[CalicoSue]

My girlfriend and I just returned from the Gluten-Free Culinary Summit that was held in Denver. I wanted to share what restaurants we ate in during our four days there.

We did splurge at Fogo de Chao (Brazilian) - their lunch is $24.50, which is a lot cheaper than their dinner, so we could afford it. The caramelized bananas, cheese bread, mashed potatoes and fried polenta squares were delectable! The salad bar was A+, and they kept coming to the table with carved meats. Most everything is gluten-free.

We split a few dishes at Ling & Louie’s (Chinese), and also enjoyed their Molten Chocolate Volcano dessert!

If you are ever in Denver, please go to the Farmer’s Market held at the Cherry Creek Plaza on Saturdays. The gluten-free Bake Shoppe has a booth there and their pepperoni and BBQ chicken pizza pockets are absolutely delicious. They are like frozen Hot Pockets and are so great for a quick lunch or dinner. We also bought a tub of their frozen chocolate chip cookie dough.

We shared a ribs/chicken dish at Big Papa’s BBQ. Most everything is gluten-free on the menu. It wasn't one of our best meals, but at least we had Gluten-free BBQ!

We went to the Rio Grande (Mexican) for dinner to have their Nachos (I read about them on a blog). I wanted to let you know that the chips they use in their Nachos have cross-contact in their fryers with floured products AND this Nachos dish is on their gluten-free menu. We talked to the manager about how wrong this was, and he said that they talked with nurses and that it depended on how “sensitive” we were to gluten. I guess we were sort of stunned, but he was nice enough to agree to make the chips from scratch in a pan, but we thought it better to eat elsewhere. We headed over to Hacienda Colorado (also Mexican) instead and shared an order of their chicken fajitas. Delicious!

We went to dinner at Pei Wei's and split a sweet and sour chicken dish. There are no Pei Wei's in the Bay Area in California, so it is a special treat.

We shared blueberry pancakes, hash browns and bacon at Snooze, went to Panzano’s to pick up a couple of freshly made Gluten-free blueberry muffins and then to Deby’s to pick up some of her bakery chocolate cake, egg rolls and pizza rolls to bring back to the Bay Area. We shared one last lunch at Beau Jo’s. We always order their stuffed mushrooms and garlic cheese bread. The melted cheese on their mushrooms is just too good to even describe! This year, we bought one of their Gluten-free sandwiches to go to enjoy on the plane coming home.

Yes, this sounds like all we did was eat, and we should have gained 10 pounds! However, we usually split an entrée so we don’t eat as much as it sounds, and it is also a lot cheaper.

Hope this helps anyone who is traveling to Denver!

Sue

[Michelle1234]

Thanks for the review! I live in Denver and you've mentioned some new places to try.

Cheers!
Michelle

[CeliacAndCfsCrusader]

Sorry to say that I can't agree on "most" of the supposed gluten-free bakers who sell at the Cherry Creek Farmers Market. We shop there regularly in season and most vendors have their gluten-free goodies on mixed tables with gluten items, uncovered and zero attempt to avoid cross contamination. Again, the one you specify may be the exception, but if the others are this careless in FRONT of us, imagine what happens in their kitchens.

BTW, Pei Wei is related to PF Changs, maybe an alternative for those without Pei Wei.

[ksymonds84]

I live close to Denver and go there all the time and have never been to Fogo De Chao, thanks for the tip. BTW I love Hacienda, they actually have a separate counter area and dishes used for gluten free. I applaud their service to the gluten free community!

[CeliacAndCfsCrusader]

Recently paid a visit to both Maggiano's (Downtown) and PF Changs (S Aurora) and I'm happy to say that I had ZERO issues.

Both servers were VERY educated about Celiac, I didn't have to scold or worry a bit.

The food at Maggiano's was good, but I can do better at home (custom Alfredo dish, pretty "gloppy" with the rice noodles, but tasted good).

The food at PF Changs was as good as any pre-diagnosis Chinese I used to have (General Tsao's Chicken).

Try 'em!

[calico jo]

I just came back from a trip to Denver CO and was excited to see how many restaurants there are gluten free friendly. We had lunch at Beau Jo's and I was so happy to have a pizza made for me, insteady of BY me and they also had my favorite Green's Beer!! I wish they had a Beau Jo's here in NC. Denver is beautiful!! We also went to Manitou Springs to go up Pike's Peak and in town there was a restaurant that had a sign out front that said "gluten free" so we ducked in there and had lunch. Every thing was done in crepes. I had a veggie crepe (with hummus) and have been making them at home ever since. What a great idea!