A List of Safe Restaurants

[CarolineMinLA]

Update on Souplantation, at least in Los Angeles, CA.
[url]http://www.souplantation.com/url]

They are now making their baked white potatoes and baked sweet potatoes on a baking sheet with oil instead of individually wrapped in foil. I was very disappointed when I went there this past weekend. Of course they have their huge salad bar so I had plenty to eat!

[Christine in Cali]

http://www.Sonomatacoshop.com

Here in Northern California there is Sonoma Taco Shop with a whole separate menu just for us Mcdougall-ers. When I first decided to go vegan and then try McDougalls way ( just two weeks ago) I remembered my mother always going there when she did this plan. I really liked the veggie burrito. They fix everything without oil although I would forgo the chimichanga.

Also High tech Burrito is good.....there veggies are very flavorful with garlic! Gotta watch em though cause they will put some oil in the pan, before heating em up.

http://www.hightechburrito.com

[hazelrah]

http://www.Sonomatacoshop.com

Here in Northern California there is Sonoma Taco Shop with a whole separate menu just for us Mcdougall-ers. When I first decided to go vegan and then try McDougalls way ( just two weeks ago) I remembered my mother always going there when she did this plan. I really liked the veggie burrito. They fix everything without oil although I would forgo the chimichanga.
...

Wow, and there's one in San Rafael. I remember how much I hated the food when we lived in Marin. You have to drive everywhere, and even when you get there, there's nothing you can eat. And back in those days we weren't even McDougall, just vegetarian. Between this and that Nature's Express in Berkeley, life is going to become a lot more convenient.

Thanks for pointing this out.

Mark

[carollynne]

Anyone mentioned Taco Bell? Here in PA you can get a
potato taco no ranch sauce,
fresco bean burrito, fresco taco with beans, not beef
7 layer burrito,
and 5 layer burrito say swap the beef for beans,
and say hold the dairy (cheese and sour cheese). Sometimes my sons will tell them extra veggies, since I am saying no diary too.
The people who work there are very good about doing this !!

[blondie]

That's good to know about Taco Bell. I thought they only offered vegetarian stuff for Lent.

[frozenveg]

Anyone mentioned Taco Bell? Here in PA you can get a
potato taco no ranch sauce,
fresco bean burrito, fresco taco with beans, not beef
7 layer burrito,
and 5 layer burrito say swap the beef for beans,
and say hold the dairy (cheese and sour cheese). Sometimes my sons will tell them extra veggies, since I am saying no diary too.
The people who work there are very good about doing this !!

Um, I hate to burst your bubble, but there is lard (animal fat)in the beans. And the flour tortilla has fat in it. The Fresco Bean burrito is 20% fat, with 2.5 grams saturated fat, listed in Taco Bell's nutritional info. In the potato taco, those potatoes are fried, and again, the flour taco has fat in it.

I would NOT recommend eating things at Taco Bell unless you check out the nutritional info, which they do provide on the internet. I haven't found anything I could eat there so far...

[ETeSelle]

Um, I hate to burst your bubble, but there is lard (animal fat)in the beans. And the flour tortilla has fat in it. The Fresco Bean burrito is 20% fat, with 2.5 grams saturated fat, listed in Taco Bell's nutritional info. In the potato taco, those potatoes are fried, and again, the flour taco has fat in it.

First, I COMPLETELY agree that Taco Bell is NOT on the McDougall plan!!!!

But where are you getting that there is lard in the beans? Not true according to TB's website:

Pinto Beans, Soy Oil (Trans Fat Free Shorteneing with TBHQ and Citric Acid to Protect Flavor), Salt

http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/ingredientstatement

The nutritional info IS utterly horrendous--1 Freso bean burrito (and they are SMALL--who eats just one??) contains 350 cals, 70 cals from fat, 2.5 gm of sat fat, and 990 (!!!!) mg of sodium.

No WONDER I gained weight back when I was eating those things! But they ARE technically vegan and they contain soybean oil, not lard. Just sayin'.

[frozenveg]

Um, I hate to burst your bubble, but there is lard (animal fat)in the beans. And the flour tortilla has fat in it. The Fresco Bean burrito is 20% fat, with 2.5 grams saturated fat, listed in Taco Bell's nutritional info. In the potato taco, those potatoes are fried, and again, the flour taco has fat in it.

