PrincessJasmine's vegetarian reviews (and my family's non-vegetarian perspective)

[PrincessJasmine08]

My family and I just returned from a 2 week stay at the Beach Club Villas. We had a ton of great food so I thought I would post reviews here. The trip consisted of myself (20), my parents, and my 2 sisters (15 and 22). I am a vegetarian and I am allergic to squash and bell peppers. I know, random allergies! The rest of my family is not vegetarian.

The first night we ate at Tony's Town Square restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. It seems like this place is constantly getting bashed here on the DIS. I for one have never understood why. We eat here every trip and we love it every trip! I had the house salad and my older sister and I split the spaghetti. The spaghetti is a very large serving, the two of us couldn't even finish it. The salad was great, very fresh, I absolutely loved the vinaigrette on it. We got the spaghetti without a meatball as my sister doesn't care for them. If anyone has been to Tony's, the meatball is huge. It is probably about 3 regular meatballs, however, they don't charge less for the spaghetti without the meatball. Not a big deal, but it just seemed strange to me.

My dad had the salmon, my mom had the eggplant, and my younger sister had soup and salad, all gave rave reviews.

We opted to skip dessert here and headed over to Aloha Isle for Dole Whips which were incredible as usual.

This was another positive experience at Tony's for us. The service, food, and atmosphere always keep us coming back.

 

[Moonpie]

Yay!!! Another vegetarian! We gotta stick together! Thanks for the review! I've already got reservations to go to Tony's and now I know what to expect when I get there! And a lot of restaurants will charge you the same amount of money for their dishes if you ask them to remove the meat... it's such a bummer.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Our second night we ate at Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki in Japan in Epcot. In all our Disney trips we have never tried this restaurant so we decided it was time. We had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. This is like other Japanese restaurants in the respect that it has communal dining and we were seated with a couple.

Our chef, Wader, was very nice. He entertained us throughout the meal with all the tricks he did. I guess it was because they cook the food right in front of you, but this restaurant was soooo hot! I am one of those people who is always cold, but I was sweating, it was way too warm in there.

I had the garden salad to start with. It was simple, but very good. It had ginger dressing on it which was interesting.

For my entree I had the Yasai which is assorted fresh vegetables with Udon noodles and rice. However, I had to speak with the chef for this meal because I needed to know what vegetables were included because of my allergies. Of course bell peppers and squash were both among the assorted fresh vegetables! However, the chef was able to substitute sliced carrots and a few other vegetables. Maybe it is because I am a college student, but these noodles just reminded me of expensive ramen noodles. You know, the dehydrated soup? Us college students eat lots of them since they are about 15 cents a pack!

Anyway, the noodles were good. They really were better than ramen noodles! I also appreciated the willingness of the chef to find something that I would be able to eat. He was very kind and accomodating.

Both my younger sister and mom had the chicken which they said was great. My older sister had the steak which she said was perfect. This is not something she says about all steak. She loves her steaks, but they have to be just so. Her saying it was perfect is a huge compliment. My dad had the kamome (scallops and chicken) which he also loved.

The only bad thing for us was that they don't accept the Disney Dining Experience card here. We will definitely return to this restaurant.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Yay!!! Another vegetarian! We gotta stick together! Thanks for the review! I've already got reservations to go to Tony's and now I know what to expect when I get there! And a lot of restaurants will charge you the same amount of money for their dishes if you ask them to remove the meat... it's such a bummer.

It's hard eating vegetarian with my family! They just don't get it, they like their meat. I'm going to do more reviews, but we later ate at Concourse Steakhouse and Olivia's. At both of these places I had pasta with veggies. It usually came with chicken but I of course got it with no chicken and was charged a lower price. This is why I didn't understand it at Tony's. Why should we pay for the meat if we aren't going to eat it? Oh well.

 

[amarberry]

Thanks for the vegetarian reviews. DD and I are both vegetarians. I switched to our team when I was about your age. How long have you been a vegetarian? It is interesting being the vegetarian in a family of carnivores.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Thanks for the vegetarian reviews. DD and I are both vegetarians. I switched to our team when I was about your age. How long have you been a vegetarian? It is interesting being the vegetarian in a family of carnivores.

Hi. I've been a vegetarian since I was 16. It is hard in a family of carnivores, but to me it just makes so much sense.

 

[Moonpie]

Is there an official "Being Vegetarian at WDW" thread? I'd be interested in discussing some ways of eating around the parks with you all!

