Mexican Restaurants

[kaitlyn77]

I know Mexican restaurants are not the safest place to eat. However, my family loves Mexican and I was hoping someone has suggestions on what to order? I could not eat with them and eat "safe" food later but I am hoping someone has suggestions on safe menu items??

[Tina B]

I know Mexican restaurants are not the safest place to eat. However, my family loves Mexican and I was hoping someone has suggestions on what to order? I could not eat with them and eat "safe" food later but I am hoping someone has suggestions on safe menu items??

I've done mexican wih no problem. Be very careful that what you order says "corn tortilla" and not flour tortilla. I've had no problem with tacos with the hard shell and tostadas with the corn tortillas. Don't do soft tacos, they have wheat in the shell. I also don't eat the refried beans (only because they look too soft like something could be mixed in)but some places you can get plain black beans with salsa.

[coffeetime]

I know Mexican restaurants are not the safest place to eat. However, my family loves Mexican and I was hoping someone has suggestions on what to order? I could not eat with them and eat "safe" food later but I am hoping someone has suggestions on safe menu items??

My daughter and I went to a Mexican restaurant on Friday. Luckily my waitress was really good, she had a list of a few things which were considered safe, but then warned me that they did not have a dedicated fryer, (they fry their own taco shells, etc.) so the risk of cc was high. I ended up having a cup of tortilla soup without the tortilla strips, which was quite good, but I did leave hungry. You might want to call ahead and talk to the manager about your options.

[Juliebove]

You always have to ask. Sometimes enchilada sauce is fine but it could have wheat in it. Fajitas are usually safe but they might use soy sauce on the meat. Refried beans are usually safe but I have heard of a few places that put flour in them to thicken. If we are at all unsure, we get beans, rice and corn tortillas.

[luvs2eat]

We had to abandon our fave Mexican restaurant a few years ago when they changed their distributor and their corn tortillas were now dusted w/ wheat flour!

We don't go out for Mexican so often anymore. I've found it difficult to feel comfortable w/ the answers to my questions when there's a language communication problem.

[Ceciwright]

In addition to fajita seasonings, I would be sure to inquire also about the rice. Several places where I live (Austin, Texas) say they use a chicken both, which has flour as a thickener, in the rice.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I have not found a safe Mexican place yet and my husband loves Mexican food as well. There are just too many places that wheat can be hiding. They could put it in the beans or even the meat (I'm still upset that Taco Bell puts wheat in their meat ). Most corn shells or corn chips should be safe, but I have even seen corn chips with wheat as an ingredient.

The good news is the Mexican food is really easy to make at home gluten free. I make tacos and fajitas with corn tortillas the most often, but I've also done enchiladas, burritos, and taquitos. I want to try making tamales soon. Homemade salsa and homemade guacamole is the best. I make my own chips too: Get some corn tortillas, cut them into quarters with a pizza cutter, spray them with olive oil (or whichever oil you prefer, I use OO for everything), bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 12-15 minutes. Pull them out when they are golden and crispy. You have to watch them closely in the last few minutes. Too long and they burn, not long enough and they will be rubbery. Sprinkle with kosher salt while they are hot from the oven. My husband likes to sprinkle them with Lawry's seasoning salt before cooking. Nothing like warm chips and fresh salsa.

[Frances03]

We went to a place in Denver called Blue Bonnet Cafe, strange name for a Mexican Restaurant but they were very busy and popular! Anyway, they have a gluten free menu!! They even bring you special chips that a gluten free, as their regular chips are fried in shared oil. I had a great time and felt really good. I can't wait til next time we are near Denver so we can go back again! They had one neat item on the gluten-free menu, it was called a "naked burrito", where they took all the contents of a burrito and just put it on a plate and covered it with sauce. YUM!

[gluten momma]

We eat Mexican a lot because my daughter and I have GI and my son must have all natural ingredients. Casa Cabana makes most of their food with corn tortillas which is where we eat mexican fast food. We have carne asada tacos with rice and beans, shredded chicken tacos, tostadas, and taquitos at other restaurants. We have rarely had issues but you have to explain the intolerance to the waiters and ask that the grill area is wiped down. Good luck! P.S. Queso often has gluten in it!

[MindytheOrganist]

We are lucky that we have a Carlos O'Kelly's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It has a great gluten-free menu and their chips and salsa are gluten free. Of, course, it is not an "authentic" Mexican restaurant, and I've found that language barriers do exist.

