Good restaurants for gluten (and dairy) free dining?
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Anonymous
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Chipotle and Five Guys
Great American Restaurants, although cross contamination can be an issue. Outback and Legal Seafoods are good with it |
Anonymous
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Lebanese Taverna has a gluten free menu
Cafe Deluxe has a gluten free menu American Tap Room has a gluren fre menu Cafe Lilit has a GF menu and the baked goods they sell made by Sweet Sin Bakery are GF and Dairy free the pad thai at Thai restaurants is safe because it typically doesn't contain soy sauce Noodles and Company - you can order rice noodles with any of their GF sauces - look at their allergen chart Beware of Indian restaurants - they tend to be great for eating gluten free but alot of their sauces use yogurt which wouldn't be good for eating dairy free also |
Anonymous
| Reviving this thread hoping to get some updates on good gluten free restaurants! Please share =) |
Anonymous
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Bethesda:
Lilit Cafe (cute little casual place, family run and high attention to GF diners. If I recall correctly, a family member had Celiacs so they started the restaurant and have a GF area in the kitchen to avoid cross contamination). Mon Ami Gabi - more expensive, fancy. Has a GF menu Raku (Bethesda/Dupont) - has a GF menu that includes lots of different types of sushi (which is rare...only GF sushi place I've found in area). DC: Agora (Dupont-ish): nice Mediterranean place with tons of GF options on menu. In between casual and fancy. Indique (Cleveland Park) - Indian food, most of their menu is GF, very knowledgeable and attentive staff. Rosa Mexicano (Chevy Chase/Chinatown): fancy Mexican food, separate GF menu Jose Andres restaurants like Oyamel, Zatinya (Chinatown) - both pretty fancy/swanky, both have tons of GF options marked on menu. Good for date nights Scion (Dupont) - weird name but pretty good food and lots of GFree options. Not super fancy but not a diner either. Arlington: Cava - this is a sit down place (as opposed to some of their other Chipotle-esque fast casual) with lots of GF stuff on menu. Personal fave. On the same notion, their fast casual places are also GF except for 3-4 items (pitas, falafel, etc) and they are clearly marked on menu....just ask server to change gloves. These are a few of our favorites but I've found that the DMV is chock full of really good options. |
Anonymous
I agree with this list but I would add Jaleo! Another fabulous Jose Andres restaurant. And Cava in Rockville is also a nice sit down restaurant with wonderful small plates. |
Anonymous
Some Indian dishes are made with yogurt, so beware if you are eating gluten free and dairy free. |
Anonymous
| Gregorio's in Cabin John has gluten free dishes. |
Anonymous
Most of these restaurants still fit the bill. GF is easier to find than dairy free. Finding both is tough. A note about Thai restaurants and pad thai--most of the noodles are not pure rice noodles but wheat based, so wouldn't work for GF. Most Indian food would be GF but not necessarily dairy free. Firefly in Dupont and any of the José Andrés restaurants b/c he trains his staff really well and they understand GF. Original Pancake House, chains like Olive Garden Carrabas, Outback have GF menus. You may also want to try: http://www.meetup.com/celiacdisease-112/ and Living Without Magazine for suggestions. |
Anonymous
| Great sage in Clarksville |
Anonymous
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Our DC is similarly situated, and loves tacos. We go out to Mexican a lot. You have to police the dairy (cheese and sour cream in/on everything), but there's no gluten if you go with the corn tortillas.
If one had celiac's, cross contamination would be an issue. But for eczema sensitivity, we don't worry as closely about that. |
Anonymous
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For Indian food, in addition to yogurt, you have to ask about the ghee. It's in almost everything, but they can often make it without if you ask.
Be sure to tell them DC is allergic, so they don't just tell you what you want to hear and serve you the same. |
Anonymous
| Favorites are Gregorio's, Pietanza, Elevation Burger and Chipotle. Also Silver Diner. |
Anonymous
Good point. My wife is a Celiac and we've found the phrases "I'm allergic to gluten" or "I have a gluten allergy" creates a lot more awareness/attentiveness than "I'm gluten-free", especially if there is a language barrier with the server (more often at Chipotle or the Cava fast casual restaurants). Not surprisingly, if the restaurant has a GF specific menu or specifies GF items on the menu, they tend to have better trained or more aware servers. As someone else mentioned, the Jose Andres Jaleo/Oyamel/Zatinya servers are fantastic with this. The menus are marked GF, but they go the extra mile to notify the kitchen staff and inquire with bartenders about drink ingredients (like margaritas). You can almost always get a sense of the waiters knowledge/lack of knowledge with GF when you mention the allergy. If they look clueless or are absent-mindedly overly assured like "Oh yes, almost everything is GF" then request that they go back and talk with the kitchen staff before the order is in. Sometimes I think waiters/waitresses think they look better/more competent if they appear to know all the answers to your questions (I understand this), rather than go back and ask...but if your dealing with an allergy, it's always preferred to ask. |
Anonymous
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My son can't eat gluten or dairy due to some stomach problems, and we love ZPizza. Teaism is also really good (not everything is GF of course, but it's well-labeled). We do a lot of Japanese, and just skip the soy sauce or get takeout and eat it at home with tamari instead.
There's a very good GF bakery in Del Ray (Alexandria); some of the stuff has dairy, but a lot does not, and they let you know what's what. We've done several birthdays there (cupcakes and a birthday cake) and they've been excellent. They also sell baguettes and other breads--we have not tried them, but they always look good. Silver Diner has a new GF menu. I have not tried it, but I did look at the menu after reading something about it and I thought it sounded good. We also love Mediterranean food--we just skip the pita (and yogurt or feta or whatever)--but I always feel like we've eaten well. Sticky Fingers Bakery is vegan, so you don't have to worry about the dairy, and they have a number of GF items (a lot of breakfast and lunch stuff in addition to sweets) on their menu. |
Anonymous
| Pei Wei |