Eating Out Gluten-Free

Eating away from home and staying gluten-free can be tricky. There are restaurants that are easy, some that are amenible and some impossible. Here are some suggestions:

Mexican Food - It is easiest to eat gluten-free, dairy-free and meat-free at mexican restaurants.
Stick to the beans, rice, guacamole, salsa, corn tortilla chips and corn tortillas. Most restaurants
will make quessadillas and enchiladas for you with corn instead of flour tortillas. A few great places in Dallas are:
~Mi Cocina does a fabulous Enchiladas Modern with corn tortillas and an amazing amount of vegetables. It has cheese.
~ZUZU has several locations and sells anything you want a la carte. My favorite is the decaf iced tea.
~Qdoba is wonderful because they allow you to "place" your own ingredients on a corn tortilla or in a salad bowl. Just tell the server you want beans, rice, veggies and extra jalapenos:))
~Remember to eat mexican food when you go to Luby's, cafeterias or Cafe Express. Cafe Express has a fabulous
black bean soup, guacamole and chips. They, too, have decaf iced tea!!!

Asian Food - No wonder they live longer with the lowest incident of cancer! Eat all the rice, veggies, edamame and tofu. Don't eat the wonton wrappers or soy sauce - both have wheat in them.
~Pei Wei has gone the extra mile and included a gluten-free menu online: www.peiwei.com~All fried rice has gone into the community wok with soy sauce or previously breaded chicken (sweet n sour). If you are highly sensitive, ask that they clean the wok. Take your own small bottle of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Salad Bar - This is heaven. If you can find a restaurant that lets you dictate the items placed into your salad bowl, you can control your wheat-free, dairy-free, meat-free needs:
~Salade in Preston Center is beautiful and has exotic selections.
~Sweet Tomatoes is amazing. Eat to your heart's delite: salad bar, soup bar, baked potato bar, iced tea bar.
~Whole Foods is of course the mecca of pure, well, whole foods. Try something you want to add to your diet. Test it out here: tofu, edamame, kale, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, garbanzo beans, hummus, sprouts etc etc ad infinitum.
~Kroger has a sweet little salad bar and you can certainly fill up. If you need a lunch for the office, stop by Kroger around 10am and fill up.

Italian - Not heaven. This is a disaster. Americans have decided that Italians eat only white flour based foods - pasta, bread, pizza, croutons on everything. Here is how to survive an outing to an Italian joint:
~Eat from the side items menu. Order a salad (stay far away from Caesar). Or ask for the daily fish special and substitute veggies for pasta. Patrizzios in Highland Park Village does an amazing job with their side veggies.
~Fireside Pies on Inwood is amazingly accomodating. He offers gluten free crust on all pizza and desserts! Call ahead of time and he will do the peach cobbler gluten free and even use vegan cheese on your pizza. Thanks Chef!
~California Pizza Kitchen - They tried gluten-free pizza crust but backed off. Now there menu highlights gluten-free menu options but there are few and the pizza is still off limits.