Is your area great for eating out gluten free?

[Michelle1234]

My husband and I are searching for retirement areas. We currently live in CO and feel it is pretty good for gluten free. Unfortunately as I age I am becoming less tolerant of the altitude. So we have made a few visits to places to look for a retirement location. I have been using findmeglutenfree as a way to evaluate the number and type of gluten free restaurants before spending money and time on a trip. I have found some truly awesome places, better than were we are in Denver, and some that were supposed to be good but were really dismal. But I haven't yet found our retirement location. So I figured I would ask on this forum for people to rate the place they live in terms of the gluten free restaurant offerings. What I consider good it the availability of independent and/or ethnic restaurants that know what gluten free is and how to properly prepare it. Places that treat it like a fad diet are dangerous and that is where, for instance, Boulder CO falls apart.

My thoughts are:

Loveland Colorado - pretty good both restaurants and selection.

Denver Colorado - not bad but not as good as you would think

Boulder Colorado - pretty bad, not as good as you would think

Grandrapids MI - Surprisingly good

Traverse City MI - Excellent

Prescott AZ - Surprisingly bad. Very hard to eat out there even though findmeglutenfree indicated there were places, in reality when attempting to eat at them they denied they were truly gluten free

Northwest Arkansas - Surprisingly good

Please let me know your thoughts on where you live. As mentioned above I'm trying to find some other locations to look at for gluten free living.

[kareng]

Seattle is fabulous for eating gluten-free.  Kansas City has quite a few choices and a couple of bakeries.

 

If you like Colorado - Ft Collins has been good to me.  And Longmount area has been good, too.  But the altitude might not be good for you?

[cyclinglady]

Prescott is way too small of a town to support a 100% gluten free restaurant.  I would look at Tucson.  There are two completely dedicated gluten free restaurants.  It is not as hot as Phoenix, prettier (Sonoran Desert), and is minutes from Mt. Lemon, so you can still experience pine trees and snow.  

[Michelle1234]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate the responses.

Karen, I agree that Fort Collins to Longmont is pretty good. We really like Loveland but I just don't know if I should stay here with my altitude issues.

Cyclinglady, in terms of Prescott I wasn't looking for 100% gluten free, just a restaurant that could serve a meal. By the end of the week we were eating at only in and out burger. The only other place that could prepare a meal was the Indian food restaurant and it was loaded with flies buzzing around the buffet. I will look at Tuscon. Good to know they have good options for gluten free.

[TexasJen]

Austin, Texas would actually be a pretty good choice.  We have 3 gluten free restaurants and several others that are almost completely gluten free. We also have 3 additional gluten free bakeries spread out around the area...... Downside is that everyone else has figured out that Austin is a pretty great place to live so you'll have to compete for housing and space on the freeways!

[TexasJen]

8 hours ago, kareng said:

Seattle is fabulous for eating gluten-free.  Kansas City has quite a few choices and a couple of bakeries.

 

If you like Colorado - Ft Collins has been good to me.  And Longmount area has been good, too.  But the altitude might not be good for you?

Karen - what restaurants do you like to frequent in KC right now?  My in-laws live there and we are headed up next week.  I have not found too many places in the northeast part of town that I feel comfortable at.

[kareng]

19 minutes ago, TexasJen said:

Karen - what restaurants do you like to frequent in KC right now?  My in-laws live there and we are headed up next week.  I have not found too many places in the northeast part of town that I feel comfortable at.

I bet your "northeast"  isn't the same as mine.  What area are you looking at?  If you don't want it public, you can pm me.

[TexasJen]

50 minutes ago, kareng said:

I bet your "northeast"  isn't the same as mine.  What area are you looking at?  If you don't want it public, you can pm me.

Between Worlds of Fun and Liberty.....

 

[cyclinglady]

2 hours ago, Michelle1234 said:

Thanks for the input. I appreciate the responses.

Karen, I agree that Fort Collins to Longmont is pretty good. We really like Loveland but I just don't know if I should stay here with my altitude issues.

