Help For My Holiday!

[westybls]

Hi,my name is martin and I'm from italy. I'm sorry for my English,it's really scarce!! Between 3 weeks I will go in the U.S. for one month. My trip starts from Chicago and crosses the U.S. with a car rent until the California. What can I eat beyond meat and vegetable? What kind of biscuits or snacks can I buy? And where can I buy it? Thanks!! Martin

[tgrahek]

Wow that is a big trip! Should be lots of fun.

I am in Minnesota and I doubt you will be passing through so I can't help specifically. We do lots of road trips so I am familiar with which restaurants to watch for on the blue signs at the side of the road (example at Open Original Shared Link.

For fast food you can stop at Wendy's (chili, baked potato) Taco Bell (tostado, pintos and cheese),

Chik Fil A (lots of options, check website). We also sometimes go to Arby's and get a large roast beef no bun and horseradish sauce.

Some sit down restaurants to watch for are Red Robin, Outback Steakhouse, PF Chang's, Bonefish Grill, Chili's, Uno Chicago Grill, On The Border Mexican Grill. Shoney's doesn't have a gluten free menu but they do have a salad bar so if you can't find anything else, that would probably work. When we can't find anywhere familiar to eat, we go to any restaurant and order a hamburger no bun with a side of fruit or eggs and bacon.

Most big grocery stores have gluten free sections so you can stop and buy snacks when you are in a larger town or city. Walmart SuperCenters have grocery stores and their food is well labeled if it is gluten free.

If you are in a gas station you can buy chips (Lay's regular or Staxx, Fritos) or candy (Skittles, Starburst, Gummy Bears, Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike, Tangy Taffy, Jolly Ranchers).

You can also usually find fresh fruit at gas stations.

Good luck!

[westybls]

Thanks for your help. I hope to survive in my journey!!!

[glutenmommy]

Don't forget to stock up the car with lots of nuts -- cashews, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, etc. I try to buy unsalted and minimally processed ones at the health food store but you can find them in the regular grocery as well -- check the label carefully to be sure it isn't processed in a factory that also processes wheat. If you have room for a mini-cooler, bring along some cheese cubes and pepperoni, hard-boiled eggs and yogurt. Always have an apple or two on hand. Also stock up on a few kinds of gluten-free granola bars -- Bora Bora and Larabar are my favorites. If you like milk, drink that -- it will keep you much more satisfied than soda. You can pick up individual size regular or chocolate milk at the convenience stores on the road.

Have a fun trip!

[The Fluffy Assassin]

Hi,my name is martin and I'm from italy. I'm sorry for my English,it's really scarce!! Between 3 weeks I will go in the U.S. for one month. My trip starts from Chicago and crosses the U.S. with a car rent until the California. What can I eat beyond meat and vegetable? What kind of biscuits or snacks can I buy? And where can I buy it? Thanks!! Martin

Hello, Martin, and welcome! You should probably look for Whole Foods Markets in major cities that you are visiting. Here is the entire list: Open Original Shared Link There are stores in Chicago as well as in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Nevada, and many in California. Depending on your route, this could be very helpful. Whole Foods has a good selection of gluten-free foods. Also you can eat there and foods at the hot bar (buffet) are labeled according to food sensitivities. The staff members are busy, but helpful. The prices are high, but not unreasonable.

Oh, your English is fine. One thing you should know is that in America, "biscuits" refers to small unsweet baked flour cakes (focaccina, more or less, according to translation websites). What the British call biscuits and the Italians call biscotti, we call "cookies." And you can get gluten-free cookies at any health food store, including Whole Foods. Pamela's Products are very good, though expensive.

Have a great trip!

[westybls]

Don't forget to stock up the car with lots of nuts -- cashews, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, etc. I try to buy unsalted and minimally processed ones at the health food store but you can find them in the regular grocery as well -- check the label carefully to be sure it isn't processed in a factory that also processes wheat. If you have room for a mini-cooler, bring along some cheese cubes and pepperoni, hard-boiled eggs and yogurt. Always have an apple or two on hand. Also stock up on a few kinds of gluten-free granola bars -- Bora Bora and Larabar are my favorites. If you like milk, drink that -- it will keep you much more satisfied than soda. You can pick up individual size regular or chocolate milk at the convenience stores on the road.

