all-vegan, fast food restaurant was indeed at FoodSwings in New York for both lunch and dinner. I ordered the veggie dog, buffalo wings, fish n chips, and potato skins with faux bacon bits. These all vegan restaurants make this dining experience an authentic one. In other words, just as carnivores indulge in all of the toppings and condiments enhance their selections, these all-vegan alternatives do likewise. My veggie dog arrived complete with faux cheese, mustard and relish. The fish n chips was accompanied with vegan tartar sauce. The buffalo wings were smothered in BBQ sauce. Finally, the potato skins arrived with faux bacon bits and faux sour cream. For the first time in my life, I could relate to anyone who had experienced the fast food, dining scene!
Vegan, fast food restaurants are becoming more commonplace in Europe also. Germany in particular can boast of several of these eateries. They serve the typical fare of veggie dogs, veggie burgers, buffalo wings, chicken fingers, and so forth. Some of these restaurants specialize in a particular type of fast food, such as veggie dogs.
As a vegan child, I can recall feeling “out of place” when accompanying friends to the breach or seashore or on a vacation. While the others found a satisfying lunch at a clam shack or burger cafe, I had to either settle for fries and a salad or frantically wander around the vacation spot seeking vegan meal options. That is no longer the case!
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