Vegan Eating Out Guide: The Walpack Inn

When I originally created this post series, I thought it would just be about general cuisines (Italian, Chinese, or fast food, for example). But now I feel like it would be sort of cool to give insights into specific (and perhaps even local) restaurants.

More than anything else, I wanted to share about the delicious meal I had the other day. And make the point to you that more and more places are beginning to offer vegan alternatives that aren’t just broccoli or fries, so keep your eyes peeled!

What To Watch Out For

Normally with a steak-and-potatoes-type restaurant like the Walpack Inn, I’d say watch out for everything ? But having the word “vegan” present in their menu at all gave me a little hope.

But restaurants like this typically like to bathe everything in butter, so if you order a side of vegetables with your meal be sure to specify that you’d like them without butter (lesson learned the hard way).

In fact, be sure to specify that you are vegan/don’t eat meat or dairy at the beginning of the meal as well, so your waiter is aware and can inform the person preparing your meal (a good general rule of thumb for eating out actually).

Also: a dish including a vegan meat substitute doesn’t automatically mean it will be dairy- or egg-free, so just ask before ordering. As long as you do so with a smile, they should have no problem answering any questions you may have.

What To Order

1. Cottage Pie

This was a very impressive option to me, since I never in a million years thought I’d see something like this at this sort of restaurant. The menu listing indicated the filling was vegan meatless crumble, and as mentioned above I double-checked with my server to make sure there was no dairy or butter involved.

I really enjoyed the flavors of this dish, and for once felt normal as a vegan diner!

2. Eggplant Sandwich

This was listed on their website, although when I went to the restaurant it wasn’t on the menu that day. I feel like their menu is subject to change? Perhaps if they have it next time I’ll give it a try.

It does say it could be made vegan if you nix the cheese. Though I feel like if you are going to any restaurant where you’re not sure what options you have, a veggie sandwich is a pretty good fallback. So long as the bread is vegan, just ask them to pile it high with any veggies they’ve got.

3. Salad

Now normally I wouldn’t rave so much about a salad, but this salad was one of the better ones in my years as a vegan. It had chickpeas, beets, banana peppers, shredded carrot and more! It was also very fresh-tasting. All I had to do was ask for oil and vinegar as my dressing, and I was all set.

Note: In the past, they’ve also had a huge salad bar (which was not there on my recent visit, likely due to COVID). But if it ever returns, you could absolutely make a meal out of just that if you had to–I certainly have before.

4. Drinks

If you’re of age, a nice drink is a great way to start or finish a meal. They had a nice selection of wines, as well as the hard pear cider I chose, which felt seasonally appropriate ?

Bottom Line

It does seem that the menu changes pretty regularly. But the good news is that since they now have a vegan meat option, there will probably be at least one thing on the menu you can order at any given time you go there.

Their website is www.walpackinn.com, and they also have a Facebook page where they post a specials menu from time to time (which might be helpful to take a look at before you get in the car).

A place like this might not be the *first choice* of a vegan, but if you happen to find yourself there you might find that it’s not half bad at all.

For the 2-5 NJ vegans who possibly found this post helpful, well, I hope you did 🙂

And that’s the post! Tell me, are there any more restaurants you’d like me to investigate? I will probably make a future post about ordering in vegan Chinese food, if that interests any of you.

Until next time, peace ✌️