Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Traveling

polarbearscooby

Recommended Posts

polarbearscooby Explorer
polarbearscooby
Posted

So, for Christmas this year my Dad's giving me a vacation, I'm going to see my two friends who both have celiac disease and live near DC. On the first part of my trip I'll be staying with my friends family, so I'll be able to get food easy. On the second leg of my trip my other friend and I will be staying in a hotel in DC, and I'm curious as to any advice you have for me (especially those of you from that area, or who have to to that area) on where to find food, and etc.

I've heard Whole Foods and Trader Joes are good places?

Thanks in advance!!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

So, for Christmas this year my Dad's giving me a vacation, I'm going to see my two friends who both have celiac disease and live near DC. On the first part of my trip I'll be staying with my friends family, so I'll be able to get food easy. On the second leg of my trip my other friend and I will be staying in a hotel in DC, and I'm curious as to any advice you have for me (especially those of you from that area, or who have to to that area) on where to find food, and etc.

I've heard Whole Foods and Trader Joes are good places?

Thanks in advance!!

Good for you! Where are you staying in DC? We have people from the area but it's a big place. Try googling gluten free Washington, dc. Look around on here. I know I saw some places in Old Town Alexandria mentioned here.

polarbearscooby Explorer
polarbearscooby
Posted
  • Author

In the Mall area.....

Have you ever been to a whole foods or trader Joes?

We don't have them here so IDK how good they are...

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

If you can't find something gluten free you can eat in WF or TJ's you ain't even tryin' :blink:

polarbearscooby Explorer
polarbearscooby
Posted
  • Author

I've found some stuff, I just know that people who live in the area know what places are good, what places are great, and what places to avoid unless I want to spend my vacation in the bathroom

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I've found some stuff, I just know that people who live in the area know what places are good, what places are great, and what places to avoid unless I want to spend my vacation in the bathroom

If you don't get much response from DC people, you might want to start a topic with Wash, DC restaurants as the title.

anabananakins Explorer
anabananakins
Posted

So, for Christmas this year my Dad's giving me a vacation, I'm going to see my two friends who both have celiac disease and live near DC. On the first part of my trip I'll be staying with my friends family, so I'll be able to get food easy. On the second leg of my trip my other friend and I will be staying in a hotel in DC, and I'm curious as to any advice you have for me (especially those of you from that area, or who have to to that area) on where to find food, and etc.

I've heard Whole Foods and Trader Joes are good places?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi! I spent about a week in DC in October. Trader Joes and Whole Foods were awesome. There is a Whole Foods near the Tenleytown metro stop. I didn't go to that one (turned out my friend worked really close to the one on Wisconsin) but it would have been really easy had I needed to. The metro in DC is super easy and nice to use.

Trader Joes is nearish to Georgetown. It's not too bad a walk from Foggy Bottom/GWU metro stop. Nice area.

I ate at Chipotle a lot. There's one at Union Station, one at Verizon Center (near 6th and F NW, really easy to get to) and heaps others probably, those were the two handy for me. I'm super sensitive and it was always fine there (I don't get the cheese or the lettuce because they are using their hands for those). There's definitely a DC restaurants thread, I wrote down a bunch of names but don't recall them all offhand, though I think Legal Seafood is one.

Google maps is very handy. You can check out supermarkets close to metro stops really easily. For instance, there was a Giant Food near Van Ness/UDC.

I looooooove DC. Have an awesome trip!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted

I live in Arlington, just across the river from DC. :) You said your hotel is in the mall area, however that's a pretty big area. But if you're near Foggy Bottom (which is the name of the Metro stop there) there's a Trader Joe's close by. Hopefully your hotel will have a small refrigerator and microwave in your room.

Also, our mainline grocery stores here are really getting into the gluten-free thing. yay... So Safeway and Giant have a lot of good options. If you do have a microwave you could buy some of the frozen entrees -- my favorite is Amy's macaroni and cheese. yummmmmmmmmmmm I buy that at Giant. Also there are several other options in the frozen section (it's usually in a separate "health/natural foods/organic" section of the freezer) like Indian things, some other pasta dishes, etc. But an entree, then some fresh fruit and veggies and you're good. (and dessert -- Amy's snickerdoodles, omg...)

