Everything Vegan at TGI Friday’s (2023)

TGI Friday’s has multiple very good vegan-friendly options, and while their selection may be relatively limited the vegan menu options they have are fantastic.

They have a few vegan-friendly sandwiches/burger options, as well as multiple sides, some salad options, pastas, and even a few very tasty appetizers to choose from. Overall TGI Friday’s vegan options are perfectly adequate and you can easily have a satisfying meal and experience at their restaurants as a vegan.

Vegan Appetizers at TGI Friday’s:

• Tostado Nachos* (Swap the cheese and sour cream out for Guac and the meat for beyond meat if they let you)
• Chips and Guac
• Fruit Bowl (not all locations)
• Hummus and Bread/Chips (depends on location which they have)

Okay to explain the above a bit, while it’s not on the menu officially usually they have a chips and guac option that’s cheaper than the nachos option, and you get pretty much the same stuff on it — and the fruit bowl while not on the menu officially I’ve been with people who ordered it. It’s like 3-4 fruit cup sides put together, and it makes a decent appetizer, or dessert if you prefer it as such.

Vegan Burgers & Sandwiches at TGI Friday’s:

• Beyond Meat Cheeseburger (Specify no cheese and swap the bun for Challah bun)
• Black Bean Avo Burger (confirm with staff if vegan, sometimes bun or sauce isn’t)
• Avo & Veggies Sandwich (off-menu, see below)

Okay to explain the above, the gluten-free buns are not vegan-friendly at TGI Friday’s so you sometimes need to swap the bun of the sandwiches for another.

As for the Avo & Veggies sandwich, you can ask for avocado slices and grilled/sauteed veggies on the bun of your choice if you prefer a more whole-foods option and they don’t have the black bean avo burger. Some locations have sides of zucchini or squash which you can ask for in the veggie sandwich, and it’s quite tasty that way. Some locations might not be willing to do it, but it’s an old original vegan-trick to have a vegan meal at TGI Friday’s before they made the vegan burger and blackbean burger a thing at their restaurants.

Vegan Salad & Soups at TGI Friday’s:

• Chinese Salad (Swap Chicken for Beyond Meat, or just specify no chicken)
• Sesame Citrus Dressing
• House Salad (No Cheese or Croutons, swap for Citrus Dressing)

You can really get pretty much any salad with Sesame Citrus Dressing when removing the meat+cheese and it’ll be vegan-friendly, although make sure to check — generally it’ll just make it a house salad or chinese salad though, so we didn’t list each one.

Vegan Side Dishes & Sauces at TGI Friday’s:

• Fruit Cup
• Super Veggies (not all locations, was old menu item – basically steamed veg)
• Bread with Mariana sauce  (off-menu, but always available).
• Spaghetti with marinara sauce
• French Fries (See Below)

That’s really all the vegan sides they consistently have — some locations will have veggies that are vegan-friendly, but they’re not offical menu items usually, so it’d be better to just ask if you could get some sauteed veggies or something on the side. 

As for the fries, TGI Friday’s fries should be vegan friendly, however according to their allergen statement they contain dairy and eggs, so most people would say they aren’t — if you want to go with that interpretation then go ahead, however from what we’ve found and heard from employees the milk/eggs is likely only on the allergen menu for the fries as they use shared friers for the french fries If it bothers you they may be fried with non-vegan onion rings for example, avoid them, but otherwise they should be vegan-friendly — but it never hurts to ask.

Vegan Desserts at TGI Friday’s:

• None

Unfortunately other than a ‘fruit cup’ you’d not really have a vegan-friendly dessert option at TGI Fridays — of course you can opt for a sugary drink as a replacement, but we won’t list those above as well, sugary drinks are pretty much always vegan and the ones they have are. Plus to us they aren’t really desserts.