Travelling across America is, for most people, the trip of a lifetime. Jumping into a car, turning on the stereo and cruising out on the highway is the stuff of dreams and the great “road trip” has become legendary. As populations across the USA grew and driving became more common it soon evolved into the transport of choice to get people from one place to another, giving the driver the freedom to explore life on the open road. Soon, a whole industry sprang up to support the road trippers with roadside motels, gas stops and diners.
Roadside Diners and Vegetarian Alternatives
Driving long distances can take its toll, especially when there’s not always a lot to look at and stretches of long, straight highway between each town so fuelling up when you can is essential. Road side diners provide exactly the high energy, easy to eat food that you need to keep you going - but what if you’re vegetarian? A lot of America, in particular the coastal areas and the big cities are wonderful at providing vegetarian alternatives but when your on a road trip you’re more often that not in the middle of no where, and this is where it can become a little harder to find meat free options.
Vegetarian Food in American Restaurants
Thankfully, there are ways around this and good vegetarian options can be found in most situations. Italian food is very popular across almost the entire continent and this is good news for veggies. Pull off of the freeway into any reasonable sized town and you should be able to find an Italian restaurant or pizzeria which normally have a least 2 or 3 meat free dishes. In the south west USA Mexican food is common and this too is a haven for veggies with lots of rice and bean dishes to choose from. In the Pacific coast area there is an abundance of eateries offering Chinese style cuisine which is full of vegetable dishes.
The one sort of restaurant that may appear difficult to eat at is the traditional American diner, which tends to lack obvious veggie dinner options (although breakfast menus are always good choosing grounds for non meat dishes). Don’t let this put you off though - just because there is no vegetarian section to the menu does not mean that you’re out of luck. One of the best things about American restaurants is the high level of service from the waiters and waitresses and, often, when you explain your situation they will be able to suggest an alternative that you’ll be happy with.
Why not ask for one of the meat sandwiches minus the meat and with extra salad or cheese instead? Most diners also have a list of side dishes which can be a great resource for veggies - ask your server for a plate made up of several of these dishes like baked potato and salad, or bread roll with fries and salad to make your own sandwich. Appetiser menus also often have lots of meat free foods so ask for these but served as a main. Just looking at the list of entrees can be disheartening if you don’t see an obvious vegetarian option but when you consider the choices you can, with help of your server, nearly always find yourself a good meal no matter where you are.
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