You may remember a while back that a PR flack for Yard House made the boneheaded move of inviting Quarrygirl to come dine on some non-vegan items. The flack would up taking a lot of, um, yeah. Well, Yard House wasn’t too happy about that and is now getting the word out about some changes they’ve made to their menu resulting in a few new products that are actually vegan.
Someone I know got an email from them and forwarded it around. Maybe you’ve seen it already. Basically, they are trying out a new menu at two of their locations: Pasadena and Costa Mesa. The menu is now using a V for items that are vegetarian. There is no marking for vegan, or even use of the word. Apparently they are afraid to use the word for fear of lawsuits. How an item marked “vegan” that gets cross-contaminated with dairy or egg is any worse than an item marked “vegetarian” that gets contaminated with meat is beyond me. Maybe the truth is that Yard House is afraid to use the word vegan because they think it’ll turn off non-vegans or non-vegetarians who might try a Gardein item for a change of pace. Don’t know.
Either way, the important part is that there are now some vegan options at Yard House. The two main ones are the Gardein Chicken Rice Bowl and the Gardein Orange Peel Chicken. Previously we needed to stay away from anything battered at Yard House because all battered items had egg, but now they say they are using an eggless rice flour batter on all their Gardein items. There are also two salads that are vegan: the Summer Salad and the Citrus Soy Salad, plus two appetizers: the hummus and edamame.
It’s not a ton but it’s something, and as I’ve said to many a server: I don’t need a lot of options, I just need one.
insufferablevegan 
so glad there’s something i can eat there now!!!
Thx for reading! One day I am going to break some news big enough to get you to start following me on Twitter. 😉
I had the Orange Peel Chicken in Long Beach, that’s the only one they said they could do vegan. But it was good! Oh so good……
Scott, I also had the Gardein Orange Peel Chicken and thought it was really good. I’m so glad to have that option now at Yard House since it’s such a good place to meet omni friends. I don’t know why they told you that’s the only one they could do vegan — a friend of mine got an e-mail from Yard House that explicitly said that the Gardein Chicken Rice Bowl is also vegan as plated.
Do you know if the tofu/mushrooms lettuce wraps are vegan? Thanks!!!
My understanding is that only the six items I mentioned in the post are vegan as plated. Not sure what makes the lettuce wraps unvegan but it might have something to do with the three dipping sauces they come with. Perhaps substitutions can be made — the following sauces are vegan at Yard House: Apple Plum Ginger, Soy Vinaigrette, Lemon Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Spiced Balsamic Vinaigrette, Cattleman’s BBQ, Citrus BBQ & Pico de Gallo. Hope this helps!
From what I am aware of, foe the lettuce wraps the oyster sauce used on the tofu and mushrooms are not vegan. You can order it without, but some locations will give you a hard time. I’m not sure about the sauces.
What about the tofu mushroom wraps?