Cyclinglady, in terms of Prescott I wasn't looking for 100% gluten free, just a restaurant that could serve a meal. By the end of the week we were eating at only in and out burger. The only other place that could prepare a meal was the Indian food restaurant and it was loaded with flies buzzing around the buffet. I will look at Tuscon. Good to know they have good options for gluten free.

Heaven.  That’s a gluten free restaurant.    Ordering anything off the menu.  No discussions about gluten free.   No worries.  Just dine and enjoy!   I love 100% gluten free restaurants!  

[kareng]

15 minutes ago, TexasJen said:

Between Worlds of Fun and Liberty.....

 

I am not real familiar with that area.  I know there is an Indian restauruant that's is almost entirely gluten-free.  If that is of interest, I will ask my friend that goes there for the name.  I think there are the usual suspects like Red Robin, too.  

 

If you go to the Plaza for the lights,   there are many more choices - Seasons 52, PF CHangs, Larkburger, etc.   But it will be  busy, so get a reservation.

[GF-Cheetah Cub]

Maui is quite a gluten free paradise.   It has a 100% gluten free restaurant, as well as a 100% gluten free bakery.   Many restaurants offer gluten free menu or options, generally, great awareness of gluten-free dinning at most restaurants.   Some ice cream shops even offer gluten-free cones, kept sealed in a container in its own area!

We live in Northern Cal, which has pretty good gluten-free dining options.  We visit Maui at least once a year.   We were thrilled to learn about their generous gluten-free dining options after my daughter was diagnosed.   My celiac daughter tried to lobby for us to move there, ha ha.

[GF-Cheetah Cub]

Oh, we are actually going to Ft. Collins this weekend to attend a funeral service.   If anyone know of any good gluten-free restaurants there, please let me know!

[kareng]

8 hours ago, gluten-free-Cheetah Cub said:

Oh, we are actually going to Ft. Collins this weekend to attend a funeral service.   If anyone know of any good gluten-free restaurants there, please let me know!

I haven't been back in a year and a half because I don't have any kids in school there but I think these will still be good . I assume you can look up addresses.    They have Whole Foods and Natural Grocers and many nice grocery stores.

These are the ones I have actually been to, they have a bunch of chains that are good like Red Robin, too. a few years ago, they had the most restaurants per person of any city in the US?

Larkburger - nice fast food , burgers, chicken sandwich, fries - everything gluten-free except beer in cans and buns.  Tell them medical reasons.   They should bring only gluten-free things on one tray to your table.  To be certain, Order the gluten-free as a separate order if its a big group.  I get them lettuce wrapped, but they have a gluten-free bun.

 

Blue Agave - Mexician type.  Quiz the waiter - I don't remember the chip/fryer situation.  I think there were gluten-free chips but not the blue ones?  Or vice a versa?  WE had something like nachos and they had to use the other chips

Beau Jo"s - pizza. The garlic cheese bread is a meal

 

Snooze - expect a wait., breakfast

Austins - ate at the one in old town several times - lovely salads and the rotisserie chicken dinner are what I like

Bisetti's - nice Italian place,  gluten-free pasta

Scrumpys- I have never eaten there.  they make gluten-free hard cider!  If you can, stop in with a friend and share a sample flight

Spoons - soup and salad.  I only ate at the one on campus and it was very busy.  Usually you can get a salad, but it looked like a tornado went thru.  Soup was a bit separate and covered - so I enjoyed a bowl of tomato soup with my Go Picnic.  I imagine the ones off campus will be better.

 

TCBY - frozen yogurt - lots of flavors you serve yourself

 

Not eaten at but have good reviews - 

Urban Egg

Stuft

Rodizio's

Twisted Noodle

[GF-Cheetah Cub]

Oh, thank you so much!!

The Larkburger and Beau Jo's are perfect.   They both have locations in Ft. Collins.   We will be having a few family gather catered meals and a church pot luck lunch, so I need to be able to go somewhere and pick up a quick burger or pizza to go just for my daughter.   Thanks!

