Dining out as a vegan can require some advanced planning. While we love to hit local joints, sometimes it’s nice to have the comfort and ease of chain establishments. That said, there’s only so much Chipotle and Mellow Mushroom a vegan can eat, and because we travel extensively, I’m always excited to find new regional and national options. When b.d.’s Mongolian Grill reached out to MostMetro to see if anyone on the team would be interested in trying their new targeted vegan options, I almost kicked myself for not thinking of them before.
Though their name sounds geared more to carnivores than herbivores, they’ve always been very “specific diet” friendly. For those not familiar with b.d.’s, the concept is simple: customers build their own stir-fry, selecting from multiple buffet tables of ingredients that include a variety of meats, veggies, and sauces.
Not into meat? Not a problem because you can skip the meat section of the buffet altogether. The sauces at the bar are all labeled as vegetarian (not yet vegan, but I’m told it’s coming). Although most of the food is cooked in front of diners on a large, flat grill at the back of the restaurant, there is a separate grill where you can request to have your food cooked if cross-contamination is a concern. (I believe the same holds true for other allergens, such as shellfish and egg, but best to check with the wait staff to confirm).
While the focus had been on vegetarians previously, the chain is now making a concerted effort to explicitly attract vegans, too. As such, the restaurant had contacted MostMetro and set up a time for my girlfriend and me, both vegans of three years, to visit and experience their new plant-based options.
Our experience was excellent. Both our server, Crystal, and the manager, Casey, were knowledgeable about vegan dietary needs and extremely friendly. To aide our experience, Crystal handed us an annotated version of their sauce menu that indicated all of the vegan sauces and two recipe cards for entrees that were explicitly vegan.
My girlfriend tried the first entrée—a sweet and sour tofu dish. She piled red peppers, green peppers, onions and pineapple on top of their prepared tofu. She augmented the recipe slightly, adding mushrooms and some hot sauce to the recommended Sweet and Sour Sauce.
I opted for the Southwest Fajita bowl, with traditional ingredients like corn, black beans, onions, peppers, and cilantro. I threw in some tofu for some extra protein and some fresh (and very hot) jalapenos for an added kick before topping it off with the recommended Fajita sauce and loads of fresh garlic.
I opted for the Southwest Fajita bowl, with traditional ingredients like corn, black beans, onions, peppers, and cilantro. I threw in some tofu for some extra protein and some fresh (and very hot) jalapenos for an added kick before topping it off with the recommended Fajita sauce and loads of fresh garlic.
Both dishes were well-balanced, flavorful, and satisfying. We ate them over a bed of brown rice and an accompanying salad from the restaurant’s salad bar. Although the meals and salads were filling in and of themselves, we also had steamed edamame and selections from their drinks menu: a specialty cocktail for her and a Warped Wing beer for me.
While dining as a vegan can require advanced planning, dinners out with kids who are not vegan, as both sets of ours are not, adds to the complexity of meal scheduling. We loved that b.d.’s offered options that were tailored to our diets but we could very easily see coming back with the kids and other family members who weren’t vegan. Because of the “build your own” nature of b.d.’s and their overall awareness of dietary concerns, this is an easy place to get a meal for diners across the entire spectrum. B.d.’s commitment to adding vegan labeling and making it easier to ensure vegan access is another smart, progressive step forward for the already flexible restaurant chain.
Visit b.d.’s Mongolian Grill at The Greene, located at 4488 Glengarry Drive in Beavercreek
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