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gluten-free Restaurants In Washington Dc

Brook

By Brook
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

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Brook Newbie
Brook
Posted

Hello,

I will be travelling to Washington DC soon. Does anyone know where I might find information about the Gluten Free restaurants there?

Thanks!

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mookie03 Contributor
mookie03
Posted

Someone else will certainly be more helpful than i will, b/c i dont have a direct answer to your question, but i was just down there so i figured id reply w/ my experience. I stayed in Bethesda and went to restaurants there, Georgetown and Chevy Chase. None of them were gluten free restaurants but they were all very accomodating to my needs- i even ate at a chinese restaurant other than PF Changs for the first time since going gluten-free! of course, the food was bland as hell once they removed the sauces, but still, i felt kinda normal! :) Anyway, one thing i noticed about DC and the surrounding areas is that they have a lot of chain restaurants, so u may want to see if any of the chains w/ gluten-free menus are near wherever you are staying down there. Good luck!

Guest Sibewill
Guest Sibewill
Posted

Austin Grill! This place is sooo good I make a complete pig of myself and eat 2 entrees and an appetizer or 2 appetizers and an entree each time I've been there (and an order of wings 2go). They have 7 locations in the area which can be mapped from their website, which also has the gluten-free menu online.

enjoy,

Sibe

  • 4 weeks later...
NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

I've been glutened every time I've visited Washington D.C.--to the point where I'm beginning to dislike the city. Even my little State College, PA has plenty of restaurants willing to help out. I'm surprised that such a big city would have several restaurants that have difficulty accomodating dietary restrictions. My best experience their was staying in Georgetown where several restaurants seemed clueless about gluten, but they had things on the menu that could be eaten--a lot of plain steak and seafood.

mookie03 Contributor
mookie03
Posted

Nicole- your post made me laugh (i know it wasnt meant to be funny...) b/c i have a joke w/ a friend of mine about how much we REALLY dislike DC for just about every reason you can think of...and just about the only GOOD thing about my experience was that i didnt get sick while there B) For me, however, i was eating in nice restaurants in Bethesda on someone else's credit card ;) so i didnt really have a problem.

Anyway, i am really sorry you have had so much trouble there, but thank you for giving me yet one more reason to hate DC :P Can you tell i almost moved there and am VERY glad i didnt? I apologizoe to anyone who lives there, i dont mean to bash the city, ive just had terrible experiences there!!

  • 2 weeks later...
NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

Stefi,

I'm glad you share my feelings--even if not for the same reasons. I had one time that I felt so sick that I sat down on a bench in the rain near the Whitehouse and wailed to my boyfriend, "Leave me behind--go on without me." His reply, "We're almost at the hotel--this is not Saving Private Ryan--I'm not leaving you behind." We look back on this and giggle, but at the time it was pretty bad.

amybeth Enthusiast
amybeth
Posted

There is at least one PF Changs in the DC area - and other chains that offer gluten-free items.

Have a nice trip.

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mookie03 Contributor
mookie03
Posted

Nicole-- haha, im so sorry, that sounds terrible, but we can all relate to that story! and at least you can look back on it and laugh (and i hope u never went back to wherever it was that you had eaten!) :P

NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

No I certainly didn't go back to that lousy restaurant--if I could remember the name right now, I'd add it. I've tried to repress the memory, but I'm sure my boyfriend would know. He was definitely thinking more clearly than I was at the time.

Ruth Enthusiast
Ruth
Posted

This topic has been helpful as I plan our trip to DC.... we're planning on dinner out at Austin Grill and Leagal Seafoods, but I'm a bit stressed about lunch. I did find one Wendy's listed in the area. And I found out Sabrett's hotdogs are gluten-free (sold from carts).

From what I've read, we can't bring backpacks/food into most of the sights, so picnicing will be tough. Any quick lunch ideas? I've called some of the food courts, and I'm not getting anywhere... the Old Post Office Food Court has "mom & pop" vendors. Nothing I can look up in advance!

With two adults and three kids gluten-free now I'm starting to worry!

If anyone is living in DC or who has been there recently, please help!!

Thanks,

Ruth

NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

Ruth,

If you go to Georgetown, they have a Chipotle, and many things there are gluten free--the list can be found on the website. As always, though, you need to ask them to change gloves and you need to be aware that the spoons may have touched the flour wraps and could make you sick. I had a great experience the first time I went to Chipotle in Georgetown and an aweful one the second time I went.

One thing you may want to consider doing for lunch is to simply go back to the hotel and have a fridge stocked with microwaveable gluten free foods, or a lot of grocers in the D.C. area sell Boar's Head coldcuts. I've gone into stores and bought some Boar's Head turkey and cheese and made little roll ups of turkey and cheese, gotten a bag of carrot sticks and a jar of olives, and it makes a very nice lunch. Just a thought.

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

I ate at the Austin Grill in Alexandria and it was great. www.austingrill.com

NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

Laura,

I'm a grad student at Penn State--I saw your post about Penn State and added to it a few weeks ago. If you need any advice about State College for when you return for football games, just let me know. But also, if you have any advice about where you usually go in State College, please share--I usually limit myself to the same 5 or 6 places, so I'd love to hear about more.

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

ah yes--- it is all coming back to me now :)

Claire Collaborator
Claire
Posted

In addition to PF Chang, you can find Bonefish Grill and Carrabas in DC. Bonefish has a wider selection.

Both of this are owned by the company that owns Outback Steakhouse. Claire

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest TerpyTaylor
Guest TerpyTaylor
Posted

Ruth,

Have you tried calling the museum cafes? They can be a little pricey, but you'd certainly be able to get things there like fruit, veggies, candy bars, chips, and probably all-beef hot dogs for the kids. D.C. is definitely pretty spread out, so it depends on where you're staying here for the best food advice.