Have a fun trip!

Thanks, then I will stock fruits and nuts! When I arrive in the United States I will seek a wholefood and load the boot of glutenfree products!

[westybls]

Hello, Martin, and welcome! You should probably look for Whole Foods Markets in major cities that you are visiting. Here is the entire list: Open Original Shared Link There are stores in Chicago as well as in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Nevada, and many in California. Depending on your route, this could be very helpful. Whole Foods has a good selection of gluten-free foods. Also you can eat there and foods at the hot bar (buffet) are labeled according to food sensitivities. The staff members are busy, but helpful. The prices are high, but not unreasonable.

Oh, your English is fine. One thing you should know is that in America, "biscuits" refers to small unsweet baked flour cakes (focaccina, more or less, according to translation websites). What the British call biscuits and the Italians call biscotti, we call "cookies." And you can get gluten-free cookies at any health food store, including Whole Foods. Pamela's Products are very good, though expensive.

Have a great trip!

I will cross the U.S. from Chicago to San Francisco on the famous Route 66. The website is very convenient and useful, thanks! In wholefood you can eat? GOOD! Thanks for the clarification on biscuits / cookies, I don't knew it!!

[The Fluffy Assassin]

I will cross the U.S. from Chicago to San Francisco on the famous Route 66. The website is very convenient and useful, thanks! In wholefood you can eat? GOOD! Thanks for the clarification on biscuits / cookies, I don't knew it!!

Wow! Good gracious! I hope you have a good guidebook. You know that Route 66 has been decommissioned for almost 25 years, right? There aren't any road signs for it and a lot of it isn't there anymore. Open Original Shared Link (Also, it goes to Los Angeles rather than San Francisco, though I'm sure you knew that.)

I asked around on another website I visit, and folks there said the following:

You might also want to try asking at Lonely Planet's discussion board Open Original Shared Link There are also health, food and disability sections of the board where you could ask about gluten free travel

and

In Tulsa, there is a Whole Foods as well as Akins Natural Foods Open Original Shared Link

My advice? Every time you stop, look in the yellow pages of the telephone book for Health Food Stores (in my phone book, it's Health & Diet Food Products), call, get directions and go. This will be easy in Amarillo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff, but might be hard in the rest of the New Mexico/Arizona portion of your drive. If you get lost or confused, just get directions to the nearest Interstate (motorway in British English) and come back to Route 66 later. Good luck!

Edit: Here's more links from the folks at my other discussion board, this time for Flagstaff AZ:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[westybls]

Wow! Good gracious! I hope you have a good guidebook. You know that Route 66 has been decommissioned for almost 25 years, right? There aren't any road signs for it and a lot of it isn't there anymore. Open Original Shared Link (Also, it goes to Los Angeles rather than San Francisco, though I'm sure you knew that.)

I asked around on another website I visit, and folks there said the following:

You might also want to try asking at Lonely Planet's discussion board Open Original Shared Link There are also health, food and disability sections of the board where you could ask about gluten free travel

and

In Tulsa, there is a Whole Foods as well as Akins Natural Foods Open Original Shared Link

My advice? Every time you stop, look in the yellow pages of the telephone book for Health Food Stores (in my phone book, it's Health & Diet Food Products), call, get directions and go. This will be easy in Amarillo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff, but might be hard in the rest of the New Mexico/Arizona portion of your drive. If you get lost or confused, just get directions to the nearest Interstate (motorway in British English) and come back to Route 66 later. Good luck!

Edit: Here's more links from the folks at my other discussion board, this time for Flagstaff AZ:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks for your great help and advices! We want to go from Chicago to Los Angels the first 20 days,then we want to go towards San Francisco for the other 10 days to visit the famous parks of California!

[Mskedi]

Hopefully all the parks you want to visit are still open when you get here -- the CA budget just got signed and the parks got hit pretty hard. They are definitely worth visiting, though -- we've got some beautiful places here.

Will you have internet access as you travel or where you stay? If so, things will be much, much easier.

