Week 4: Celiac Disease Awareness Month - Eating Out

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month and I have committed to blogging about the disease each week this month, in honor of my daughter, Meredith. You can read Week 1 here, Week 2 here, and Week 3 here.

This week I am going to share some of our favorite gluten free friendly restaurants. I want to first share that even though you can eat gluten free at a restaurant, you still have to be careful and inform your waiter/waitress ahead of time that you have a gluten allergy. I can't tell you how many times I have had to send Meredith's food back and have it re-cooked. Meredith likes to order a burger without a bun, but when it comes to the table with a bun it has to be re-cooked due to cross contact. It's also important to remember that if your food is prepared in a kitchen or cook space that also prepares food with gluten, your food can easily be contaminated with gluten.

This is Meredith's absolute favorite place to eat gluten free! If you ask her where she wants to go, this place always comes up first. Meredith likes to order a cheeseburger, no bun and fries. They always ask if she has an allergy and then they are very careful to prepare her food safely. She gets her cheeseburger in a bowl and they give you a lot of fries. We usually all share the fries. She can eat the fries at Five Guys because they don't fry anything else in the oil, so we don't have to worry about cross contact here.

Long Horn has a gluten free menu and Meredith loves their salads. They are also very good about carefully preparing the gluten free food and their steaks are great!

 We have only been to Outback a couple of times, but Meredith was super excited to find out that they not only have a gluten free menu, but they also have a gluten free dessert. It is very hard to find gluten free dessert in a restaurant, but Outback has the best flourless brownie with ice cream.

Red Robin has a gluten free menu and they also prepare their fries in separate oil, so no worries of cross contact. We don't eat here often because it isn't close to us, but Meredith does enjoy their burgers!

I don't know many people who don't like pizza. Meredith loves it. If we have a pizza and movie night at home I will usually buy frozen pizza because I can get the Udi's gluten free pizza. Meredith loves to order pizza though, so if we do we will order from Pizza Hut or Domino's. They both have a gluten free pizza, but you can only get them in cheese or pepperoni at this time. Pizza Hut prepares their pizza on the Udi's crust and it is really good. Sometimes, I like to get the gluten free pizzas just because the crust is so much thinner and crispy.

We rarely, and I mean rarely eat at the Cheesecake Factory. It is not cheap! We took Meredith to the American Girl store in South Park a while back and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Many of their items can be prepared gluten free and they have them marked on their menu. Meredith's favorite part is the gluten free Godiva chocolate cheesecake. I shared it with her and it is really good!

We have certainly tried other restaurants, but these are Meredith's favorites. Do you have a favorite gluten free friendly restaurant?  Feel free to share in the comments!

PLEASE NOTE:  I am in no way an expert, but wish to share as much as possible about this disease in an effort to raise awareness and better understanding for those who suffer with this disease. Please be sure to consult your physician if you believe you may have Celiac disease for a proper diagnosis.
To find more information about Celiac Disease, go to:  www.celiac.org  or  www.beyondceliac.org