Portland, Oregon.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I am a potter (among other things) and attended a convention (N.C.E.C.A.) for potters and such in Portland, Oregon this week. I had looked into a few places to eat and on Open Original Shared Link I found some restaurants. I also found gluten-free food at other places unexpectedly. Also, I am a vegetarian, so, my choices reflect that.

SAFEWAY- (Grocery)

The one I went to had gluten-free food.

THE ALBERTA COOPERATIVE GROCERY- Open Original Shared Link

While going to galleries in a cool funky area my friend Greg and I found a small health food store. They had all sorts of gluten-free food! I bought some cookies I hadn’t seen before. Greg asked them about gluten-free places to eat and they recommended the Vita Café.

VITA CAFÉ- They have a vegan menu and offer non-vegan food, too. We called them before walking down from the grocery shop since it’s a bit of a walk. They said they could serve me. After talking to the waitress she went back and checked over the menu with their cooks. She said a Celiac woman eats there a lot and told me what I could eat along with what that woman’s favourites are. I had scrambled eggs and potatoes. Greg didn’t eat gluten-free and had a barbequed salmon sandwich. The food was very good.

ROCK BOTTOM- Open Original Shared Link

Just a note, in Portland no one under 21 is allowed in a restaurant’s bar no matter what. Due to my not being 21 a few of us had to leave the bar area. I had not planned on trying to eat but my friend Lauren is very take charge and she wants everyone have fun, so, she informed our waitress about my Celiacs. I told her the things I couldn’t have and she went to talk to their cooks and came back with some options. I had a salad and it was wonderfully good. Their meats and sea food could be made fine for Celiacs as well. It made the night even better to be able to eat.

RED ROBIN- Open Original Shared Link

Again, I had figured on not eating but Lauren wouldn’t have me left out. We informed the hostess about my Celiacs and she found us a waiter who knew what we were talking about. We were not in his section but he stayed with us the whole meal to ensure everything went well. He told me that they have a fryer for people with Celiacs/Allergies to gluten and that I could have their french fries. So, I got them and a salad. He told me that I would not get sick eating their fries and he was right!

TALARICO’S MERCATO- (In Lake Oswego, Oregon)

They offer a gluten-free pizza! However, they are 13 miles or so outside Portland. Four of us took a taxi up there and it was well worth it. It looks like they get a lot of people from far away to come in just for their gluten-free pizza. They aren’t a normal restaurant and have a kind of grocery store inside them but it’s small. I got my pizza cheese-less with tomatoes and ate over half there and had the other part for dinner. It was very tasty!

[jerseyangel]

Sounds like you had a great trip

[Generic]

I got glutened at TALARICO’S MERCATO- (In Lake Oswego, Oregon). I should have known better! When we went there, there was flour all over the floor (even foot prints of flour) through out the whole kitchen and behind the counter. Kept telling myself that it would be fine that they knew what they were doing. Needless to say about an hour later the blow outs started. I will never recomend any one eat there.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

That is awful that you got sick and with how fast it hit you it had to be the pizza.

You can see the whole kitchen and when I was there it did not have flour all over like when you were there. It was actually pretty clean and they were not at all busy. I talked to the man working about how serious I was about not getting sick and he firmly told me that I wouldn't, so, I took that as he knew what he was doing. I didn't get sick from the pizza and even ate it for lunch (around 2 PM) and dinner (around 10:30 PM). I would tell others to eat there if they were in the area.

I think these things depend really on the people working. For example, my brother regularly eats at Ted's Montana Grill without having any problems but when I go my food comes out not only having un-seen gluten but with a roll on top of it! It's a shame it is this way and I hope Talarico's Mercato can keep things the way they were at the time of my visit so that what happened to you never happens again.