[Jmg]

On 7 November 2017 at 2:18 AM, TexasJen said:

Austin, Texas would actually be a pretty good choice.  We have 3 gluten free restaurants and several others that are almost completely gluten free. We also have 3 additional gluten free bakeries spread out around the area...... Downside is that everyone else has figured out that Austin is a pretty great place to live so you'll have to compete for housing and space on the freeways!

Austin was one of my favourite places when I was in the US. It has so much going for it. 

[Michelle1234]

Thanks! We went over the suggestions last night and are going to look further into Austin and Tucson. Any particular side of town or area that has more of the gluten free restaurants?

More suggestions are welcome.

[Gemini]

On 11/7/2017 at 8:47 AM, kareng said:

I haven't been back in a year and a half because I don't have any kids in school there but I think these will still be good . I assume you can look up addresses.    They have Whole Foods and Natural Grocers and many nice grocery stores.

These are the ones I have actually been to, they have a bunch of chains that are good like Red Robin, too. a few years ago, they had the most restaurants per person of any city in the US?

Larkburger - nice fast food , burgers, chicken sandwich, fries - everything gluten-free except beer in cans and buns.  Tell them medical reasons.   They should bring only gluten-free things on one tray to your table.  To be certain, Order the gluten-free as a separate order if its a big group.  I get them lettuce wrapped, but they have a gluten-free bun.

 

Blue Agave - Mexician type.  Quiz the waiter - I don't remember the chip/fryer situation.  I think there were gluten-free chips but not the blue ones?  Or vice a versa?  WE had something like nachos and they had to use the other chips

Beau Jo"s - pizza. The garlic cheese bread is a meal

 

Snooze - expect a wait., breakfast

Austins - ate at the one in old town several times - lovely salads and the rotisserie chicken dinner are what I like

Bisetti's - nice Italian place,  gluten-free pasta

Scrumpys- I have never eaten there.  they make gluten-free hard cider!  If you can, stop in with a friend and share a sample flight

Spoons - soup and salad.  I only ate at the one on campus and it was very busy.  Usually you can get a salad, but it looked like a tornado went thru.  Soup was a bit separate and covered - so I enjoyed a bowl of tomato soup with my Go Picnic.  I imagine the ones off campus will be better.

 

TCBY - frozen yogurt - lots of flavors you serve yourself

 

Not eaten at but have good reviews - 

Urban Egg

Stuft

Rodizio's

Twisted Noodle

Go to Blue Agave!  I was just there a month ago and there are so many gluten-free choices your head will spin.  I am very sensitive and nary a problem.  The food was delicious!  The nachos, which were yellow corn, were gluten-free. 

Snooze was another place we ate at about 3 times and their brekkies are excellent.  I stayed away from the gluten-free pancakes because the odds of cc are too high when eating out but all their savory egg dishes were delicious.  They have gluten-free bread for toast and put it in the broiler/oven because they do not have a dedicated toaster........I've never been to a place that does.  But it worked!

I also went to Austin's but have to say I was not impressed.  I was craving a buffalo burger and thought as this was Colorado, I would get a nice fat, juicy burger.  What arrived was a Wendy's type square, flat burger.     The chicken dinner might be a lot better.

[kareng]

1 minute ago, Gemini said:

Go to Blue Agave!  I was just there a month ago and there are so many gluten-free choices your head will spin.  I am very sensitive and nary a problem.  The food was delicious!  The nachos, which were yellow corn, were gluten-free. 

Snooze was another place we ate at about 3 times and their brekkies are excellent.  I stayed away from the gluten-free pancakes because the odds of cc are too high when eating out but all their savory egg dishes were delicious.  They have gluten-free bread for toast and put it in the broiler/oven because they do not have a dedicated toaster........I've never been to a place that does.  But it worked!

I also went to Austin's but have to say I was not impressed.  I was craving a buffalo burger and thought as this was Colorado, I would get a nice fat, juicy burger.  What arrived was a Wendy's type square, flat burger.     The chicken dinner might be a lot better.

Sorry about Austins.  did you go to the one in Old Town?  we always went to that one and my boys said the burgers were delicious (maybe they got cow not bison?)   I loved the Cobb salad - it had avocado!

