Looking for Bob Evans vegetarian options? Breakfast is your best bet, and the rest of the menu takes some planning. The chain built its name on sausage, so meat shows up in the omelets, the gravies, the green beans, and the soups. You can still put together a full meal. We track what about the vegetarians at chains like this one. This guide covers what to order, what to skip, and what to ask your server.
A Quick Look at Bob Evans
Bob Evans started in 1948 in Gallipolis, Ohio, when Bob Evans (1918 to 2007) began processing and packaging sausage for his small diner. Friends and family formed Bob Evans Farms, Inc., in 1953, and the company opened its first restaurant, The Sausage Shop, at his farm in 1962.
Ownership has changed several times. Golden Gate Capital agreed in January 2017 to buy the restaurant division for $565 million, and the deal closed on March 1, 2017. Post Holdings took the food business, and that sale closed in January 2018. In February 2026, 4×4 Capital bought the restaurants from Golden Gate Capital for an undisclosed price. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that CEO Mickey Mills and her team stayed on.
Wikipedia counted 436 restaurants in 18 states as of April 2024, from Ohio and Pennsylvania south to Florida. Nation’s Restaurant News put the chain at 400 units in February 2026. According to Wikipedia, Bob Evans owns every location and franchises none.
Bob Evans Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Bob Evans vegetarian options come from breakfast plates, a la carte sides, and the garden salad. We found no meatless entree on the current menu, so you build the meal yourself. These are the common picks. We mark anything Bob Evans doesn’t settle with a Check, so ask your server before you order it.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Build Your Own Omelet (two fillings you pick) | ⚠️ Check (confirm the fillings are meat-free) | ❌ No (eggs) |
| Buttermilk Hotcakes (choose fruit, not breakfast meat) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk, egg) |
| Double Blueberry Hotcakes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk, egg) |
| Brioche French Toast | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, milk) |
| Blueberry Banana Oatmeal | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (served with milk and pecans) |
| Shredded Hash Browns | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (shared griddle) |
| Golden Brown Home Fries | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (cooking fat not named) |
| Seasonal Fresh Fruit | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Macaroni & Cheese | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheddar) |
| Cheesy Potato Bake | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Mashed Potatoes (no gravy) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk) |
| Steamed Broccoli (lightly buttered) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (ask for no butter) |
| Buttered Corn | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk) |
| Carrots (brown sugar glaze) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk) |
| Bob Evans Signature Coleslaw | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg) |
| Farmhouse Garden Side Salad (no croutons) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (drop the cheddar and check the dressing) |
| Bread & Celery Dressing | ⚠️ Check (stock not named) | ⚠️ Check (stock not named) |
| Fried Pickles and Onion Rings | ⚠️ Check (common fryer) | ❌ No (milk) |
| French Fries | ⚠️ Check (common fryer) | ⚠️ Check (common fryer) |
| Cheddar Baked Potato Soup | ⚠️ Check (topped with bacon, base not named) | ❌ No (cheddar) |
| Green Beans with Ham | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Chicken, beef, and sausage gravies | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Country gravy | ⚠️ Check (base not named) | ❌ No (milk) |
| Hearty Beef Vegetable and Chicken-N-Noodles soups | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Banana Nut Bread | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg) |
Breakfast Is the Best Bet for Vegetarians at Bob Evans
Most omelets on the menu carry meat. The Rio Grande has sausage. The Steak Tips has beef, and the Western has smoked ham. The Sunshine Skillet piles on sausage and country gravy. The Build Your Own Omelet is the exception. You pick two ingredients for a three-egg omelet, then choose hash browns, home fries, or fruit, plus bread. Bob Evans doesn’t list the fillings online, so ask your server which ones are meat-free.
Bob Evans serves Buttermilk, Double Blueberry, Double Chocolate, and Banana Pudding hotcakes, plus Brioche French Toast. They’re meatless on their own. Most plates let you choose breakfast meat or fruit, so pick fruit. The Banana Pudding combos add meat, so order the plain stack instead. Skip Honey Butter Chicken and French Toast, which puts a breaded chicken breast on top. You can get the Blueberry Banana Oatmeal weekdays until 11am and weekends until 2pm, and Bob Evans serves it with milk, pecans, and banana nut bread.