As for restaurants -- I don't go out much so I won't be too much help, but I do know some.

PF Changs has a nice gluten-free menu. I've gotten sick from every other Chinese restaurant that I've tried, so stick with PF Chang's.

Abi's (Mexican/S. American) is good -- no specific gluten-free but I've eaten there a lot and never gotten sick. Abi's is in Arlington but easy to get to from DC if you have a car.

Bertucci's -- Italian (obviously, lol) -- has a gluten-free menu. No pasta on it, but the last time we ate there I had a grilled chicken breast that was delicious, and mashed potatoes and green beans that were perfectly cooked. And some terribly decadent chocolate dessert. B)

zPizza offers a gluten-free pizza and the one near me is very careful about keeping the gluten-free crusts isolated from the "poisoned" area. ;)

Lost Dog Cafe is FULL of gluteny stuff -- pizza, yummy sandwiches, etc. :( But on the other hand they do offer a gluten-free crust, and their salads are very nice. And their "feta vinaigrette" dressing, which is what many of the salads come with, is gluten-free. (I asked to see the list of ingredients.)

Legal Seafood had gluten-free listings the last time I was there, but that wasn't very recently so I'd check on that.

Most Thai places are good for celiac because they use so many rice noodles.

Hmm.. after saying I don't eat out much it sure sounds like I do. :lol:

Have fun on your vacation!

polarbearscooby Explorer
polarbearscooby
Posted
  • Author

Wow! Thanks for all the tips!

Yes, my Dad made sure I'd have a fridge and microwave in my room! So I should be set :)

Has anyone ever tried Austin's? It's a Tex-Mex place that's supposed to be amazing, and has a LOT of gluten-free options?

Also as far as P.F Changs goes, I don't think I'll ever eat there. My Dad and I found one once, so we decided to take a look. It was awful, there were noodles EVERYWHERE and people were mixing the tongs, I just about had nightmares about that place, and we were so glad we decided to look BEFORE we ate there....I would have been sick for a month!!

I LOVE Chipotles but we'll have to see how my stomach is healing, after my last glutening it's VERY sensitive to spicy foods :P

I'm so excited! :))

lynnelise Apprentice
lynnelise
Posted

My cousin used to work at Austin's in DC and she says it's a great place to eat gluten free. I grew up in Arlington and I visit the DC area a lot. I never have trouble eating gluten free there and I always stop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to stock up on goodies before I leave. I now live in WV and we don't have either store here.

GFshay Apprentice
GFshay
Posted

I used to live in DC and my friend sent me this for next time I visit: Open Original Shared Link

Looks pretty informative.

I took my first trip over Thanksgiving and had a hard time feeling full and nourished when I didn't want to deal with a meal in a restaurant. I got glutened early in my trip and ended up eating in the room (with just a fridge and no microwave!) more than at restaurants because I was afraid to risk it again. My big recommendation is make sure you keep lots of protein in your hotel room! Get some sliced deli meat, peanut butter, cheese & yogurt (if you can do dairy). I also love Thai Kitchen noodles or Amy's soups and frozen meals when I feel like I need something more hearty. It sounds like as long as you're careful about the restaurants, you'll be fine. DC is very gluten-free friendly. Enjoy!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,951
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    SY8
    Newest Member
    SY8
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Jacki Espo
      Covid caused reoccurrence of DH without eating gluten

      By Jacki Espo · Posted

      This happened to me as well. What’s weirder is that within a couple hours of taking paxlovid it subsided. I thought maybe I got glutened but after reading your post not so sure. 
    • Mari
      New Celiac Mama in My 30s

