Eating Out

Most chain restaurants have allergy menus online, especially fast food restaurants. Often times, the easiest way to locate a menu is to google the name of the restaurant and either the word “allergen” or the phrase “allergy menu.”   

Most high-end restaurants, chains or not, are also good bets. The chefs, and usually the servers, are pretty knowledgeable about what ingredients go into their dishes. (Occasionally servers get confused and think that eggs or coconutmilk are dairy so if I can tell that a server isn’t that knowledgeable I will make a point to mention that eggs are ok.)  

Most Asian restaurants are largely dairy free. However, watch out for Japanese hibachi places, they often use margarine (which may contain dairy) on their grills.

Some of our favorite places to eat:  

1. Chipotle: everything at Chipotle is dairy free except for the two items that are obviously made from milk (cheese and sour cream).
2. Papa Johns Pizza : Hand tossed crust is dairy free.  Most toppings are dairy free too.
3. Subway: Our "go to" when we are on a long car trip because many of their breads and most of their toppings are dairy free.
4. Paladar (locations in MD, VA, OH, and FL): Items marked with a “V+” are vegan and therefore do not contain milk.  They also have  a number of meat and seafood dishes that are dairy free.  The servers are usually very willing to talk to the chef to see if an entree can be prepared dairy free. 
5. Level (Annapolis, MD):  My favorite!  The servers are extremely knowledgeable about the ingredients in their menu items and can help you build a dairy free meal.
6. Sticky Fingers vegan bakery (Washington, DC): Amazing! On the weekends they serve brunch foods such as french toast and pancakes. They have some gluten-free options. (Indoor seating is somewhat limited.)