Recent Nh/ma gluten-free Restaurant Experiences (and A Few Other States I Have Traveled To Recently)

[Lombardi25]

Well this was my first Summer of gluten free living and although I'm nowhere near feeling 100% better (I was diganosed in April) but I'm definitley getting there (a big thanks to all of you for alot of that, I have found so much good information here).

I have posted and shared some dining experiences before, but I haven't in awhile and wanted to post some of my restaurant/eating out experiences as of late. I live on the Seacoast of NH so most of my experiences have been local (NH/MA) but I have also been travelling for work and have a couple good experiences to share on that front too.

Chili's (Seabrook, NH):

First, the Chili's here in Seabrook, NH has been nothing but great. The first time I went there they actually printed out the Gluten Free menu from their web site for me, I usually do ribs or something along those lines and not once have I got sick.

Wendy's (Seabrook, NH):

For fast food, the Wendy's in Seabrook, NH is excellent. They use a dedicated friolator and the first time I went the manager overheard me making the order, came over and handled it. He understood/knew he had to put on new gloves and all that, I had ordered fries and burger (no bun). I hadn't ate any fast food in months until late and although I don't plan to start to eat it all the time it's very comforting to know I can now. The second time I went the person who took my order went out back to tell the people cooking the burgers after taking my order and they actually explained to HIM how important it was he told them BEFORE putting the order in and gave him a quick lesson about cross contamination. He was a trainee, so although I felt bad for him, I was very very impressed, especially since it is a Wendy's. So I reccomend 100%

Outback (Concord and Portsmouth, NH and Danvers, MA):

I've also had great experiences at the Outback in Portsmouth, NH Concord, NH (gluten-free bread for the win!! although I have to say in my experiences it is my least favorite of the gluten-free breads I have tried eating out) and in Danvers, MA, just an FYI.

OK, so onto other non-typical places, some which have been posted on here before.

Julie's Ristorante (Ogunquit, ME):

There's a restaurant that I want to warn people of up in Ogunquit, ME called Julie's Ristorante. I was very excited to see that they had a ton of gluten-free options like pizza, pannani's and pasta (stuffed shells and ravioloi) not to mention when I got there I found out also that they had cheese breadsticks. This is a very nice, very clean, but small place, more take out, only two tables to dine at. So I went up there and they were very very nice, but unfortunately they must have cross contaminated the pasta (I got stuffed shells and breadsticks, which I must say were great lol but not worth the consequences) or the dough by preparing or cooking it wrong, because I had my first "glutened" expereince ever eating out that night. I was MISERABLE sick the entire night...it was not fun. I have yet to contact them about it, I know I know everyone will tell me I should, but I just have been both lazy and feel bad to let them know...although I know I shouldn't. They said they were going to be expanding their gluten-free menu down the road. I will one day call or email and ask about their preparation and stuff like that and tell them what happened to me.

Marco's (Boston - North End):

I finally had a good reason to go down to Boston last week for a concert and got to ate at Marco's in the North End. Phenomonal. I had read that you need to call ahead for the gluten-free bread, but when I went there (we were an hour early before they opened) the waitress put my name in as a reservation and noted in the reservation on the computer to have gluten-free ready. When we sat down she brought it over, it was really really good, some of the best I have had yet eating out. The waitress showed me 5-6 pasta meals that they can do gluten-free. They have some meats too so I'm guessing they could do those too, but obviously the thrill is to go out and eat pasta when you are in the North End. I got a regular red sauce spaghetti dinner (boring I know) but it was still great. The spaghetti was a little undercooked and were rice based, but that's usually how you have to do the rice ones anyways.

Abercrombies Seafood Grille (North Hampton, NH):

I had a birthday party to go to at Abercrombie's Seafood Grille (formerly known as Abercrombie & Finch) in North Hampton, NH recently and they do not have gluten-free options so I actually called ahead and they were VERY VERY accomodating in working with me to find something I could eat. That's the good news. The bad news was that when I got there they were very unsure/confused about what meats they marinated and if their salad dressings had gluten or not, I mentioned bringing me the bottle but they said all of that was "home made" and probalby had it. So I ended up only getting a plain steak, but it was actually really really good. They also did have a few veggie items they could give me gluten-free as well, but I'm not big on vegetables (which sucks when it comes to sides at restaurants eating gluten-free) so my options were limited. But it sounds like, if you call ahead of time they will definitley try to accomodate. Hopefully I helped educate them for future requests and worst comes to worst I always know I can get steak there lol.