Round out the plate with shredded hash browns, golden brown home fries, grits, or a side of blueberries, bananas, and apple slices. Bob Evans cooks the hash browns to order on its griddle, and the grits contain milk. If you avoid meat, ask the cook to use a clean spot on the griddle.
Vegetarian Sides at Bob Evans
Lunch and dinner come together from the side list. Meatless picks include macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and buttered corn. Brown sugar carrots, the Cheesy Potato Bake, coleslaw, and the Caramel Apple Dipper work too. Stack three and you have a plate.
Watch the meat. Bob Evans slow-simmers its green beans with ham, so skip those. You choose chicken, beef, or country gravy with the mashed potatoes. Chicken and beef gravy are meat gravies by name, and Bob Evans doesn’t say what goes into the country gravy, so order the potatoes plain. Bob Evans tops the Loaded Mashed Potatoes and Loaded French Fries with bacon. Bob Evans seasons the Bread & Celery Dressing with celery, sage, onion, and parsley but names no stock, so ask before you add it.
Salads and Soups
The Farmhouse Garden Salad is the only salad without chicken or bacon. You get fresh greens, diced tomatoes, cheddar, and croutons, as a side or a full salad. Bob Evans puts chicken on the Wildfire Chicken salad and chicken and bacon on the Cranberry Pecan Chicken salad. On its allergen chart, Bob Evans names seven dressings: balsamic, bleu cheese, Colonial, French, honey mustard, buttermilk ranch, and Wildfire ranch. Bob Evans lists no Caesar.
Skip the Hearty Beef Vegetable soup and the Chicken-N-Noodles soup, which contain meat. Bob Evans tops the Cheddar Baked Potato Soup with bacon and describes only a sharp cheddar base. Ask the kitchen to leave the bacon off, and ask about the broth before you count it as vegetarian.
What’s Vegan at Bob Evans?
Vegan options at Bob Evans are thin. You can order fresh fruit, plus hash browns and home fries once you confirm the cooking fat. Ask for the broccoli without butter, and the Farmhouse Garden Salad without cheese and croutons. In a guide last updated in November 2023, I Am Going Vegan adds oatmeal ordered without milk, plus French fries cooked without animal fat. The same guide calls rye, sourdough, and white bread vegan, and the brioche bun, dinner rolls, biscuits, and banana bread not vegan. On its current chart, Bob Evans marks no milk or egg on the rye and white bread. Bob Evans changes recipes, so confirm the breads with your server.
The fryer is the catch. Bob Evans says it cooks fried items in a common fryer, and its fried menu includes hand-breaded chicken tenders. If you’re a strict vegan, skip the fried food and build around the fruit, the vegetables, and the salad.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Bob Evans publishes an allergen chart (Fall FY2027) and marks the nine major allergens on each item. Bob Evans also says it grills and deep fries in soybean oil, and it can’t guarantee against cross-contact, such as from a common fryer. Tell the manager about any allergy before you order.
Bob Evans uses both a butter blend, marked for milk, and a margarine, marked only for soy. Ask which one the cook uses on your eggs, potatoes, and vegetables. Bob Evans doesn’t publish ingredients for the cheese, the whipped topping, or the bakery items. If you’re a strict vegetarian, ask about animal rennet in the cheddar and gelatin in the whipped topping on the pies and sundaes. For other dietary questions, Bob Evans points you to the contact form on its website.
Tips for Vegetarians at Bob Evans
- The Build Your Own Omelet is the safest breakfast order, once you confirm the fillings are meat-free.
- Pick fruit instead of breakfast meat with hotcakes and French toast.
- Order the mashed potatoes plain, since you can’t confirm any of the gravies are meat-free.
- Skip the Green Beans with Ham, and say no bacon on any loaded side or soup.
- If you avoid dairy, say no butter on eggs, broccoli, and toast.
- Build a meal from two or three a la carte sides when no entree fits.
- Go early for oatmeal, because Bob Evans serves it only until 11am on weekdays and 2pm on weekends.
- Save the Bob Evans allergen chart to your phone before you go.
Conclusion
Bob Evans isn’t a vegetarian restaurant, but you won’t go hungry. You’ll eat best at breakfast, fill the gaps with sides, and make a few swaps to keep meat and gravy off your plate. Order the omelet, build from the sides, and ask about the butter, the fryer, and the soup base.
For more help eating out, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse all our restaurant guides. If you like a country-style sit-down meal, check our guides to Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, and IHOP.