First, I COMPLETELY agree that Taco Bell is NOT on the McDougall plan!!!!

But where are you getting that there is lard in the beans? Not true according to TB's website:

Pinto Beans, Soy Oil (Trans Fat Free Shorteneing with TBHQ and Citric Acid to Protect Flavor), Salt

http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/ingredientstatement

The nutritional info IS utterly horrendous--1 Freso bean burrito (and they are SMALL--who eats just one??) contains 350 cals, 70 cals from fat, 2.5 gm of sat fat, and 990 (!!!!) mg of sodium.

No WONDER I gained weight back when I was eating those things! But they ARE technically vegan and they contain soybean oil, not lard. Just sayin'.

Maybe that's old info or urban legend. My apologies! I shouldn't listen to rumors!

But yeah, Taco Bell (and I have to say, most Mexican food vendors) have so much fat in the beans, that they are just out for the program. If you can find a place that has whole beans, sometimes they have not added oil yet, and those whole beans are safe to eat!

[f1jim]

That's what I do. I look for Mexican restaurants that make their own refried beans instead of buying them premade. If they do that there is almost always a pot of whole beans they will be happy to serve you. It's almost always in the steps to making refried beans that they add lard. We will typically order a bowl of beans and a stack of corn tortillas which makes for a great meal. It's getting harder and harder to find those whole beans, though. We try to support the restuarants that do use them.
Funny, at a visit to a local Mexican restaurant I placed my order with the owner and he commented that I was eating "old school." He was from Jalisco and he said what I ordered was what many of the older people would eat for a meal. What's wild is they usually have to scramble to figure out what to charge you! It's usually cheap.
f1jim

[somnolent]

I just got back from the Whole Foods in Oakland, CA. I was really impressed by the number of oil-free, vegan dishes in the area where they have hot, prepared foods. It was way better than the Whole Foods that is closer to my home. So I thought I would mention it here -- it is not technically a restaurant, but I was able to pull together a tasty, healthy meal that was hot and ready to eat. Other ready-to-eat choices include hot soups, vegan sushi, big salad bar, vegan pizza by the slice, and of course fresh produce.

[ETeSelle]

I just got back from the Whole Foods in Oakland, CA. I was really impressed by the number of oil-free, vegan dishes in the area where they have hot, prepared foods. It was way better than the Whole Foods that is closer to my home. So I thought I would mention it here -- it is not technically a restaurant, but I was able to pull together a tasty, healthy meal that was hot and ready to eat. Other ready-to-eat choices include hot soups, vegan sushi, big salad bar, vegan pizza by the slice, and of course fresh produce.

Most WF stuff is FAR from oil free. In fact, other than the salad bar, most of it is not. Even the sushi (at least at the one near me) has some kind of oil-laden dressing in it for some reason. Be VERY careful there!

[f1jim]

Depending on the individual store, it's possible they have an excellent selection of no-oil items. I'm not sure why, but the incorporation of these items seems very dependent on the individual store. We have two here and they are quite different in their selections. We need to be encouraging the individual stores to embrace these changes.
f1jim

[JeffN]

It depends on the Store Manager

We are working closely with the Oakland store as it will be one of the stores we test the Wellness Clubs in. There are 5 stores being tested this year and if they are a success, there will be many more next year.

In Health
Jeff

[ETeSelle]

Yeah, I think in CA they are more down w/ the oil-free thing. Not here in TN. I haven't seen a THING on their hot bar or their premade salads that didn't contain oil. And the sushi at mine is just NASTY. I got it once and it had this sticky dressing in it (which contained oil--I knew it when I got it b/c I read the label but I was desperate, LOL). But then it wasn't just not on plan--it also tasted bad--I couldn't even finish it! So never again. I did check to see if they had any w/out that dressing and they didn't. What the heck is wrong w/ real vegan sushi?? Just veggies and rice and nori! <sigh>

[somnolent]

We are working closely with the Oakland store...

No wonder!

...as it will be one of the stores we test the Wellness Clubs in.

Can you give us more information about the Wellness Clubs?