Level 3: Go All Out for Animals

Create a Guide to Vegetarian Dining in Your Area

How many times have you heard someone say, “I’d like to be a vegetarian, but it’s too hard! It’s just not convenient enough.” We’ve heard it way too many times. Many people are convinced that vegans can’t eat out or order pizza at 3 a.m. As we all know, nothing could be further from the truth, and veggie dining guides are a great way to let everyone else know it, too. You can make a simple guide out of a few pieces of paper and a list of all the best places to eat in your area, or you can create a more detailed, complete guide with the instructions below.

If there are animal rights or vegetarian groups in your area, ask if they have any funds to help you pay for your guide. Sometimes, local printers will give discounts to nonprofit organizations, and some may even print the guide for free! If you can raise the funds, printed wallet-sized guides are ideal, but you could also make a vegetarian dining Web site for your area (www.vegseattle.com and www.vegohio.com are great examples) or post a .pdf file to an existing Web site and let people download and print the guide themselves. Online guides are also easy to update. To download and view PETA’s vegetarian-friendly restaurant guide for Hampton Roads, please click here. There are many different ways to create a restaurant guide. The following tips will help you:

1. Make a list of all the vegetarian-friendly restaurants that you can think of in your area, and ask your vegetarian friends for input. Then, go through the phone book and call all the restaurants that you aren’t sure about to get more info. Your guide should include a wide variety of restaurants, not just those that are exclusively vegetarian. Feel free to recommend specific dishes.

2. If you’re creating a printed guide, you won’t have a ton of space, so it’s important to provide only essential information. For example:

Thai Garden
1546 N. Washington Ave.
757-555-2222
Thai food, including vegetarian buffet, tofu dishes, vegan spring rolls

3. If your guide will be online, you won’t be pressed for space, so you can provide more detailed information. Often, online guides feature brief descriptions of the restaurants, detailed lists of vegetarian-friendly foods, prices, hours, links to the establishments’ Web sites, and maps or directions. You don’t want to overwhelm people, of course, but it’s a great idea to provide interesting details. The following example is adapted from VegOhio:

A newly opened café that offers all-vegan cuisine. Items include wraps, burgers, homemade soups and sandwiches, salads, pizza, TVP stew, and much more. You’ll also find a juice/smoothie bar and a coffee bar. Average meal costs between $5 and $6. A section of groceries is available, including soy milks, tofu, teas, chocolate bars, and more. The café shares its location with an aromatherapy and gift shop.

Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday, 12 noon to 6 p.m.

4. Restaurant owners will usually be happy to work with you on the dining guide because it’s an easy way to get their names out to the public. If you choose to do a printed guide, ask the restaurants in your guide to make copies available for their patrons. Most business owners in your community will probably agree to distribute copies, so talk to your chiropractor, dentist, bank, and antique shop, and get your guide to as many people as possible. If you choose to create an online guide, you can hang fliers in local businesses and link to the site from as many other sites as you can. Create some appealing online banners, post the link to list-serves, and let local and national vegetarian organizations know about your work.