Zio's Italian Restaurant - Springfield, Mo

[bbuster]

I sent Zio's a comment asking if they had gluten-free pizza or were planning to.

I was excited to get this response from their regional manager (Tulsa, OK)

We most certainly do have a Gluten Free Menu available... I have attached a copy for you. I would also like to share that we are currently testing gluten free pasta that will allow us to serve a number of our signature dishes as they were intended yet completely gluten free. I will send you an email update once we have finalized our choices.

I take this menu very seriously as my son also requires a gluten free diet. We look forward to seeing you soon.

He attached a gluten-free menu that had quite a few things on it, mostly served over vegetables or spinach instead of pasta.

But it did not include pizza. So I sent a polite response, thanking him for the info and promising to share it with our local Celiac Support Group and also a chat forum (you guys), and I also said that they should really consider doing pizza as well. We found a place in Kansas City that has it, and every time we visit the in-laws we go there, usually everyone, which is a party of 12 or so.

He responded back right away as follows:

We had not previously considered the pizza option (really just didn't think of it?) and recently I received another email from a guest expressing interest. I am currently researching the information as we speak... please let me know the name of the restaurant that carries the gluten free dough if you have an opportunity.

I am excited to hear that you will spread the word-- I hope to have a great updated menu before August and I will absolutely send it your way! Thanks again for the feedback.

I emailed back and shared a little personal information - that pizza was my son's favorite food, that our family used to eat at Zio's a lot before my son was diagnosed (and both kids always ate pizza every time), that my son didn't go to his 8th grade graduation lunch because it was at Zio's, and that it was a great business opportunity. I told him the place we go to is Waldo's and gave him a little info on that.

Less than an hour later, I got this email response.

After emailing you, I was on the phone with our COO, and brought up the discussion as he and I have had a number of conversations on the subject in the past.

He contacted some of our distributors to get to work on the pizza dough-- if we can add this to our Gluten Free Menu, we can have a number of our appetizers available along with the pizzas.

I'll follow-up when I have more information.

My only response to that was "Bless you! and keep me posted."

I am so thrilled - just wanted to share with everyone! I don't know how far-reaching the outcome will be, but if they want to do a test market in Springfield, I promise to support and promote it all I can!

[kareng]

I love Waldo pizza. They get their dough from Olivia's Oven, a local gluten-free baker. I love going there because they have 4 or 5 gluten-free beers and they act like they have heard of gluten-free before.

[luvs2eat]

That's great news! We're 2 hours south of Springfield, MO, and would absolutely go there occasionally!!