 

[QueenGoblin]

Thanks for posting vegetarian reviews. I also went veg as a teen and lived with a family of carnivores. My DH converted while we were dating and is now vegan and stricter than I am. We are raising DD as a vegetarian and I often wonder if she will stick to it or go over to the carnivores when she is older.
It is always helpful to read vegetarian reviews on this board. WDW seems to be getting better about providing veggie options but you still need to hunt a bit for the good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to help us all out!

 

[amarberry]

My DH converted while we were dating and is now vegan and stricter than I am. We are raising DD as a vegetarian and I often wonder if she will stick to it or go over to the carnivores when she is older.

I'm married to a carnivore, but we are raising DD (2 yo) as a vegetarian. DH was actually more adamant about raising her as a vegetarian than me. DD is also allergic to eggs, but she eats dairy...too much dairy if you ask me so I'm looking for more toddler friendly vegan meals for her. I'm also curious to see what happens when she gets older. I don't want to push my views on her, but I would like her to continue to be a vegetarian.

So, do you get the "your poor vegetarian child will never get to go to McDonald's" comments like me?

 

[amarberry]

Hi. I've been a vegetarian since I was 16. It is hard in a family of carnivores, but to me it just makes so much sense.

Keep it up! Good job!

 

[KAYELIZ]

Thanks for writing your reviews I am also the only vegetarian in my family but they are all very sensitive and supportive. There have been many times when we've all left a restaurant because there was nothing (with the exception of a salad) on the menu for me. Disney has really improved their vegetarian selections over the years. We really enjoy the California Grill because the vegetarian dish that they offer is just as interesting as the dishes they offer to the meat and fish eaters. We're really looking forward to having dinner there in a couple of weeks!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Awesome thread! I've been a vegetarian for about 25 years. I always find something to eat at WDW but we haven't tried so many places that it's great to hear what they have and/or will do for a vegetarian. I'm researching some good places to eat (with food that's "safe") at Epcot.

 

[Sweedee]

My 14yodd is embracing a vegetarian lifestyle. She has been educating herself for a couple of years, and finally has made a sucessful transition. As a family of non-vegs, we would like to find a way to support her in this on our trip in Sept. Thanks for the reviews!

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your reviews, looking forward to reading about the rest of your experiences.

 

[Stitch1404]

Great reviews, keep them coming!

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Alright, here we go, day 3: 50's Primetime Cafe

When we got to the Primetime and I looked at the menu I thought I was in trouble. There is only ONE vegetarian entree, and it is a stuffed pepper. Go figure. I told the waitress I was a vegetarian and allergic to bell peppers and she said she would go ask the chef what he could do. The next thing I know out comes Chef Jimmy. He came out to talk to me personally to come up with something I wanted to eat. We came up with pasta with veggies, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese. At first I really didn't know what I was going to eat and Chef Jimmy was so helpful. I thanked him profusely and he said that if you are ever at a Disney restaurant as a vegetarian and can't find something you want to eat always ask to speak with the chef. He said they really do want you to have a good dining experience and they are more than willing to work with you. Since they are all professional chefs he said they get a little bored making the same entrees night after night and it is kind of fun to get special orders. When our food came he came out yet again just to ask me how I liked it. The pasta was absolutely wonderful. Our waitress, "Aunt Stacey" made fun of me the whole time calling me "picky pants." My family enjoyed that and the name has stuck, I remain picky pants at home.

For dessert I had the s'mores. The plate they came on was really hot, they were that fresh. They were delicious, just like if you made them over a fire!

I kind of don't remember what my family had. I know one sister and my mom had the fried chicken which they raved about and I think my dad had fish. Maybe salmon? Anyway, I do remember that everyone loved their food.

Although it seemed like Primetime was going to be a negative experience it turned out wonderfully. I was so impressed with the food and Chef Jimmy.

 

[Moonpie]

Great review! I've got a reservation at 50's prime time too, and I already knew that the only veggie option was a stuffed pepper. Now I know I won't want to order that, cuz... I never liked my mom's version of the dish anyways. So I figure I'll just order a side of fries and a milkshake. But, I wonder if they'll be able to work with me just like chef Jimmy worked with you. I don't have an allergy to peppers, but they do make me gag just the same.

 

[DizMom11]

Has anyone tried the vegtable strudel at Coral Reef?

 

[Donald's #1 Fan]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanks for posting.

 

[Figment's friends]

Thank goodness for this thread! The 14 y o girl we are taking with us decided vegetarian was right for her 3 months ago. (The day I took her to the zoo, lol) And has really stuck with it. I was slightly concerned about her at TS because I was worried she wouldn't like anything there. This has done a lot to ease my worries.