New York City Travel Forum

Hi all,
I'll be planning a family trip to my first Aunt's place in Connecticut with my second and third aunt and a few of my cousin; and we are planning to spend a few days exploring NYC in Feb/Mar 09.

ALL my aunts are Vegetarian. Is there any vegetarian-friendly restaurants in NYC??

Their vegetarian conditions are:
* no meat (of course!)
* no animal by-products
* no onions
* no garlic
* OK to milk and eggs

Can help me here to give me some restaurant places so we can visit when we are there??
Not too expensive places please! (My home currency to US dollar is 1.65 to 1)
Do also provide me the restaurants' price range and maybe a few recommended vegetarian dishes if possible!! THANKS A LOT!!

Thanks all!

The best restaurant guides for US cities:
http://www.zagat.com/
They have never failed me. Don't know how they do it, but their recommendations are excellent.

Why no onion or garlic?

Look at www.menupages.com. You can filter the restaurants by "vegetarian" as well as many other characteristics. I just did this and found 113 vegetarian restaurants in Manhattan plus 15 in Brooklyn.

The no onions/garlic will be tough. Even "pure veg" Indian restaurants don't prohibit onions. There are a couple of vegetarian Korean places that might work (try Hangawi).

There are many vegan/vegetarian restaurants in NYC. Here is a good guide with reviews: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/new_york/new_york_city/index.html. Here's a guide to vegan restaurants: http://supervegan.com/restaurants.php. There are lots more on the web if you do a search, and the other sites recommended here are good as well. Given the number of dietary restrictions though, you might look specifically at vegetarian Indian restaurants in the "Curry Hill" area (lower East 30's) and around Jackson Heights in Queens. I'm sure a number of them have Jain menus that would fit the bill, and they are rarely expensive. There is a lot of good food available for takeout in NYC too, so you can always put together a "picnic" and eat in your hotel room. Gourmet Garage, Fairway, Whole Foods and the many health food stores are places to go for high quality prepared food to take away (and you'll have an ingredients list to check). Finding vegetarian and vegan food in NYC is not at all difficult, but you will just have to be vigilant about onion and garlic, since that's a more unusual restriction.

A very inexpensive and fun vegetarian restaurant is Pukk at 71 1st Avenue (around 4th street). It's a Thai restaurant that is completely vegetarian. You would have to ask them about the garlic and onions, but I'm sure they could tell you which dishes on the menu are OK to eat. Most of the entrees cost between 8 and 10 dollars.

I also second the posting on Jackson Heights. We live there, and many of the Indian restaurants on 73rd and 74th streets on 37th Avenue have Jain-friendly menus- you can often get a lunch buffet for 8-10 dollars as well. Since it sounds like you will be coming to New York for the first time, please be aware that Jackson Heights is in Queens, accessible by the 7, E, F, V, and R trains to 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue.

Enjoy your trip!

For religion wise and because they don't eat meat, they don't eat these two vegetables because of their "burning" properties. Onions and garlics clears our intestines of germs and stuff because we eat meat, but because they don't, the vegetables will "burn" their insides, that's what they say...