Eating out as a vegan

When I first became vegan I was not sure how eating out would be. But so far, I have not had to walk out of a restaurant because there was nothing on the menu I could eat or because the staff were not willing to tell me ingredients. Since I became vegan the times I went out to eat it was usually an Italian place or a place that is vegetarian or vegan. When I go to the latter I am usually with people who are vegan or vegetarian. When I have gone to other places it is because I am the only vegan. The times I went to an Italian place one time I did need to ask the waiter about the ingredients. And the waiter was actually very receptive to my question. I would not have asked before, "Is there any beef or chicken broth in your marinara sauce" but after talking to a friend one day I found out that some people actually do use the latter in the marinara. Even butter, which I never had heard of.. I told the waiter I do not eat any animal products and needed to know the above question. He kindly told me the ingredients and I ordered and had a good meal. The only time I had not much to choose from was when I went to a place that served things like salads and sandwiches. A lot of there salads had things I could not eat and even there sandwiches. So that day, I simply had a house salad, pickles and a bag of chips. But that was for lunch, so I was fine. Do not be intimidated to ask before you eat. You made your choice to be vegan or vegetarian and do not want to feel bad if you eat something you really do not want to. An idea is to do a search online in your area for vegan restaurants or vegetarian restaurants. See if you can look at the menu online. Sometimes you will see that they state some of the meals are vegan. A hint for sugar and milk for coffee is what I do when I go to someone’s house to eat. I always carry with me vegan sugar, or agave nectar sticks, and a non-dairy powder creamer. I took empty plastic spice bottles, washed them out and put the sugar and creamer in them. Very easy to pour that way and convenient to carry around. Today I went out to eat at Mexican style restaurant. I was not sure how that would work out but it was fine. Even though the restaurant was not vegan it was in an area that seems to be geared more towards the vegetarian/ vegan way. I had ordered a vegetable burrito with beans and the original menu said some kind of cheese. I told the waiter I was vegan and he understood what that meant. He said they had soy cheese and even brought me soy based sour cream. So I enjoyed my burrito. Being vegan is a way of life and as a friend had said, once you learn how, it is second nature.
Thank you for coming to my blog . I hope to see you again.
Happy vegan eating.

Gnewvegan