Traveling To California For The First Time Since Diagnosis.........

[rami]

We are traveling for the first time since my son's celiac diagnosis and I am extremely nervous and overwhelmed by the prospect of it. We will be traveling to the Orange County, California area for a wedding and while we will be staying with family members, we will also be out and about much of the time we are there. I have already made reservations at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure on the day we will be there (which will accommodate for gluten-free), but I am looking for other celiac friendly restaurants in the area. I would appreciate any restaurant suggestions any of you might have to offer. Also, I have heard that Trader Joe's has a large selection of gluten-free products, should we stick with Whole Foods while we are in California or would it be safe to shop at Trader Joe's? Thanks in advance for your help!

[kenlove]

Both Whole Foods and Trader joes are fine. I find  WF has a bigger selection and is more  gluten-free friendly.  The last time I was there I found a number of gluten-free pizza places  that  had dedicated gluten-free kitchens. Think I found them  by searching gluten-free orange county. There should be some  health food restaurants and shops with plenty of selections too. If you go out to a fancy place  or  where the wedding is, call and talk to the chef a day or two ahead of time. Thh more advance you give them the better the gluten-free meal usually is. 

Have a great trip!

[Darissa]

We do our standard go to chains when traveling. There is a PFChangs (our favorite restaruant for gluten free food. They have a great menu and do a great job in the kitchen of keeping things seperate to help prevent cross contact) in Anaheim, and also a Outback. They might have multiple locations in Orange County. Those are our favorite chains that have good gluten-free menus.  We also look online and check for local restaurants that have a gluten free menu.  Good luck and have fun!