Welcome to Downtown Disney! Let’s eat some vegan food!

These are the options to the best of my knowledge as of March 2019. Please be aware that I try to update as thoroughly as I can, but the food options change regularly at Disneyland Resort, so the information becomes out of date at some point. Please contact me if you find that something has changed and that a previously vegan item is no longer vegan so that I can update the post! 🙂 Messaging me on Instagram (@happiestveganonearth) is the quickest way to contact me.

Table of Contents (Jump to a section!)

Black Tap Burgers and Shakes
Ballast Point
Salt and Straw
Earl of Sandwich
Tortilla Jo’s
Splitsville
La Brea Bakery (Express)
Starbucks
Naples
Sprinkles Cupcakes
Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen
Uva Bar and Café
Catal Restaurant
Surfside Lounge (Paradise Pier Hotel)
Jamba Juice
Marceline’s Confectionary
The Habit Burgers Truck
Crepes Bonaparte
Sephora
Curl Surf

 

• Black Tap Craft Burgers and Shakes (Order at counter and they bring the food to your table. Reservations not necessary)

This is the newest restaurant in Downtown Disney, it opened in late April 2019! Here is a summary of what’s vegan here:

The Vegan Burger and Quinoa Bowl requires no modifications!

The Vegan Burger also requires no modifications!

The burger is a housemade black bean and rice patty. I really enjoyed both of these, but I think the Bowl version was the winner between the two. It was a HUGE portion, very filling and nutrient dense!

The fries, sweet potato fries, chips, and Brussels sprouts are fried in a shared fryer. Ask for a substitute side if you’re not comfortable with shared fryers.

The sesame tahini sauce (which comes with the Brussels sprouts appetizer), the salsa verde, and the Texas BBQ sauce are vegan. The chef told me that the Texas BBQ sauce does not contain honey, but contains sugar that may have been processed through bone char. Checking the sugar on every sauce, dressing, and marinade when I’m at a restaurant falls outside of the realm of “possible and practicable” as defined by the Vegan Society for me, so I consider this vegan, but I always give you as much information as I can so that you can make your own call.

They can actually make a vegan version of their Classic Shakes as well! It is a soymilk based vegan ice cream. I have been twice so far and they have been sold out both times! I will get one and update this as soon as I can. To order a vegan shake, ask for the vegan ice cream base on the Classic Shake, and then choose any flavor except for nutella (which has dairy). The vegan flavors are: coffee, vanilla, chocolate, black cherry, strawberry, caramel, peanut butter, and oreo cookies and cream. They currently have a “lactose free” or “non dairy” whipped cream, which actually still has milk in it. The chef told me that they are working on getting an actual vegan whipped cream in stock as soon as possible though!

Here are the menu photos for your reference:

 

• Ballast Point Brewery (Table Service, Reservations Recommended but often not necessary)

According to a vegan server, all of their beers are vegan, except for the Victory at Sea, which contains lactose.

Here is how to order vegan from the menu:

1. The Soyrizo and Roasted Cauliflower Tacos are marked vegan on the menu. I was originally told by a server that the aioli contains egg, but after talking to several chefs, I have been told that it is in fact vegan. The dish is vegan by default.
2. The Cali Steak burrito can be modified to be vegan. Substitute Impossible meat for the steak, and omit the cheese. The fries inside the burrito and the chips served on the side are prepared in a shared fryer, so if you prefer, you can omit the fries, and get salad instead of chips. (There is some controversy around Impossible Foods — please do your own research to decide if it’s something you’re comfortable with. I recommend this article.)
3. The Impossible Burger is on the menu. Omit the cheese, and ask for a lettuce wrap. They currently don’t have a vegan bun option.
4. The Impossible Lettuce Cups are vegan with no modifications. When this restaurant first opened, they were mixing the impossible meat with honey, but they have since changed that, and they are now prepared without the honey.
5. The Bavarian Pretzel itself is vegan, so if you order it without the cheese dip, it is vegan. The mustard is vegan. You can substitute the chipotle tofu aioli (which normally comes on the tacos) instead of the cheese.
6. Fries with Garlic oil

Cali Steak Burrito with Impossible meat. I was really impressed by this one, super delicious:

Soyrizo and Roasted Cauliflower Tacos (here they are pictured without the aioli because I was told that the aioli isn’t vegan, but it is in fact vegan):

Impossible Lettuce Cups:

Impossible Burger, no cheese, swap bun for lettuce wrap:

 

• Salt and Straw (Counter Service)

In the old Haagen Dazs location, we now have Salt and Straw, which is a Portland based ice cream company with more vegan flavors! I went on opening day and got one of each of the vegan flavors. They are all marked clearly on the menu with a (V):

The three vegan flavors on the permanent menu, as shown above:

1. Roasted Strawberry Coconut
2. Dandelion Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies and Cream
3. Freckled Mint Tcho-colate Chip

Also in the photo above was the Mummy’s Pumpkin Spiced Potion from the Halloween Menu.

