New England menu guide

What's Vegan at Papa Gino's? A New England Menu Guide

One pasta, a salad, fries, a pizza with the cheese left off, and a cinnamon dessert that needs no changes at all. What comes off, what cannot, and the two things that look vegan but are not.

By Ryan Volpi · Last updated September 2026

Unfortunately, Papa Gino’s offers very limited vegan options. Your meal choices all involve heavily modifying a dish by removing cheese, either from a pizza, pasta, or sandwich. But if you need to make something work, the Super Veggie pizza, hold the cheese, is your best bet. The one thing that needs no modifying at all: the Cinnamon Papa Bites and Cinnamon Sticks, of all things, are vegan exactly as sold.

What’s Vegan at Papa Gino’s?

Papa Gino’s doesn’t directly label vegan or vegetarian options on the menu. And because they don’t offer vegan cheese or protein, the options are limited. The verdicts below are primarily based on their published nutrition guide, which at the time of writing this in September of 2026 was marked “Rev 10/2023”, plus one email from the company answering exactly what the cinnamon dough is made of, since the guide leaves it out. Some of the newest menu lines (like Stuffed Crust) are not listed in the nutrition guide, but none of these seem plausibly vegan.

Vegan as served

These carry no animal ingredients and need no changes.

• French Fries
• Garden Salad ($7.49)
• Marinara Sauce ($0.99)
• Barbecue, Buffalo and Teriyaki sauces
• Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Cinnamon Papa Bites ($7.99)
• Cinnamon Sticks ($7.99)

The Garden Salad arrives without dressing, because the twelve dressing options are listed as separate items. The only one that is vegan is the Balsamic Vinaigrette. The salad consists of romaine, cucumber, red onion, green pepper, tomato, and croutons. The croutons are plant-based (wheat and rye flour, soy oil, no milk or egg).

The Buffalo Sauce is vegan, surprisingly.

The Cinnamon Papa Bites and Cinnamon Sticks are surprisingly vegan too. Over email, the restaurant confirmed that they are made with the regular pizza dough, which is vegan, and the cinnamon sugar topping is just cinnamon and sugar. The sweet icing it comes with is vegan too. Based on the nutrition guide, it’s made with sugar, corn syrup, and gelling agents like agar.

Dishes you can make vegan

One thing I have to give Papa Gino credit for is that he supports removing cheese. Within the online ordering system, you’ll see options for “No Cheese”, “No Pizza Cheese”, “No 3-Cheese Blend” and “No Romano & Oil on Crust” - these are your ticket to veganifying several dishes. The basic pizza crust (flour, yeast, salt, water, soybean oil) and sauce are both free of dairy and egg.

Super Veggie is the best pizza pick to start with since it comes with broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and olives. Order it without the 3-cheese blend. Alternatively, you can Build Your Own if you want a different selection of veggies.

Rustic Super Veggie and Rustic Cheese need two removals since the “Rustic” pizzas are finished with Romano on the crust.

Pasta Marinara ($9.99) is spaghetti or penne with marinara sauce. The only catch is that the dish is served with cheese breadsticks, so you’ll need to decline those.

Hot Veggie and D’Angelo Classic Veggie subs come with grilled peppers, mushrooms, and onions with provolone and American cheese. If you remove both cheeses, you have a hot veggie sub, which is definitely not my thing, but it is something. These dishes are only at the co-branded stores (see below).

Drinks

The whole drinks menu is packaged: Pepsi, Aquafina, Gatorade, Bubly, Pure Leaf, and Dole apple juice. There is no coffee, no non-dairy milk.

What to Know Before Ordering

The gluten-free crust is not vegan. Papa Gino’s declares milk and egg in it. So there is no possibility of a gluten-free and vegan pizza, even without the cheese.

The Garlic Romano Papa Bites are foregone - the seasoning contains Romano cheese and it goes on the dough before baking. But, surprisingly, the Cinnamon bites are safe.

There is no vegan cheese. The only pizza option is cheeseless.

Most of the salad dressings contain dairy. Italian Romano, Greek, and Caesar all declare milk, and Blue Cheese declares milk and egg. The two safe options are Balsamic Vinaigrette and Lite Olive Oil Balsamic.

The fries share a fryer. Although the fries themselves are vegan, Papa Gino’s footnote says they cook in oil that also cooks breaded items. This means they share oil with chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks.

Does the menu change by location? Yes! Most Papa Gino’s are co-branded “Papa Gino’s & D’Angelo.” These locations carry the D’Angelo sandwich and salad sections, which is where the Hot Veggie and Classic Veggie live. Pizza, pasta, fries, and the garden salad are available at all locations. Of the 28 store menus I checked, 12 were co-branded locations, and 16 were not.

This guide covers one chain, and a thin one. Farro covers the rest: which dishes are vegan at any Boston restaurant, ordinary ones included, with prices, on a map.