When you get to California, another fast-food place in addition to Wendy's that is safe is In-N-Out. EVERYTHING at In-N-Out is gluten free except for the buns, so all you have to do is order what you want "protein style" (it isn't on the menu, but everyone here knows about the secret menu ) and your meal will be gluten free. You might also want to say "animal style" if you like grilled onions. It's the best fast-food in the world, and I'm ecstatic that they cater so well to Celiacs. French fries are the only fried things there, so there's no cross contamination in the oil. There may be cross contamination from the dressing, so mention your intolerance when you order. They're amazing at customer service at every location (and I've hit most of the locations in California at this point), so they will do their best to give you what you need.

Have fun out here.

ETA: That was a lot of smilies.

[westybls]

Hopefully all the parks you want to visit are still open when you get here -- the CA budget just got signed and the parks got hit pretty hard. They are definitely worth visiting, though -- we've got some beautiful places here.

Will you have internet access as you travel or where you stay? If so, things will be much, much easier.

When you get to California, another fast-food place in addition to Wendy's that is safe is In-N-Out. EVERYTHING at In-N-Out is gluten free except for the buns, so all you have to do is order what you want "protein style" (it isn't on the menu, but everyone here knows about the secret menu ) and your meal will be gluten free. You might also want to say "animal style" if you like grilled onions. It's the best fast-food in the world, and I'm ecstatic that they cater so well to Celiacs. French fries are the only fried things there, so there's no cross contamination in the oil. There may be cross contamination from the dressing, so mention your intolerance when you order. They're amazing at customer service at every location (and I've hit most of the locations in California at this point), so they will do their best to give you what you need.

Have fun out here.

ETA: That was a lot of smilies.

Thanks, other important recommendations! Internet is convenient, it will use often. I'm leaving Italy between 5 hours! Thank you all for your help, now I will survive to my trip! America I'm coming!!!

[Birdie-Is-Tiny]

If you want a snack-like thing to keep with you, Cliff nectar bars are wonderful. They are available at Wegman's and I think I have even seen them at Tops. They are made on dedicated equipment, they have lots of yummy flavors, and are very good for you.

I recommend Red Robin if you like burgers!! Their gluten free menu is wonderful and they have delicious fries.

Also if you visit an outback steakhouse, the chocolate thunder from down under is an extremely tasty gluten-free brownie.

Good luck!

[westybls]

Hi everybody! Just returned in Italy!!! That wonderful experience! U.S. are really amazing,breathtaking and various landscapes and great people too!! I've done more than 6300 miles between Illinois and California and my experiensce with celiac disease in your country was very good,the most big grocery stores have gluten free food,my favourite store was "Whole Food Market" it has many good products and the self service section,where you can eat healthy salads,is really convenient and usefull!!! I ate a lot of fruit and salads for breakfast and lunch,as snack i really like "Kettle" and "Lays Natural" chips,"Larabar" snacks and "Glutino" cookies and as dinner I ate a lot of good meat!!!! Now I know the names of all types of meat of every restaurants!!!!I can't wait to return to your country to see all the wonderful places that I have not seen!

[Ahorsesoul]

Martin,

So glad you enjoyed America! My son has been enjoying Rome the last 7 days, he returns home to Minnesota tomorrow.

[The Fluffy Assassin]

Hi everybody! Just returned in Italy!!! That wonderful experience! U.S. are really amazing,breathtaking and various landscapes and great people too!! I've done more than 6300 miles between Illinois and California and my experiensce with celiac disease in your country was very good,the most big grocery stores have gluten free food,my favourite store was "Whole Food Market" it has many good products and the self service section,where you can eat healthy salads,is really convenient and usefull!!! I ate a lot of fruit and salads for breakfast and lunch,as snack i really like "Kettle" and "Lays Natural" chips,"Larabar" snacks and "Glutino" cookies and as dinner I ate a lot of good meat!!!! Now I know the names of all types of meat of every restaurants!!!!I can't wait to return to your country to see all the wonderful places that I have not seen!

Martin,

So glad you had a good time on your trip. Hope you get your wish and can come back again soon!

Best regard,

John