Here’s another photo of the Dandelion Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies and Cream, in a slightly less melted state!

There aren’t any Limited Edition vegan flavors at the moment (March 2019), but the menu changes every month, so perhaps at the beginning of April we will get a new flavor.

The sugar cones, pictured here, are vegan, but the waffle cones (the larger ones) contain egg. You can also get scoops in a cup. The sprinkles and chocolate sauce are vegan (see ingredients lists below):

Here are the lists if the photo is hard to read:

Holy Kakow Chocolate Syrup: organic agave syrup, organic cacao powder, filtered water, organic vanilla extract, organic coconut oil, Himalayan pink salt, organic guar gum.

Fancy Sprinkles Deluxe Rainbow: Powdered sugar, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Corn Starch, Glucose, Soy Lecithin, Carnauba Wax, FD & C Artificial Colors, Gum Arabica.

I’m not sure why the sugar cone isn’t marked in the left column as vegan, but the ingredients list shows that it is: Enriched bleached flour, brown sugar, vegetable oil shortening, oat fiber, salt, caramel color, artificial flavor, soy lecithin.

I love that they use real, metal spoons here for the samples — they’re not throwing away all of those tiny plastic spoons like most ice cream shops do! Their big spoons for takeaway are of course plastic though, so make sure to bring your own spoon or spork to avoid the plastic spoon.

They also have three types of vegan chocolate bars! Two from Portland Woodblock Chocolates, and one from a company called Compartes:

The Portland Woodblock “Madagascar” has only two ingredients: cacao and sugar, and the “Salt” flavor is just cacao, sugar, and salt.

The Compartes “California Love” bar is listed under the “Vegan Chocolate Bars” section of their website.

The ingredients list above says: “dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin as an emulsifier, vanilla), pretzels (wheat flour, salt, sunflower oil, yeast, vinegar, baking soda).

Watch out for the sitting next to it, the “Salty Malty” in a black and white package, which contains dairy.

• Earl of Sandwich (Counter Service)

This location has recently reopened after being closed all summer, and I got some up to date photos of their two easily veganizable sandwiches!

1. Caprese: Omit the cheese, and add avocado if desired. Say “avocado instead of cheese” and they shouldn’t charge you extra.

2. Veggie sandwich: Omit the cheese and dressing and it’s vegan!

The white (default) bread is vegan, but the wheat bread contains honey.

• Tortilla Jo’s (Table Service, Reservations recommended but often not necessary)

The veggie burrito is vegan with no modifications! I double checked with the chef that the quinoa meatballs are vegan, no eggs or dairy. And it doesn’t come with cheese or sour cream, but it doesn’t hurt to say “no cheese or sour cream” when you order, just in case! The burrito has house made quinoa meatballs, black beans, roasted tomatoes, poblano peppers, and red onion, topped with salsa ranchera and served with cilantro rice!

The portobello mushroom fajitas are also vegan! I don’t have a photo of those yet. They’re not supposed to come with cheese or sour cream, but again, it doesn’t hurt to say it just in case.

Just for reference if you want to get any sides or modify any menu items, the server told me that the red rice is made in chicken stock, and the refried beans contain lard. So the vegan alternatives to those are the cilantro lime rice and the black beans.

 

• Splitsville (Table Service, Reservations recommended but often not necessary)

This is a bowling alley with beautiful mid-century design and some impressive vegan options to match! They have several dishes with Impossible meat. There is some controversy around Impossible Foods. If you have not already, please research it and decide whether it’s something you’re comfortable with. I recommend this article.

Here is a summary of what is vegan or veganizable here:

Taco bowl: Request the Impossible meat, and omit the cheese and sour cream. The shell is in a shared fryer.

Impossible Burger: Order with no cheese and no special sauce.

Spicy Veggie Bowl: Choose tofu, and switch the sauce for the regular tataki (the kimchi has fish in it).

Poke Bowl: Choose tofu, omit the mayo.

Edamame Appetizer: Switch the sauce, since it contains dairy. Ask your server about sauce options.

Veggie Roll: No modifications necessary:

You can also modify the Grilled Avocado. Normally this comes with tuna, and you can replace the tuna with either grilled veggies or tofu — I went with tofu! Switch out the kimchee ponzu sauce (contains fish) for regular ponzu sauce, omit the spicy mayo (I added sriracha once it arrived), and switch out the wonton chips (contain egg) for cucumber chips!

