Ah, buffalo wings. What’s more satisfying than being able to eat your favorite dish?
I’m talking about vegan Buffalo wings, by the way. Because why not? Nowadays, more people have called for vegan meat, and fortunately, many restaurants have also responded positively.
But for Ninety Nine Restaurants, vegan meat isn’t in our favor. There are very limited vegan options at the restaurant, especially since they are more about meat-based dishes. Their signature broiled sirloin tip, for instance, is very famous.
But if you find yourself dining in at one of its locations, we’re here to help. Let’s find out what you can get at this meat-based spot.
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Ninety Nine Restaurants, Always The Real Deal
Entrepreneur Charlie Doe envisioned a place where people would not only get to eat good food with great value but would also feel at home. From his creative idea, Ninety Nine Restaurants was born in 1952.
Ninety Nine Restaurants is now a subsidiary of Restaurant Growth Services and is headquartered in Woburn, MA. It continued to grow with a philosophy to update and refine its menu regularly to keep providing fresh options for its customers both new and old.
It was named Ninety Nine Restaurants after its first location address at 99 State St., in Boston, MA. Charlie Doe’s wife, Shirley gave him a horseshoe, which is believed to be a good luck charm. Doe hung it around the numeral 99 at the location, which has become the restaurant’s logo.
To this date, Ninety Nine Restaurants has more than 100 locations around New England and New York with over 400 employees.
Ninety Nine Restaurants Vegan Options
Unfortunately, Ninety Nine Restaurants has very limited vegan-friendly options as they mostly offer a meat-based menu. They don’t have a vegan main dish, which means that you’ll have to order a few of their sides, including the regular french fries.
You can also ask the crew to eliminate some ingredients that are included in these dishes. Let’s take a look at Ninety Nine Restaurants’ menu to see what vegan options you can have.
- Sides
- Grilled Dijon Asparagus
- French Fries
- Corn
- Broccoli
- Coleslaw
- Mediterranean Bean Salad
- Maine Russet Mashed Potatoes
- Rice
- Kids Entrées
- Pasta. This is served with classic tomato or butter sauce and rustic garlic bread. Of course, you can get the latter. Just skip anything that involves dairy or meat.
- Kids Side Orders
- Mott’s Natural Applesauce
- Mandarin Oranges
- In-Season Vegetable
- Kids House Salad
- French Fries
- Maine Russet Mashed Potatoes
- Rice
- Side Salads and Soup
- House Salad. You can ask to skip parmesan cheese and croutons, especially when the latter is made with dairy.
- Beverages
- The Ninety Nine Restaurants offers their signature cocktails as well as wines, beers, alcohol-free drinks, and fountain drinks. You just have to check the brands of their offered beverages to ensure that you’re drinking vegan.
- The most common non-vegan ingredients used in making beverages are Isinglass, Chitin, Casein, Gelatin, and more. You can check out more about these ingredients in this article that I wrote.
Pro Tip: Ninety Nine Restaurants has said to always talk to their crew about your food allergies to ensure that they don’t include anything that triggers your symptoms. This means that you can also ask to modify your order to make it vegan-friendly.
Vegan Beef Vs Real Beef
Ninety Nine Restaurants is known for its Broiled Sirloin Tips and Buffalo Wings. But of course, vegans are not for meat. However, on the plus side, many restaurants and vegan aficionados have created fake meat, also known as vegan meat to meet the needs of the people who follow a plant-based diet.
So, if you ask which one is healthier, it’s the vegan beef…obviously. Imagine having no fat and cholesterol, and no saturated fat on your vegan burger patty? Sounds very healthy, right?
But to give you a gist here’s an estimated figure between vegan ground beef and real ground beef.
| Vegan Ground Beef (56 g) | Real Ground Beef (56 g) |
| Calories: 84 | Calories: 142 |
| Total Fat: 3.5 g | Total Fat: 11.2 g |
| Cholesterol: 0 mg | Cholesterol: 40 mg |
| Sodium: 435 mg | Sodium: 38 mg |
| Total Carbs: 1.6 g | Total Carbs: 0 g |
| Protein: 13 g | Protein: 9.62 g |
| Potassium: 14 mg | Potassium: 151 mg |
Do you notice the huge difference in calories, total fat, cholesterol, and sodium? These are the most crucial food content that our body ingests every time we munch on something.
