Do you have to eat gluten free, and just aren't sure of what your choices are for eating out? On this page, I am sharing my experiences eating gluten free in the Treasure Valley and other choices, you my readers may share. The page will be updated regularly as I learn more. If you know of any restaurants I haven't included or would like to add your experiences to this page, please comment below. Thanks!
Bakeries
Jake's Gluten Free Market: Located on Fairview and McMillan, Jake's offers a variety of delicious freshly baked gluten free breads, cookies, and cupcakes.They have a pretty good pizza crust they make themselves and sell frozen-- better than any of the store brand crusts I've tried like Udi's and Rudi's.
Montana Bakery, located in the Artisan Food CoOp, 8716 Fairview Avenue, Boise : This bakery sells oat bread and cookies, also Naked Oat flour and supplies. Reasonably priced and delicious!
Local Restaurants
Bardenay: Their gluten free menu.
Boise Fry Company: Upon inquiry, I received the following email reply: "All of our fries are gluten free, several of our sauces are (they're labeled) and we offer gluten free buns! The only burger we have that cannot be made gluten free (though we're working on it!) is our house made vegan burger."
The Counter: Custom Built Burgers has gluten free buns and a dedicated gluten free preparation area. They get their buns from Jake's. (updated Dec 2014)
Fork: Located in downtown Boise on 8th Street. Their menu. They have the symbol GF beside the items that are Gluten Free, and there are a lot of them!
Messenger Pizza: My friend, Stephanie, says this place located in Nampa at 12th Avenue and 1st St South has an excellent gluten free crust option.
Moon's Kitchen Cafe has gluten free pancakes! They also have gluten free bread made by Naked Oats. They have a dedicated GF grill. The State Street location also has a dedicated fryer for french fries. (info updated Dec '14)
Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar: They have a decent gluten free menu. You can access their menu from their webpage. (updated Dec 2014)
Chain Restaurants
Burger King: Here is their gluten free guide.
Katie has enjoyed their bunless burgers. However, she has found she
needs to double what others would normally eat (order two or three
burgers) just to not feel hungry afterwards. I like the cranberry apple
salad with tendergrill chicken, served with the apple vinaigrette
dressing.
Carl's Jr.: Actually, their allergen guide isn't a lot of help. The ingredient guide is much more helpful for you to know exactly what to ask for. They will make any burger into a lettuce wrap for you (low carb). It's nice to have a good sloppy burger once in a while!
Five Guys Burgers and Fries: I inquired about their gluten free offerings, and they emailed me the following:
"Since Five Guys buns are not gluten free, we offer our customers the option of going bun-less! You may order a burger in a No Bun Bowl or lettuce wrap. We even suggest bringing your favorite gluten free bun with you as it is a pretty simple burger to bun transfer, however please note that due to food safety concerns, we are unable to prepare your meal with this bun.
Five Guys beef is gluten free! Our beef consists of none other than 100% 80/20 ground chuck with no additives, fillers, or preservatives. Our bacon is gluten free as well as our hot dogs (only applies to US and Canada currently). Both are prepared on dedicated grills separate from our bun toasting grills.
We are also pleased to inform you that Five Guys fries are gluten free! They are simply fresh cut potatoes soaked in water and then fried in dedicated fryers using 100% refined peanut oil! The cajun seasoning for our fries is also gluten free.
Just to clarify: the only products we offer that contain gluten are our buns, HP sauce (UK only), and the malt vinegar condiment for our fries.
While we do all we can to avoid it, there is always a risk of cross contamination. Be sure to use caution! For your convenience, our kitchens are kept open so you may watch your food being prepared."
Noodles: This is probably my daughter, Katie's, favorite. Here is their gluten free menu (scroll to the second page of the pdf link). They use gluten free noodles to sub for the regular ones. My daughter likes the buttered noodles. The pad thai is good and the med salad is also good. (I haven't tried any of the others). Once, however, my daughter had a regular noodle in her buttered noodles, just one mind you, but as always, be aware of contamination issues.
Carl's Jr.: Actually, their allergen guide isn't a lot of help. The ingredient guide is much more helpful for you to know exactly what to ask for. They will make any burger into a lettuce wrap for you (low carb). It's nice to have a good sloppy burger once in a while!
Five Guys Burgers and Fries: I inquired about their gluten free offerings, and they emailed me the following:
"Since Five Guys buns are not gluten free, we offer our customers the option of going bun-less! You may order a burger in a No Bun Bowl or lettuce wrap. We even suggest bringing your favorite gluten free bun with you as it is a pretty simple burger to bun transfer, however please note that due to food safety concerns, we are unable to prepare your meal with this bun.
Five Guys beef is gluten free! Our beef consists of none other than 100% 80/20 ground chuck with no additives, fillers, or preservatives. Our bacon is gluten free as well as our hot dogs (only applies to US and Canada currently). Both are prepared on dedicated grills separate from our bun toasting grills.
