Eating Out

Kids had a cheerleading competition in Pomona, so we ate out. Unfortunately, we don't know of a lot of places to eat in the Pomona area ~ especially places that are kid-friendly and veg-friendly.

Eating out as a vegetarian certainly has changed since 1984 in Maryland, when I became vegetarian. I remember going out with friends and ordering the burger...with no burger..because there really wasn't much else on the menu I could eat besides salad. In some cases, even the salads weren't vegetarian. When I was doing a l0t of roadtripping in the early-mid '90s, it was hard to find food, sometimes. I remember joking that, in Montana, when you ordered a salad, they asked, "do you want the steak salad, or the chicken salad?" or that, if you ask if they had any vegetarian options, they would suggest the chicken. Only...well, we weren't really joking, were we? It really was like that.

Now, living in the Los Angeles area, I find that I can go pretty much anywhere to eat. There are lots of vegetarian options, and many places have vegetarian menus. Shoot, even the Denny's in Pomona offers a Boca Burger.

We have our few favourite places to eat with the family. there's that Indian restaurant in Santa Monica of which I can never remember the name (I feel like a jerk about that ~ I would love to recommend them). Kung Pao Bistro has an extensive vegetarian menu, and we love Pink's veggie hotdogs when we're in a real "hotdog" kinda mood (mine w/ mustard,relish and kraut ~ there is just not much better than that). But, you know, we can usually find something anywhere we go. Most Mexican or Italian restaurants have vegetarian options (you may have to ask about things like meat-based broths or lard in the beans, but they are usually pretty forthcoming, I've found).

Anyway, I guess I was just thinking about how much easier it has become to be vegetarian. Of course, this may not be true everywhere. Maybe I am just lucky to live in a veg-friendly city. at any rate, two of my little girls brought home 1st place medals tonight, and I had very satisfying Boca Burger w/ lettuce, tomato and pickles for dinner. Oh, and a side of celery and carrots. I really gave the celery to Shane, if you must know.

I promise, one of these days, I will actually cook something again.