Rafferty's Pub (North Conway, NH):

I went camping up in North Conway, NH (which was really an excuse to eat gluten-free for a couple days cause of all the great restaurants they have up there) and got to check out Rafferty's Pub finally. This was actually the FIRST time, before Wendy's, that I got to eat fries eating out since I found out I had Celiacs, so I was stoked. In fact I had a whole plethora of appetizers that I never even eat just because it was amazing eating fried food haha. I had a mixed platter of stuff like onion rings (never eat at all, but devoured this time) and potato skins (same) and then I got a burger, becuase I HAD to get a burger with a bun, just to feel normal again haha. The food and knowledge/attitude of the waitstaff was remarkable (I know they have gotten high praise before but I have to kiss up even more), my only complaint was that the bun literally fell to pieces in my hands as I ate so by the end it was a big pile of crumbs on my plate, lol probably becuase it was frozen for so long or whatever. I was bummed though, it downpoured the entire first day/night of camping, so we just up and left the second day becuase our friends had a kid and none of us wanted to sit in tents all day miserable and damp. We were supposed to check out the Italian restaurant up there the second night called Belleni's. Next time I guess.

Flatbreads (Portsmouth, NH):

Last one for local stuff (that I can remember) I went to Flatbreads in Portsmouth, NH (I think all locations are good though for gluten-free) and they were excellent. I was able to get some Woodchuck cider which is gluten-free and then I ordered a gluten-free cheese pizza. The first time, one of the new people actually cooked it and contaminated it, he wasn't aware of the gluten-free procedures, so they came out and told me and said they were cooking a brand new one and were really sorry. I was actually very happy that they were so up front and honest. They cook your pizza in tinfoil in the wood oven so that was great to see too how careful/cuatious they are. They actually gave my wife and my brother a free regular pizza with toppings while we waited...lol that was nice but a bummer for me, but whatever. Highly reccomend them though.

Some travel experiences of late.

Old Spaghetti Factory (St. Louis, NH):

I went to St. Louis and was so excited to find out there was an Old Spaghetti Factory (which I read about on this board and was bummed cause there were none around where I live) right next to the hotel. I ate there two nights in a row, getting their corn rotelli with the red sauce and cheese/butter sauce mixed. It was really really good and filling (if you get the larger size you can't even finish it, and I'm a bigger guy). Unfortunately, not much for options besides that and you can do a chicken parmesean type thing with it as well if it's dinner time (tried to order that during lunch hours and couldn't, which was a bummer). No gluten-free bread, which was tough cause when your waiting for your food you see everyone else chowing down on it, but that's typical I guess. Wait staff scared me both nights though, each time they tried to bring or offer bread to my table and then were like "oh yeah I forgot you can't have bread................" lol. I just brushed it off but I'll tell you I got a bit squirmy/nervous. It is kinda funny though, they have a gluten-free menu and it literally has like two items on it, waste of printing haha. But overall great experience and good eating.

TGI Fridays (Philadelphia Airport, PA):

I got stuck in airports for a day due to awful delays (12 hours worth) and missed connections and was able to finally find a TGI Fridays in the Philadelphia airport that I was able to talk with the head chef before sitting, and then she actually took my order and cooked it personally for me. I got a steak. I was very leary becuase they don't have a gluten-free menu or items obviously, but she was very very very careful and understanding and asked all the right questions (as well as listened to my suggestions/concerns). The steak was great though and it got me through the rest of the awful day.

Marriot @ USC (Columbia, SC):

I had to go to South Carolina for a night and stayed at the Marriot at the USC campus in downtown Columbia, and amazingly the head chef there came out once again when I checked in and asked the front desk about it and worked with me for a meal that night (steak again, boring, but hey steak's always good I guess and at least safe) and he was actually very knowledgable about it all. The waitstaff were all ready for me when I came that night and everything went well, except the steak being very fatty, but hey whatever lol.

Risotteria (New York, New York):

Last one to touch on, this week I got to go to Risotteria in NYC earlier this week when I was there on business and BAM what an awesome meal. They had the gluten-free breadsticks which are on every table (although you do have to be careful becuase they are in a vase type jar and anyone can pick at them while you are eating, so make sure the people you are dining with know not to just paw all over them). I think I got like 3 refills of them they were so good. Then I got a gluten-free cheese pizza and it was really really good. A bit thin, fancy type of pizza, but still very good. Reccomend greatly, they even have their pizza boxes stacked up and separated for gluten-free...lol they do a great job, and they had a ton of gluten-free deserts but I was too stuffed.

Well thanks everyone for all the experiences and tips you have shared, I wanted to add some of my experiences and hope to help some of you who are new to this or give some of you locals to New England some ideas if you hadn't heard of some places that I mentioned before. Again I've had this for 20 some odd years and just found out this past April so it's been a big change for me, it's a thrill when I find a new place to eat out at.