Hi there, I am traveling with my 15 yo picky eater, mostly vegetarian. She doesn't eat meat in the sense that she won't eat a hamburger, but she wouldn't notice or care about things like chicken stock in a soup. The biggest issues is that she won't eat a lot of the go to veggie foods, like quinoa or other grains, or tofu or things like that. When we go out, she mostly eats kid basics (mac and cheese, grilled cheese, pizza, pasta) or gets things like tomato soup or a bunch of vegetable side dishes together. Surprisingly, she will also eat spinach salad or salads with fruit/nuts.
I have been looking through menus but I'm having trouble finding places that have food she will eat, especially table service. We can bring food for her to eat, but Id love to find places she can eat a restaurant meal too. Any suggestions for places that may fit her diet?
Also is there a way to find out "off menu" options? Honestly, she would eat pasta with butter or red sauce every other day if she needs to, but I don't know how easy it is to get that kind of thing.
Will anyone give her a hard time about ordering off the kids menu if necessary? Many of them offer veggie kid staples she might eat.
Can anyone offer some advice? Thanks!
There won't be a problem with her ordering off the kids menu. You can also ask for an adult-sized portion of a kids menu item for an extra charge. Most of the restaurants have things like grilled cheese, pasta, pizza, or Mac and cheese on the kids menu. The restaurants are really good about accommodating picky eaters. Don't forget to check out the appetizer menus for restaurants too as most have salads and many offer soups that might work or other vegetarian apps.
With her diet, she will likely be able to find plenty of sides at any buffet. They pretty much all have things like various veggies, potatoes, Mac and cheese, salads, sometimes basic pasta or pizza. Most of the restaurants at breakfast time will have pancakes or waffles, some kind of breakfast potato, and eggs if she eats those.
For lunch/dinner, Homecomin' offers a side sampler where she can pick 3 different sides and the Mac and cheese is delicious. Garden Grill has a vegetarian option which comes with a veggie loaf that she may or may not be willing to eat, but it also comes with Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, veggies, stuffing, fries, salad, and rolls. Via Napoli has lots of pizza and pasta options. Mama Melrose also has several pastas as well as flatbreads and minestrone soup. The new Pizzafari family-style dining at AK can be ordered vegetarian (and you can do it where you still get the normal meat items and she gets vegetarian). It comes with 2 salads, pizza, 2 pastas, and cannoli. Planet Hollywood has a spinach salad with berries and nuts, as well as a few pastas that can be ordered without the meat.
Hoop Dee Doo has a separate vegetarian menu that offers grilled veggies, pasta marinara, or pasta marinara with veggies. La Hacienda de San Angel also has a vegetarian menu that includes cheese empanadas, veggie tacos, veggie enchiladas, and a spinach salad. San Angel Inn has a vegetarian menu with an entree salad or a Vegetarian Plate that includes sauteed veggies atop black beans with tortillas. California Grill's vegetarian menu allows you to select 4 options off a large list. Flying Fish, Tutto Italia, Narcoossee's, and The Wave all have separate vegetarian menus too that you can Google with the restaurant name and "vegetarian menu."
Also, not sure if you will be going to the water parks, but both of them have a large quick service that have a separate vegetarian menu on a huge sign outside. I can't remember everything offered, but there was some kind of veggie burger, a veggie wrap, veggie or cheese flatbreads, and I think one or two more things- maybe a salad?
I hope this helps.