[kaitlyn77]

Thanks for all the advice! Hopefully, my next Mexican meal will be successful. The language barrier is difficult but hopefully the manager can help more than the waiter. Thanks for the tips on rice and queso, those are two things I would not have thought to ask about. It is just a reminder that gluten can hide in ANYTHING!

[Tina B]

I have not found a safe Mexican place yet and my husband loves Mexican food as well. There are just too many places that wheat can be hiding. They could put it in the beans or even the meat (I'm still upset that Taco Bell puts wheat in their meat ). Most corn shells or corn chips should be safe, but I have even seen corn chips with wheat as an ingredient.

The good news is the Mexican food is really easy to make at home gluten free. I make tacos and fajitas with corn tortillas the most often, but I've also done enchiladas, burritos, and taquitos. I want to try making tamales soon. Homemade salsa and homemade guacamole is the best. I make my own chips too: Get some corn tortillas, cut them into quarters with a pizza cutter, spray them with olive oil (or whichever oil you prefer, I use OO for everything), bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 12-15 minutes. Pull them out when they are golden and crispy. You have to watch them closely in the last few minutes. Too long and they burn, not long enough and they will be rubbery. Sprinkle with kosher salt while they are hot from the oven. My husband likes to sprinkle them with Lawry's seasoning salt before cooking. Nothing like warm chips and fresh salsa.

One of my favorites:

Open Original Shared Link

[GFCFFoodie]

It's really tricky, trying to eat safely at Mexican restaurants. What I've done is just really grilled the server, and it's produced mostly good results.

I've had really great success at On The Border!!

We found a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that has been easy to work with. I googled "wheat" to find the Spanish word "trigo", and then picked some "easy" menu items (beans, corn tortillas, & tamales) and asked the server about them. She asked the cook about them. At this particular place, those are safe, so that's what I stick with, along with their chips and salsa.

I went to El Torito and had a horrendous experience. All I ordered was corn tortillas, beans, guacamole, and salsa. The server was very nice, endured my grilling, and I was decently confident the food would be safe. No such luck. :-(

[GlutenFreeManna]

One of my favorites:

Open Original Shared Link

Looks good. I have done something similar before, only I can't tolerate a lot of cheese yet, so I have to go light on that or use goat cheese.

[conniebky]

OMG! I was just coming on here to ask about mexican - me and my girlfriends from high school get together all the time and there's one of them that - we've just NEVER gotten on. Still don't. But we try really hard.

Anyway, we're planning something and have this email going between all of us and they started off with Mexican then they all went on about before or after I get my teeth pulled (I stayed outta that one)

But today I told them it's going to be the end of the Fall before I am healed enough to get my "fake" teeth, so we can go ahead and have supper now.

Then today the one I don't get on with writes and goes, "I don't care about teeth, I don't care about wheat and/or gluten, we need to get this planned NOW.

.....I was like....dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! She's just a stinker if ya ask me. She shoulda just wrote "I don't care about Connie and her goofy issues" I didn't reply, but I know the other ones ain't gonna appreciate that comment one bit.

Sorry you all, but boy I needed to get that off my chest. And I'm babysitting, so I got no one else to complain to right now. It is SO not hard to be nice. I remember I couldn't wait to get outta high school so everyone would be grown ups. What a laugh.

[Marc1]

Lares in Santa Monica, California is the best Mexican restaurant that I have been able to eat at. Be warned, its small and busy during the lunch hour so try to get there during the off times otherwise you will have a hard time getting you questions answered. I have been able to eat at Acapulco's, but you have to ask a lot of questions if you want to eat there safely, starting with is the meat in a particular dish marinated and with what, and going on to what type of tortillas are you using today. There is an entire thread devoted to this restaurant. if you don't mind Tex-Mex, Rubio's has a lot of gluten free things on their menu and has allergen information on their web site. look at the bottom of the screen. I actually like their stuff better than most Mexican restaurants because I can eat there safely. Chipole's has gluten free stuff, but I have run into cross contamination issues there, usually I only eat there as a backup choice. I have been able to eat at most Mexican restaurants, but it pays to either speak spanish or go to one where the manager speaks english. I always have to ask a ton of questions. NO PAN = NO Bread. They sell these little cards in various languages that basically explain what gluten is and ask not to be fed it, these are really useful if you are having trouble being understood.