Travelling To St. Louis And Looking For Dining Options

[CathyO]

We're driving from Maryland to St. Louis later this summer for a week long visit. Fortunately, we'll be staying at a friend's house and I can handle my own breakfast, etc.

 

Looking for dining out options that have good gluten free options, aside from the standard chains like Red Robin and Five Guys, etc.

 

My granddaughter works at Amighetti and apparently they do a gluten-free pasta dish. She's 19, so I asked her about how they prepare their gluten-free dish, and the steps she described seemed very good for minimizing cross contamination. 

 

Any favorites out there?  A search will certainly give me options, but I'd love to hear from folks about their favorites. Anywhere in the metro St. Louis area works (we have family from St. Charles to Dogtown and points south). Prefer the Missouri side.

[africanqueen99]

I'm in STL.

 

Our pinacle of gluten-free is New Day Gluten Free (Open Original Shared Link) - they have a tiny little sitting area, but good food.  Also have freezers and prepared foods/treats to buy.  It's in Ellisville/West County.  I haven't tried it, but people rave about their pizza when it's fresh (not frozen).

 

The Corner Pub and Grill (Open Original Shared Link) is pretty darn good.  The owner's kid has celiac so they have dedicated friers and the staff is at full attention when you mention the word.  Two locations in West County.

 

My family also eats semi-regularly at PM BBQ (Open Original Shared Link) in Chesterfield.  Most of their meats are gluten-free and several of their sides.  They also keep gluten-free sauces in the back.

 

Our kids are still little so we eat close to home and fall into the triangle of Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory a lot.

 

If you can swing into the grocery store you can find frozen foods from New Day Gluten Free at the Dierbergs and frozen foods from Andrea's (New Day's big competitor, but no longer has a store front) at Schnucks.  You really can't go wrong with either of those brands.  Andrea's has *killer* pumpkin muffins...to which I just got ahold of the recipe and can't wait to try them!

 

Let me know if you have more questions.  There are more places in town with gluten-free menus, but my kids are still so little that I want to try them first.  If the food sucks I can't find an alternative quickly for them.

[africanqueen99]

If you're willing to visit chains - the West County PF Changs has done us right several times, as has Original Pancake House (both locations).

There's also a crepe place in Clayton that's pretty good. They use buckwheat so they aren't light and fluffy, but good. I can get the name if you'd like. And Fuzzy's in Manchester is sooo yummy. It's really hard to read their gluten-free menu, but the food is a hit (Mexican food).

[CathyO]

Thanks for those suggestions, africanqueen99.

 

I'll check them out.

[CathyO]

Thought I'd come back and share our St. Louis Dining options.  It was exciting to be somewhere with REAL options. I was almost giddy.

 

We ate at Pi Pizza in Kirkwood.  Our server was young and eager to please, and was extremely thorough with everything.  They have a dessert called "Cookies for Everyone", which are vegan friendly and gluten free.  And yummy.  We were told they had a separate prep area and oven for their gluten-free pizza.  Things went well there, no problems.

 

We were told that CJ Muggs had a gluten free menu ... and they advertised that their fries were gluten-free.  I asked our server if they had a dedicated fryer for gluten-free items, and was told no.  I passed on fries, but still managed to get glutened there.  (My only glutening.)

 

PF Changs near the Galleria for dinner with the grandkids.  I'd only eaten at PF Changs once, and that was before my diagnosis.  Food was yummy.

 

The Corner Pub and Grill was awesome.  Their "Hannah's Menu" is part of their regular menu, and my food was clearly marked and separately trayed from everyone else's food.  Their gluten-free wings were fantastic ... I hadn't had wings in forever. 

 

Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in Rock Hill .... YAY.  We don't have anywhere within an hour or more of our house where we can get reliable gluten-free Mexican food.  The food was so good, we ate there twice!  The guacamole and the ceviche rocked.  We had the Tequila Lime Carnitas, Ceviche Tacos, and a Chile Relleno.  (I don't think I'd do the Chile Relleno again, it was mediocre.)  Service was good, food was great.

 

We cooked at our host's home a bit, especially for lunch.  Grandson went off with his sisters and his Dad's family for some of the time, so it was just grownups.  (Yay)

 

Thanks, Africanqueen99 for helping me find some good options!

[africanqueen99]

Glad you had a successful eating adventure!  We really are lucky to have so many options.

 

I'm happy to hear that Hacienda worked for you.  Their name comes up on our local celiac listserve regularly - and it's almost about glutenings!

[CathyO]

Glad you had a successful eating adventure!  We really are lucky to have so many options.

 

I'm happy to hear that Hacienda worked for you.  Their name comes up on our local celiac listserve regularly - and it's almost about glutenings!

 

Yikes.  I guess I got lucky, or ordered the right thing at the right time.

Although, people are often more likely to report a negative experience than a positive one, ya know?