PETA's 2006 Vegetarian Report Card: Hotels

There's never been a better time for vegetarians to hit the road and explore North America. A rapidly growing number of restaurants are adding delicious vegetarian selections to their menus. For a quick meal, try the tasty veggie burgers at Burger King or Harvey's (in Canada), a Veggie Delite sandwich at Subway, or a 7-Layer Burrito with beans, rice, and guacamole at Taco Bell (just ask them to skip the sour cream and cheese). Leading the way among sit-down-restaurant chains are Hard Rock Café, Ruby Tuesday, and P.F. Chang's, which are serving up amazing veggie burgers, delicious vegetarian wraps, and mouth-watering Asian fare with a healthy twist. Or you can try one of the thousands of locally owned restaurants across the country that have fantastic vegetarian food, such as Mad Dogs in San Antonio, Texas; Gianna's Grille in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Soul Vegetarian in Charleston, South Carolina. Visit the Dining Out section of VegCooking.com to find vegetarian-friendly restaurants near you or to help you plan your next road trip!

Oddly, America's hotel chains are catching on to the vegetarian trend more slowly than other industries are. We surveyed the top hotel chains in the country and found that while many have good vegetarian options, compassionate, health-conscious guests may want to dine at local restaurants, which are often more accommodating. Some of the highlights (and lowlights) from our research, along with a grade for each hotel chain, are listed below.

Grade: A

Hyatt Hotels and the Ritz-Carlton brand came out on top. Many of the Hyatt locations we contacted had tempting vegetarian selections, such as the Charlotte, North Carolina, location, which offers lentil chili and vegetarian purse with tofu and vegetables, and the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Virginia, where diners can enjoy mushroom ravioli and vegetable pot stickers. Café Japengo, run by the Hyatt in La Jolla, California, offers a fantastic array of vegetarian fare, including a variety of vegetarian sushi rolls, vegetable fried rice, fried tofu, and a mixed-baby-greens salad. The restaurant also serves a vegetable bento box, which is filled with grilled vegetables, fried tofu, asparagus-risotto cake, peanut-noodle salad, and a sun-dried-tomato roll, served with miso soup and edamame on the side. For animal-friendly travelers who are looking for a sophisticated atmosphere, most Ritz-Carlton hotel restaurants offer at least some vegetarian choices. Two of the highlights include the Ritz in Marina Del Rey, California, which offers a hearty vegetarian taro burger, and the Amelia Island Ritz in Florida, which serves an exquisite Grilled Barbecue Tofu with Grilled Asparagus dish.

Top Tip: Hotel restaurants change their menus frequently, so if you want to make sure that the hotel you are staying at has good vegetarian options, call ahead of time and ask.

Grade: B

The Marriott hotel chain leads the way in the second tier. The Broadway Lounge in the Times Square Marriott offers a nice selection of tasty vegetarian tapas, while almost all Marriott restaurants have at least one vegetarian option. Hilton hotels offer a solid amount of vegetarian fare—highlights include a grilled-vegetable ravioli (which can be made vegan upon request) in the Austin, Texas, location; a grilled-vegetable-and-hummus wrap at the Norfolk, Virginia, location; and veggie burgers that are offered at several of the Hilton restaurants we contacted. Guests at Crowne Plaza hotels can also usually find a decent array of vegetarian selections, such as veggie burgers and vegetable stir-fries at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, location.

Grade: C

Radisson hotels are somewhat lacking when it comes to vegetarian options, but you can enjoy a veggie burger, a veggie plate, and tomato bisque at the Circles restaurant in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, location. While the Doubletree hotel in Santa Monica, California, offers a veggie burger and salads, the meat-free pickings are slim in other Doubletree locations (which are owned by Hilton).

Grade: Incomplete

We gave an "Incomplete" to Holiday Inn—while the Los Angeles, California, hotel locations offer veggie sausage for breakfast and a veggie burger for lunch, the selections at other locations were pretty sparse, and several employees at various locations asked us if chicken and fish flesh are considered to be vegetarian! The Wyndham and Sheraton hotels were also at the bottom of the barrel, with few vegetarian options to speak of at the hotel restaurants we called.

It should be noted that pretty much every hotel restaurant said that it could prepare vegetarian pasta dishes and salads. While these are passable options, the fact that there is such a wide number of delicious animal-friendly dishes available leaves little excuse for asking vegetarian diners to settle for pasta and salad these days.

Considering the fact that the majority of Major League Baseball stadiums at least offer veggie dogs or veggie burgers and that most airports offer a wide selection of healthy vegetarian foods, the hotel industry has some catching up to do. Thankfully, restaurants all over North America serve tasty, satisfying vegetarian fare. Check out a few of our favorite restaurants, or visit VegGuide.org to search by location. It's always exciting to scout out and sample a city's best vegetarian choices, so whether you want to try Sticky Cinnamon Buns in Washington, D.C., a Tofurky beer brat in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or a vegan bacon cheeseburger in Tucson, Arizona, get out there and enjoy all the delicious foods that our continent has to offer!