If you consume vegan meat, you don’t get to spend your lifetime burning those whopping calories from real meat. Beef, for instance, is very common in burgers, but if you choose a vegan burger made from plant-based ground beef, you’ll get zero cholesterol and less fat.
However, you’ll also need to consider the vegan meat’s sodium content because it’s way higher than the real meat. You must be wondering why. Well, it’s simple.
Vegan meat has to achieve the flavor of real meat and therefore needs more flavorings, seasonings, and other alternatives to achieve that meaty taste. This leads to higher salt or sodium content compared to real meat that already has its meaty texture and flavor.
Health experts have warned that excessive sodium intake can cause your blood pressure to rise, which leads to strokes and heart diseases. Your kidneys are also in danger when you take too much salt. Also, there are certain types of cancer that are at bay when your body ingests excessive sodium.
The USDA recommends every adult limit their sodium intake to 2,300 mg a day to avoid any adverse health issues. So to balance it out, you can have more fiber and flavonoid-rich fruits and veggies to help melt down the sodium excess.
Veggies and fruits like oranges, bananas, apples, berries, leafy vegetables, pineapples, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, kale, and more are rich in fiber and flavonoids. Consider piling them up in your pantry to help tone down your sodium intake.
What Ingredients Are Used To Make Vegan Meat?
Good question! When I started my vegan journey, I had to read and learn about vegan meat, especially since I had to bid goodbye to real meat.
I was honestly surprised that you can make vegan meat out of tofu and seitan. Like seriously?
But, yes. That’s really amazing and the taste is as real as animal meat, and for me, it’s even tastier. So, I went on and check more vegan-friendly ingredients to make plant-based meat. And yes, I was even more surprised. Ha!
Here’s what I found out.
- Seitan
- Also known as gluten meat, Seitan is wheat’s main protein. The wheat flour dough is washed with water to remove the starch granules making the insoluble gluten become elastic. It is then cooked before it can be consumed and converted into fake meat.
- Tofu
- Also called Bean Curd, Tofu is coagulated soy milk with its curds being pressed into solid white blocks. It can be soft, silken, firm, extra firm, or even super firm. Because of its spongy texture, tofu is among the most widely used ingredient in making vegan meat, especially since it can absorb flavors easily.
- Chickpeas
- Chickpeas, also called Garbanzo Bean, are a kind of annual legumes that are high in protein. They are ground into smaller particles as a meat substitute that are commonly used in tacos, vegan meatballs, and more.
- Lentils
- Lentils are lens-shaped seeds high in fiber and complex carbs. These are also widely used as a meat substitute used in pasta, tacos, burritos, and a lot more. They are gluten-free and are also low in calories and fat.
- Mushrooms
- Who would expect that these spore-bearing bodies of fungi can be a meat substitute? Mushrooms are ground and are used as a meat alternative in many different vegan dishes. These are rich in B vitamins and are naturally low in sodium content.
- Jackfruit
- The jackfruit’s meat texture is what makes this fruit a perfect alternative for pulled pork you wouldn’t even know that you’re eating a vegan pulled pork dish.
Top-Rated Vegan Restaurants In The US
While Ninety Nine Restaurants have very limited vegan options, other restaurants in America are in our favor. Rejoice!
And because I also love eating out, and tasting different dishes at vegan restaurants, I have great recommendations for you. Vegan restaurants are literally everywhere in the US. I don’t think you’ll ever have a hard time checking them out yourself.
You can check these top 10 vegan restaurants below… Well, at least for me. Wink!
- Daily Grill
- Bareburger
- Mellow Mushroom
- Olive Garden
- TGI Fridays
- Freebirds World Burrito
- Blaze Pizza
- The Cheesecake Factory
- Buca Di Beppo
- Yard House
The Takeaway
Ninety Nine Restaurants don’t offer main vegan dishes, but they have sides that you can order if you get stuck in one of their locations. You can opt for their regular french fries, pasta with tomato sauce, or a modified coleslaw.
Otherwise, there are many vegan restaurants around you that give justice to your umami taste. Because really. Who doesn’t want their cravings satisfied?