We are also pleased to inform you that Five Guys fries are gluten free! They are simply fresh cut potatoes soaked in water and then fried in dedicated fryers using 100% refined peanut oil! The cajun seasoning for our fries is also gluten free.
Just to clarify: the only products we offer that contain gluten are our buns, HP sauce (UK only), and the malt vinegar condiment for our fries.
While we do all we can to avoid it, there is always a risk of cross contamination. Be sure to use caution! For your convenience, our kitchens are kept open so you may watch your food being prepared."
Noodles: This is probably my daughter, Katie's, favorite. Here is their gluten free menu (scroll to the second page of the pdf link). They use gluten free noodles to sub for the regular ones. My daughter likes the buttered noodles. The pad thai is good and the med salad is also good. (I haven't tried any of the others). Once, however, my daughter had a regular noodle in her buttered noodles, just one mind you, but as always, be aware of contamination issues.
Olive Garden has a decent gluten free menu, and even a couple options for the kids' menu at the kids' menu price.
Outback Steakhouse: Outback has a gluten free menu. It doesn't have prices on it, so you'll have to refer to the main menu for those.They serve, of course, steak, seafood, salads, burgers (I'm assuming they have GF buns), and even appetizers. Yesterday was my first experience with outback. I ordered the filet and lobster tails, with house salad and sweet potato. Everything was good.
P. F. Chang's: They have a Gluten Free Menu, Just click on the link, then on "Gluten Free" from the menu choices at the top of the page.
Red Robin: Here is their gluten free menu.
Smoky Mountain Pizza: Here is their gluten free menu. The pizza crust is decent. I don't know their source, but it actually tastes a lot like the ones I've bought at Jake's.
P. F. Chang's: They have a Gluten Free Menu, Just click on the link, then on "Gluten Free" from the menu choices at the top of the page.
Red Robin: Here is their gluten free menu.
Smoky Mountain Pizza: Here is their gluten free menu. The pizza crust is decent. I don't know their source, but it actually tastes a lot like the ones I've bought at Jake's.
Taco Bell: Well, they have an "allergens" page. Looks like, as of this writing, only the "cantina bowl" and the drinks are gluten-free. Also, at the bottom of the page, it lists a few more suggestions for those who are gluten intolerant.
Restaurants I Do Not Recommend
Cafe Ole: As of December 2014, nothing gluten freeDenny's: You could, maybe, get a side salad, no dressing, no croutons. It's less expensive to eat a $1.50 bag of salad greens from the grocery store, and just about as fun. :(
Domino's Pizza: This was recommended to us by a random stranger. That person was delighted with the prospect of chain pizza and never had a contamination issue. The gluten free crust option only comes in a personal pan-type size, though we find it feeds two ok. Katie likes it all right. I am not impressed. For one, the first time I actually ordered it for myself (Katie had got a couple with her dad before), I started eating it (I got half a slice down), before my husband commented that it certainly didn't look gluten-free. Glancing over at my Katie's pizza, I could see he was right. I thought perhaps they had two different kinds of gluten free crusts though, as I had ordered a completely different kind of pizza, so I decided to call the restaurant (can you call it that if it's take-out only?) and check it out. They assured me that, yes, it was gluten free. The person I talked to said she made it herself and was 100% positive. We still didn't want to trust it, so I let my non-gluten-free family members eat it. Several minutes later, I got a call from Domino's. It seems they HAD messed up and mixed up labeled boxes with somebody else's pizza. So, yah, my first Domino's experience was less than stellar. And, yes, I got quite sick from that. They sent me a coupon for a free pizza and soda. It took some time to work up the courage to try again, but I did. So, I guess, here's the real review. Ick. They advertise a gluten free pizza that tastes better than the box they put it in. Nope. It tastes worse than I remember frozen pizza tasting, and worse than I imagine a box tasting. Just ick. I'm not doing Domino's again.
Old Chicago Pizza: As of December 2014, nothing gluten free.
Shari's Though Shari's has an allergen information guide, which I can't find online, I found it confusing when comparing it to the menu. When I asked the waiter if a menu item was gluten free (the nachos), he not only didn't know, wouldn't check the ingredients, but also told me corn chips are never gluten free, nor french fries, nor tater tots, all of which I know to be false. I was pretty frustrated at that, so I ordered for my kids that were with me. They shared the nachos, and I sat by with my water, watching them eat. The waiter offered to "make me a salad," but I declined. They were not busy (it was 2:00 in the afternoon), yet service was almost terrible. The waiter refilled the girls' water, but not mine (maybe because I wasn't eating?) We waited for as long as I could stand it for the check, then finally just got up and left, leaving money on the table to pay for the appetizer and a small tip.BTW, unless the sausage or seasoning on the pico de gallo had gluten in it, it looked to be a completely gluten free dish.
Texas Roadhouse: Their main seasoning contains gluten. I talked to a manager, but to get anything gluten free seemed like jumping through hoops. I don't recommend it.
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