They also have lots of fun drinks! I got a cucumber cooler, which is Tito’s vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, and sliced cucumber. Because the bartender had already seen me cover my food in sriracha, she asked if I wanted tajín on the rim of my glass, and of course I said yes 🙂

 

• La Brea Bakery (Table Service side and Express side)

At the table service side of the restaurant, they have an artisan veggie burger, which is a house made vegan patty (bean and quinoa based), avocado, arugula, cilantro hummus, fried shallots, and heirloom tomatoes. Omit the basil aioli to make it vegan. The chef told us that the fried shallots, which come in packaging, they aren’t prepared in the restaurant, have on the ingredients list only shallots and palm oil. I opted out of those, so what you see pictured below is the burger with no aioli and no shallots.

The chef told us that the wheat bun, the sourdough, and the French bread are all vegan. Make sure to double check when you order, though, because she said that they sometimes change bread suppliers.

The Hummus Toast Trio from the Appetizers section of the menu is vegan with no modifications! Roasted garlic, sundried tomato, and jalapeño cilantro hummuses served on French baguette:

At the express side of the restaurant, the veggie burger sometimes shows up on the specials menu board, order with no mayo and no cheese. Make sure they put it on one of their vegan breads — French or sourdough bread.

They also make pizzas to order, so you can get a pizza with no cheese, or a veggie sandwich on sourdough or French bread.

• Starbucks

Here you’ll find all of the vegan options you would normally find at a Starbucks! My favorites are the Soy Vanilla Latte, or the Soy Hot Chocolate around Christmas time! I can’t go over all of the options here, but they have soy, almond, and coconut milk, and most of the drinks can be veganized with them! Just be careful of some of the syrups, with have dairy in them, for example the pumpkin spice. If you’re unsure, google “ordering vegan at Starbucks” and you’ll find some comprehensive lists.

• Naples (Table Service, Reservations recommended)

Here is a summary of what can be ordered vegan here:

1. Veganize the pizza by asking for no cheese, extra sauce, and toppings of your choice. The photo below is a pizza with eggplant, artichokes, black olives, and arugula.
2. Minestrone soup is vegan as-is
3. Bruschetta, omit cheese
4. Della Casa Salad is vegan as-is, and in the photo below it’s with added chickpeas
5. Pizza Marinara e capperi is vegan as-is — it always comes with no cheese
6. Panini alla Verdure is vegan as-is — it always comes with no cheese
7. Spaghetti and marinara sauce, no meatballs
8. Sides that are vegan as-is: sauteed spinach, rosemary potatoes, and rapini (a type of broccoli)
9. The chef showed us the ingredients of the ciabatta bread that they bring to the table before you order — it’ just flour, yeast, and salt! They also have a pizza dough bread that they make fresh and brought us out some of that, it was delicious!
10. Secret menu sorbets — they keep some vegan sorbets in the back! Ask your server for what’s currently available. I’ve tried the pistachio and the lemon flavors, both delicious!

Pizza with no cheese, eggplant, artichokes, olives, arugula:

Della Casa Salad, with added chickpeas:

Ciabatta bread on left, pizza dough bread on right:

Pistachio sorbet and lemon sorbet:

Here is another build-your-own that we did with pineapple, red peppers, and onions:

Marinara e capperi pizza, vegan by default. It comes with capers, garlic, oregano, and tomato sauce. I added mushrooms in this photo. It is super garlicky, so be prepared for that!

The minestrone soup. Not a great photo because of the blue umbrellas that throw off the color, but it was a decent soup!

Napolini is the quick service side of this restaurant, and here they can make you a pizza with no cheese and your choice of toppings.

• Sprinkles Cupcakes (Counter Service)

There is one vegan flavor here — red velvet! It’s not the the display case, but just ask for the vegan red velvet and they will bring you one from the back. The cake is so moist and the frosting is amazing! I think it’s a coconut milk based frosting, it does have a bit of a coconut flavor to it. Super tasty!

• Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen (Table Service, Reservations recommended but often not necessary)

This place is actually a lot more vegan-friendly than it may seem! The regular menu is very meat-based, but in the fine print it says “special dietary menu available on request.” This menu lists a “vegan plate” and a “vegan pasta.” This is the lunch menu pictured below, but the vegan options are the same on the dinner menu as well.