I've been to the Austin Grill in Bethesda and it was definitely fun to have a whole menu of choices- my friends took a picture of me with it! :P However, my experience there wasn't great. There was confusion over the rice they gave me; they gave me the spanish rice instead of the plain white rice, and apparently the spanish rice has something in it we can't have. I was served my "gluten-free" meal and started eating it (not knowing that the rice wasn't ok). The chef came out after I'd already been served the spanish rice and gave me a plate of plain. I was a little upset, but luckily I'd only had about a bite of the rice and I didn't get sick. Apparently the confusion happened because there was a new store manager. They did try to be really nice and accomodating there, so I didn't say anything to the server or manager, but just be careful! Make sure they bring you the white rice and the BLACK beans- not kidney beans.

There is also a WholeFoods in DC with lots of gluten-free food. (www.wholefoods.com) You may want to pack a picnic and just have that bag checked when you go into museums. Lots of people bring picnics down there, I know we always did when I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure that you can just leave bags of food at the coat-check area. I could be wrong though- just call ahead!

I live in College Park and hang out with friends all the time in the DC area. I've generally found restaurants to be really nice and accomodating. My boyfriend took me once to a Japanese Steakhouse called BeniHana and they were really accomodating too. Just tell them not to cook with soy sauce. They are a little pricey, but if you go early they have low-price early bird specials.

I hope this helps! I also hope you love DC- I sure do. Whoever said they hated it here is crazy! Make sure you go paddle boating in the tidal basin and visit the pandas at the zoo. Another fun hint is that every day at 6:00 PM there are free concerts at the Kennedy Center. There's a bus from Georgetown to the center, so that's a really fun day!

Have a super trip!

Taylor :)

NicoleAJ Enthusiast
NicoleAJ
Posted

I wouldn't say that not liking D.C.-- city where one has spent a great deal of time and has always gotten sick many times and hasn't found very many accomodating restaurants--is worthy of name-calling or questioning one's sanity. Let's just say that not everyone likes D.C. and save name-calling for boards other than celiac.com where we come for support and open discussion.

  • 2 years later...
hancoc18 Newbie
hancoc18
Posted

Rustico's in Arlington VA has an amazing Chick Pea pizza. My mom who is not even a Celiac loved it. We went back the next day so that I could bring a pizza home with us. It is still excellent rewarmed. The staff there is great and they have other items too.

The original pancake house in Maryland has gluten free pancakes too. The blueberry ones are great! Even good cold.

Austin's grill has a number of items too.

Also Denny's has a allergy listing. Just make sure that anything on that list is pancooked. I have had te omlets a number of times (alll over the US) with hashbrowns. Just make sure they cook it all in a pan, even the veg and meat that fill the omlet.

hancoc18 Newbie
hancoc18
Posted

Rustico's in Arlington VA has an amazing Chick Pea pizza. My mom who is not even a Celiac loved it. We went back the next day so that I could bring a pizza home with us. It is still excellent rewarmed. The staff there is great and they have other items too.

The original pancake house in Maryland has gluten free pancakes too. The blueberry ones are great! Even good cold.

Austin's grill has a number of items too.

Also Denny's has a allergy listing. Just make sure that anything on that list is pancooked. I have had te omlets a number of times (alll over the US) with hashbrowns. Just make sure they cook it all in a pan, even the veg and meat that fill the omlet.

  • 6 months later...
JohnnyOh Newbie
JohnnyOh
Posted

I have just created a map of downtown Washington DC restaurants that are at least gluten free friendly:

Open Original Shared Link

I got the list of restaurants from

Open Original Shared Link

Let me know if you have other ideas of what to add to the map - or if some restaurants should be removed.

  • 2 weeks later...
Rivergirl Apprentice
Rivergirl
Posted

Legal Seafood. Legal Seafood. Legal Seafood. I travel to DC every other month and can not wait to eat at the Legal Seafood Restaurant in the Heart of DC ( I think on 7th street). Fabulous gluten-free menu. Breaded calamari with chick pea flour, Rice Rolls, breaded chick pea flour fish, etc. etc. etc. THe staff at the bar are fabulous.

Tim-n-VA Contributor
Tim-n-VA
Posted

Austin Grill has a new menu and did not have a gluten-free equivalent on my last visit. The staff was helpful in making sure I got gluten free items. Hopefully they'll have new gluten free menus soon.

zpizza has several locations in the area but not all have gluten free crust. I tried them this past weekend for the first time. Good pizza but gluten free only comes in a 10-inch version and has a $4 gluten-free charge added to the cost of your selected toppings.

  • 2 weeks later...
lonewolf Collaborator
lonewolf
Posted

Has anyone ever been to Alfio's in Chevy Chase? My son is going on his 8th grade trip to DC next week and that is the only restaurant listed. I've emailed them, but haven't gotten a response yet. The menu didn't look too promising.

  • 2 months later...
Tim-n-VA Contributor
Tim-n-VA
Posted

As a follow-up to my 24 March 2009 post:

The Austin Grill in the West Springfield area now has a gluten free menu that corresponds to their new main menu. My default item there had been their Austin Pesto Chicken. It is still on the menu but no longer on the gluten free menu. The manager on duty didn't know why it wasn't gluten free but thought it might be due to a change in the side dish. I have e-mail their corporate office with a question on that.

I had this dish at least once after their menu changed. Without me asking they gave me rice instead of the sweet potato dish and I had no reaction.

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