Although my mom graciously cooked several meals during our visit we also went out to eat twice in Greenville, SC.
The first place we went was Lemongrass Thai in downtown Greenville. While Scott's parents are good about eating plant-based (they eat plant-based 90% of the time) some of my other relatives are not, so Thai was a perfect choice: they have something for everyone.
They had a special vegetarian menu (woohoo!) but several other options could easily be made vegetarian.
I ordered the fresh basil rolls to start and Scott ordered the fried tofu.
For dinner, I was intrigued by a dish I'd never heard of before: Vegetarian Massaman Curry, which is mixed vegetables sauteed in massaman curry sauce with potatoes and topped with cashew nuts.
It was exceptional. (It also came with brown rice!)
Everyone loved their dinner, including my in-laws who have been to Thailand a few times (Their best friend is married to a Thai woman) and are pretty picky about Thai food, but this place got their thumbs up.
Another place we went to was Don Pablo's. This is a chain restaurant, but I wanted to go to show my parents how easy it is to find food on any menu in any restaurant.
There were plenty of vegetarian options on the menu, all of which would be vegan without cheese and sour cream. The waiter and manager were also very kind and answered all of our questions --- did the beans contain meat? is the rice cooked in stock? and so forth.
My Dad got rice and beans, I made my own salad, my mom had mushroom and pepper fajitas, and Scott got a bean and vegetable enchilada.
My advice to my parents about eating out? Patience and creativity.