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Tiffany. Thank you for writing your dituation and  circumstancesin such detail and so well writte, too. I particularly noticed what you wrote about brain for and feeling like your brain is swelling and I know from my own experiences that's how it feel and your brain really does swell and you get migraines.    Way back when I was in my 20s I read a book by 2 MD allergist and they described their patient who came in complaining that her brain, inside her cranium, was swelling  and it happened when she smelled a certain chemical she used in her home. She kept coming back and insisting her brain actually swelled in her head. The Drs couldn't explain this problem so they, with her permission, performed an operation where they made a small opening through her cranium, exposed her to the chemical then watched as she brain did swell into the opening. The DRs were amazed but then were able to advise her to avoid chemicals that made her brain swell. I remember that because I occasionally had brain fog then but it was not a serious problem. I also realized that I was becoming more sensitive to chemicals I used in my work in medical laboratories. By my mid forties the brain fog and chemicals forced me to leave my  profession and move to a rural area with little pollution. I did not have migraines. I was told a little later that I had a more porous blood brain barrier than other people. Chemicals in the air would go up into my sinused and leak through the blood brain barrier into my brain. We have 2 arteries  in our neck that carry blood with the nutrients and oxygen into the brain. To remove the fluids and used blood from the brain there are only capillaries and no large veins to carry it away so all those fluids ooze out much more slowly than they came in and since the small capillaries can't take care of extra fluid it results in swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. My blood flow into my brain is different from most other people as I have an arterial ischema, adefectiveartery on one side.   I have to go forward about 20 or more years when I learned that I had glaucoma, an eye problem that causes blindness and more years until I learned I had celiac disease.  The eye Dr described my glaucoma as a very slow loss of vision that I wouldn't  notice until had noticeable loss of sight.  I could have my eye pressure checked regularly or it would be best to have the cataracts removed from both eyes. I kept putting off the surgery then just overnight lost most of the vision in my left eye. I thought at the I had been exposed to some chemical and found out a little later the person who livedbehind me was using some chemicals to build kayaks in a shed behind my house. I did not realize the signifance  of this until I started having appointments with a Dr. in a new building. New buildings give me brain fog, loss of balance and other problems I know about this time I experienced visual disturbances very similar to those experienced by people with migraines. I looked further online and read that people with glaucoma can suffer rapid loss of sight if they have silent migraines (no headache). The remedy for migraines is to identify and avoid the triggers. I already know most of my triggers - aromatic chemicals, some cleaning materials, gasoline and exhaust and mold toxins. I am very careful about using cleaning agents using mostly borax and baking powder. Anything that has any fragrance or smell I avoid. There is one brand of dishwashing detergent that I can use and several brands of  scouring powder. I hope you find some of this helpful and useful. I have not seen any evidence that Celiac Disease is involved with migraines or glaucoma. Please come back if you have questions or if what I wrote doesn't make senseto you. We sometimes haveto learn by experience and finding out why we have some problems. Take care.       The report did not mention migraines. 
    • Mari
      My only proof

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Jmartes71 That is so much like my story! You probably know where Laytonville is and that's where I was living just before my 60th birthday when the new Dr. suggested I could have Celiacs. I didn't go on a gluten challange diet before having the Celiac panel blood test drawn. The results came back as equivical as one antibody level was very high but another, tissue transaminasewas normal. Itdid show I was  allergic to cows milk and I think hot peppers. I immediately went gluten free but did not go in for an endoscopy. I found an online lab online that would do the test to show if I had a main celiac gene (enterolab.com). The report came back that I had inherited a main celiac gene, DQ8, from one parent and a D!6 from the other parent. That combination is knows to sym[tons of celiac worse than just inheriting one main celiac gene. With my version of celiac disease I was mostly constipated but after going gluten-free I would have diarrhea the few times I was glutened either by cross contamination or eating some food containing gluten. I have stayed gluten-free for almost 20 years now and knew within a few days that it was right for me although my recovery has been slow.   When I go to see a  medical provide and tell them I have celiacs they don't believe me. The same when I tell them that I carry a main celiac gene, the DQ8. It is only when I tell them that I get diarrhea after eating gluten that they realize that I might have celiac disease. Then they will order th Vitamin B12 and D3 that I need to monitor as my B12 levels can go down very fast if I'm not taking enough of it. Medical providers haven't been much help in my recovery. They are not well trained in this problem. I really hope this helps ypu. Take care.      
    • knitty kitty
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Fascinating.
    • DebJ14
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By DebJ14 · Posted

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.