[TexasJen]

10 hours ago, Michelle1234 said:

Thanks! We went over the suggestions last night and are going to look further into Austin and Tucson. Any particular side of town or area that has more of the gluten free restaurants?

More suggestions are welcome.

In Austin, all the gluten free eating is pretty spread out. In central Austin/downtown, Wildwood Bake House which is 100% gluten-free. There are also restaurants that are mostly gluten free - Piknik and Casa de Luz are almost 100% gluten-free.  There is a new bakery called Zucchini Kill that is 100% gluten-free. 

In north Austin, GuacoTaco is 100% gluten-free. Fresh Heim is almost 100% gluten-free (they serve cheesecake for dessert but that's the only thing). 

There are 2 local restaurants: The Salt Lick and Jack Allen's which have several locations and are relatively safe. Salt Lick's menu has bread as their only item with gluten. Your waiter can pull the meat straight out of the pit so there is no CC.

In Round Rock (northern suburb), there is a new gluten-free bakery called Pie Jacked. In Lakeway, there is a gluten-free bakery called Blackbird.

Other restaurants that I have been told are fairly safe but not 100% gluten-free : Odd Duck, Uchi, The Steeping Room, Koriente, and Taco Deli. 

Good luck!

 

 

[Gemini]

6 hours ago, kareng said:

Sorry about Austins.  did you go to the one in Old Town?  we always went to that one and my boys said the burgers were delicious (maybe they got cow not bison?)   I loved the Cobb salad - it had avocado!

No, we ate at the one that was further out from town........I can't remember the road it was on but it was away from the town center.  I know where that other one is.........we stayed right down the street on Mountain Rd.

[Michelle1234]

If you want safe gluten free pancakes in Fort Collins try the Original Pancake House. My favorite are the Georgian Pecan because of the orange tropical syrup. I also like the pumpkin pancakes.

Open Original Shared Link

Unfortunately I have gotten glutened at Snooze twice so had to take if off my list of acceptable places. But I probably ordered pancakes.

[Michelle1234]

Thanks TexasJen,

We have relatives in Texas so were talking to them about Austin today. They encouraged us to also check out San Antonio. What do you think of the gluten free offerings there (if you are familiar with them)?

Probably we will try to make it out there early next year.

[TexasJen]

10 hours ago, Michelle1234 said:

Thanks TexasJen,

We have relatives in Texas so were talking to them about Austin today. They encouraged us to also check out San Antonio. What do you think of the gluten free offerings there (if you are familiar with them)?

Probably we will try to make it out there early next year.

San Antonio is a lovely place. I lived there for a couple of years but I didn't have celiac at the time, so I can't really comment on eating out there with celiacs.  It definitely would be on my list of cities to live in, though.  There are a lot of fun celebrations in SA so you should visit during Fiesta, or at Christmas time - the riverwalk is beautiful then......

[mateo2099]

I live in Houston and travel around Texas frequently.  I have family in Austin and I would agree Austin is the top spot for Gluten-free dining.  There are options in more place than not!  Its a bit surreal at first since we are always second class citizens everywhere else.   Everyone in Austin is so accommodating and knowledgeable about dietary restrictions.   

I would say San Antonio is a close cousin and close second to Austin in Gluten free options.  The best gluten-free breakfast I ever had was at Las Canarias in the Omni La Mansion hotel on the Riverwalk.  They had Gluten-free waffles, pancakes, crepes, sausage, and even Mexican breakfast choices and desserts.  

I would say Houston is probably third on the list of Gluten-friendly cities but many options are growing.  It isn't difficult to find good gluten-free choices for dining, even in the outskirts of town.  However, we lack a lot of the boutique gluten-free bakeries that Austin and SA have.  

[Jmg]

On 11/10/2017 at 2:53 PM, TexasJen said:

San Antonio is a lovely place. I lived there for a couple of years but I didn't have celiac at the time, so I can't really comment on eating out there with celiacs.  It definitely would be on my list of cities to live in, though.  There are a lot of fun celebrations in SA so you should visit during Fiesta, or at Christmas time - the riverwalk is beautiful then......

I loved San Antonio when I visited. Second only to lovely Austin on my Texas city list.