Tips for vegetarian travellers coming to the US

Ridiculously enough, being a vegetarian traveller still causes a lot of problems. Some national cuisines are very meat-centric, and waiters perceive the question “Do you have something vegetarian?” as a personal offence. I survived various trips, even to Austria and the Czech Republic, but a true challenge came further, when I moved to the U.S.

My lucky star led me to Texas, the least applicable place for a vegetarian on the whole planet. People “fry stakes and drink beer” there and consider it a fundamental component of their culture. To be sincere, there is a little relief if you go to the other states, and a road trip from an eating point of view is a true nightmare. I lost many kilos, but I have survived, and would like to share several tips, which may help you discover America.

The size and the color of supermarket vegetables and fruits are impressive: you feel they will start mutating as soon as you exit the store, become alive and go to kill people. And the first among them will be without any doubts the gigantic strawberry: honestly, in my motherland even tomatoes have never reached this size. I would advise to pick up the smallest vegetables, and avoid imported products, eggplants and berries at all (except for imported from Mexico). The logic behind is very simple – to survive the trip from Italy or Spain, vegetables should be gathered unripe and stuffed with preservatives. Remember, absolutely every veg that you buy is to be peeled. According to my experience Walmart has the best quality of vegetables, and the best selection of cheeses.

When it comes to eating out, go for vegetarian-friendly Mexican cuisine (thanks God, that it exists!). Forget the traditional American eateries: even on French fries Texans put loads of bacon. By the way, it is quite common across America to (over)use bacon, so whatever you order – muffin, cupcake, ice cream etc. – be sure to ask, whether it contains bacon or not (there is a popular sweet treat – fried snickers wrapped in bacon, just to give you the scope of the problem).

In general, is it more probable to find vegetarian dishes in ethnic restaurants, such as Indian, Greek, Italian, and African, which are not so common in Texas, but more spread over other states, such as very meat-oriented Illinois and NY. To find a nearest vegetarian-friendly restaurant, you can use HappyCow application, which shows all possible dining places and allows filtering results by category of the dish.

If you are a student, your canteen will always have vegan offers, plus you can pick up side dishes from the county cuisine counter. If you are not a student, nobody prohibits you to come to the university canteen and eat there. Usually you pay fix sum on the entrance, around $10, and eat as much as you want, drinks included (nobody checks your student ID). For salads and light lunches you may check cafeterias – mind that not all of them may have salads without meat. My pick are Café Express, with vegetarian versions of sandwiches, hamburgers, soups and salads and Café Brazil, with amazing coffee & tea selection and a substantial menu. Another super good buffet-style option is Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes – for $11 you have all-you-can-eat access to soups, salads, snacks and desserts.

The biggest challenge is a road trip: vegetarian diet tends to be quite healthy, and on the roads you can find mostly fast food. So before starting your trip, go to the supermarket and buy as much as you can. Remember, on the gasoline stations the selection is very poor and food is as junky as it can be. There are still some options: Subway has a vegetarian sandwich, there are all-day-breakfast places, where you can grab pancakes or fried eggs, plus Starbucks offers yoghurt, porridge or cornflakes. Your best friend for a road trip is the VeganXpress app, which shows vegetarian options in various fast food chains. After all, you will always find something, at least an ice cream in McDonalds. The road trip is unforgettable experience, even if done on a hungry stomach ☺

As soon as you reach NYC, consider yourself saved: there are some vegetarian fast food chains, like Maoz (serving rolls and salads with falafel, all very tasty), Blossom du Jour (the fast food set up by famous Chelsea Blossom restaurant), plus you can get a vegetarian burger in Black Shark Burgers. NYC has loads of ethnic restaurants, so you can enjoy the best of Indian, Russian, Chinese, Italian and many other cuisines, just head to the appropriate district to get the best of the local variety.