This one is the vegan plate and it’s delicious! I would definitely get it again. Asparagus, zucchini, potatoes, artichokes, bell peppers, onions, and broccolini:

This is the vegan pasta and it’s also delicious! Penne pasta, tomato basil sauce, zucchini, artichoke hearts, garlic, spinach, onions, and bell pepper:

• Uva Bar and Café (Table Service)

Uva bar is the smaller and more casual part these two connected restaurants, Uva + Catal. At the Uva bar, there are a couple of options: sweet potato fries are vegan by default, guacamole with no cheese, and the modified chicken spinach salad — omit the chicken, cheese, and candied walnuts (they contain dairy). So the salad consists of spinach, cherry tomatoes, grapes, pumpkin seeds, and a balsamic dressing. It’s quite big, and along with the sweet potato fries, it was a lot of food! My server told me that the chips and fries are made in a separate fryer from the animal products.

• Catal Restaurant (Table Service, Reservations Recommended)

Catal is the upstairs portion of Uva, and it’s a lot fancier. The menu doesn’t have anything remotely modifiable, so they have a secret menu item for vegans and vegetarians: the vegan paella. It was so tasty, I would definitely get it again! Very filling and satisfying.

• Surfside Lounge (Paradise Pier Hotel)

This is in the Paradise Pier Hotel, a short walk from Downtown Disney. They recently added the Impossible Burger to their menu! It’s just called a “Veggie Burger” on the menu but it’s really an Impossible Burger. Again, please be aware that there is some controversy around Impossible foods and read this article if you have not already.

The chef told me that they’ve been experimenting and getting different sauces, and he was proud to show me the JUST Awesome Sauce that they put on the Impossible Burger! It was so good, a bit like a tartar sauce.

He told me that the bun doesn’t have eggs, dairy, or honey in the ingredients list, but the package has a “made in a shared facility with eggs” disclaimer on it.

The burger comes with fries (from a shared fryer), fruit, or steamed veggies.

Another easily veganized menu item is the Poke Bowl! I will come back to get this soon! You can see on the menu, just choose tofu for your protein and avoid the mayo and fish eggs.

I didn’t have time to ask about it, but I think this Kale and Quinoa salad is already vegan or easily modifiable — will have to ask about the dressing.

• Jamba Juice (Counter Service)

Lots of vegan options at Jamba Juice! VegNews made a super helpful guide to vegan options here 🙂

• Marceline’s Confectionary (Candy Shop)

There are quite a few vegan candies in packaging here, though none of the candies in the display case are vegan to my knowledge — we have to keep writing them emails to change that! Here are some photos of the vegan ones I could find. Please note that food dyes are kind of a gray area and do your own research to see if that’s something you’d like to avoid. Quite a few of the candies here have confectioner’s glaze (shellac, from beetles), or beeswax, so I didn’t take photos of those. Please note that some of these have palm oil as well.

• The Habit Food Truck

There are currently some food trucks parked at the end of Downtown Disney, where the closed Rainforest Café and movie theater are. The Habit has a vegan burger! The only modification needed is to leave off the sweet mustard sauce. The patty and wheat bun are vegan, as you can see in this PDF from the Habit’s website.

• Crepes Bonaparte Truck

It’s not on the menu board, but they actually have a vegan and gluten-free crepe batter here! Many of fillings and toppings contain dairy, but I was able to get a crepe filled with bananas, strawberries, and blackberries, and it was delicious! They also have peanut butter on the menu, so you could do a peanut butter/banana crepe as well. They said the would be parked at Downtown Disney most likely through the end of October.

• Sephora

There is quite a bit of vegan/cruelty-free makeup here! The cast member actually showed me a binder that they reference for the vegan brands!

Kat von D and Milk are all-vegan companies.

Tarte is all cruelty-free with many vegan items. They label next to each product which ones are vegan.

• Curl Surf

Here you can get some vegan and cruelty-free sunscreen by Sun Bum! This is from the FAQ on their website:

“Most of our products are Vegan including our Original Sunscreen Lotions (SPF 15-50), Original Sunscreen Sprays, Mineral Sunscreen Collection, SPF Lip Balms, Cool Down lotions and sprays along with our extensive line of Baby Bum and Hair Care products.

Cocobalms, Tinted Lip Balms, Signature Lip Balm, Mineral Lip Balm and Baby Bum Diaper Rash Cream contain beeswax. We are currently working on a solution using synthetic beeswax. Our Blonde range of hair products uses natural Lehua Honey.”

Those are all of the Downtown Disney options that I know about at the moment! Please also check out my other most recently updated comprehensive guides:

Your Guide to Vegan Options at Disneyland (March 2019 Update)

Your Guide to Vegan Options at California Adventure (March 2019 Update)

Please let me know if this has been helpful and feel free to message me on Instagram (@happiestveganonearth) if you have any questions or would like advice planning your trip 🙂