Archive for May, 2007

Jules Thin Crust Pizza – YUM!

May 31, 2007 at 2:13 pm · Filed under Pennsylvania, Restaurants (Local)

Jules Thin Crust
78 South Main Street
Doylestown, PA
http://julesthincrust.com 

New location in Newtown, PA opening in October ‘07
(Edit 7/17/07): New location in Flemington, NJ opening in July ‘08.  

Last weekend, my boy and I took the 30 minute one way trek to get me pizza – and boy was it worth it!

We’d gone before, and I got some fancy topping gluten free pizza. It was a veggie pizza with arugula, mozzerella, garlic, tomatoes, and some other stuff. I wasn’t a huge fan of the chunks of mozzerella, so I spent a considerable amount of time picking them off and putting them on a plate where my boy then put them on his glutinous pizza.
This time, however, I got a plain GF pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers. Let me tell you YUM. While I couldn’t finish a medium pizza (the only size you can get GF) by myself, I made a sizable dent into it.

The crust is thin (as the name of the pizzaria suggests) and crispy and delicious. The only downside is it does cost a pretty penny. One GF medium pizza, one large regular pizza and two sodas cost over $40 (wowzers!). But we both had leftovers that reheated very well in the oven (directions on the bottom of the To-Go box) so really it counted as two meals.

They also offer frozen dough to take home for $6 that you defrost an hour before baking then roll out to the medium pizza side. I bought two, but have yet to try and make them so I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out.

As a dessert treat, they offer some prepackaged GF Good Eatz baked goods – such as cookies, brownies, and rice crispy treats. I tried the Chocolate Chip cookies and the brownies and I enjoyed the brownie more.

I wish I was closer to this place and I would probably be a regular patron. As is, it is an every couple month treat :)

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Champps – Disappointment

May 22, 2007 at 12:38 pm · Filed under Pennsylvania, Restaurants (Chain)

Champps Americana
King of Prussia Mall
www.champps.com/
 

To be honest, after the ordering process in Champps, I was ready to cry. For one, it took asking my waiter twice and then asking another waiter to get the manager to the table. Then, trying to find something I could have that I’d want felt like beating my head against the wall.
Yes, the nacho chips are corn, but they are fried in with breaded stuff. The potato skins and fries too. Everything is done ahead of time and they are unable to fry anything in clean oil.
Apparently there was a waitress there who also had Celiac and they assured me she had the buffalo wings without having a reaction. To which I was a little indignant (as any semi-careful Celiac would be) and responded that people have different tolerances and I’d need more assurance than that. The waitress who was Celiac finally came over to let me know I could definitely have the buffalo wings just double baked instead of baked then fried. She also informed me that I could have any of the more expensive meals (well duh, they’re all steaks and the like!)
Also important to note – their mashed potatoes have flour in them. Stay away!

Needless to say, this is one of the restaurants I will be avoiding from now on. The mudslide I had (as we were there for happy hour/light food) wasn’t even that good. But I have had better mudslides from Champps, so they could have just been sub-par that day.

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Bahama Breeze – Call Ahead

May 8, 2007 at 7:28 pm · Filed under New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Restaurants (Chain)

Bahama Breeze
King of Prussia Mall
http://bahamabreeze.com/

I went to Bahama Breeze twice – the first time I called ahead and the second time I didn’t, and I feel like it made a huge difference.

The first time I called ahead and talked to the head chef. I explained my food allergies and he let me know it would be no problem accomodating. Just let the waitress know what I was allergic to, pick a couple menu items, and he would make what he could for me. So I went and had some delicious chicken kabobs. (I didn’t have any sort of reaction afterwards)

About 5 months later, I went back for the same delicious kabobs. When talking to the waitress and explaining the food allergies, she went back to the chef and then came back saying they wouldn’t feel comfortable serving that to me and the only thing I could have would be the shrimp appetizer (without the bread), and the fresh fish entree’s, but only with simple seasonings. I got the Mahi Mahi simply grilled and it was just that – simple. It didn’t taste bad per-say it just didn’t really taste. I think the best part of my second trip to Bahama Breeze was the super tasty drinks. If you like the fruity drinks, this is the place to go. I’m tempted to call ahead again and speak to a chef about GF menu items as it may work better.  

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Pasta Pomodoro – Worth a visit

May 8, 2007 at 7:12 pm · Filed under New Jersey, Restaurants (Local)

Pasta Pomodoro
Eagle Plaza – Route 561. Voorhees, NJ
http://pastapomodoronj.com/
Do you live in or around Voorhees, NJ? If so? I suggest you get off your computer now and go get something tasty from Pasta Pomodoro! In the past month they have added a special Gluten Free menu onto their regular menus. It is actually the front cover!

At Pasta Pomodoro, you can get pizza, pasta, garlic bread, sandwiches, and cake! I’ve been there a total of twice – both time getting pasta dishes that I loved. I prefered the Pollo Marsalla to the Mushroom Pasta, but that’s probably just a personal taste thing. The pasta ‘is’ Tinkyada, so if you don’t like Tinkyada then I would avoid the pasta.

The house salad w/dressing was tasty (the salad comes GF so no need to worry there). The garlic bread was the best I’ve had in my life (and even my gluten eating dinner companions enjoyed). The piece of vanilla sheet cake I had at the end of my meal was very sweet and I had a hard time finishing it.

The restaurant is great for both Celiacs and non-Celiacs alike. It’s kinda pricey ($12-$20) depending on the menu item. It is BYOB, so don’t forget to bring your own wine. Another (understandable) downside is there is an additional cost for being Gluten Free. GF pasta is $3 on top of the initial pasta dish price.

 My first time there I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the owners, Skip (who has Celiac). He was able to give me his stricted confidence that cross contamination would never be an issue and that his staff is trained on handling GF meals.

It was a joy to go to, and I’m looking forward to trying one of the GF sandwiches. I wish I lived closer as that would make a great ‘take away’ lunch. 

This is by far one of my favorite restaurants!

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Maggiano’s Little Italy – A+ experience!

May 6, 2007 at 5:43 pm · Filed under Pennsylvania, Restaurants (Chain)

Maggiano’s Little Italy
205 Mall Blvd, King of Prussia, PA
maggianos.com

After a quick phone call to Maggiano’s to confirm the internet rumor that they do indeed have rice pasta, my boyfriend and I ventured out for an Italian dinner (which we don’t usually get to enjoy out). We showed up and felt worried at first about what we were wearing – sporting the collared shirts and jeans, but it turned out to not be super dressy inside. I wouldn’t wear cutoff pants, but its not exactly fancy clothing.

While there was no seperate Gluten Free menu, there was a special note that Gluten Free pasta was available upon request immediately underneath the pasta section. I settled on the Chicken Cachatoire that had a side of pasta with it. I spoke to the waitress when she came to our table and asked her if it could be made Gluten Free for me. I also inquired about the soups. She went back and talked to the chef and came back with the verdict: the chicken cachatoire  ‘could’ be made gluten free (it wasn’t naturally so) and the soup was not GF. Fair enough, since I usually can’t have soup anywhere.

The meal itself was delicious. It was a large portion of chicken in a red sauce with mushrooms and peppers and onions (although not heavy on the onions, which made me happy). There were spiral rice noodles on the side with a slight butter sauce. The noodles didn’t really do anything for me, I felt they easily could have been replaced with rice for the same taste. They also weren’t my favorite GF noodles in the world. However as a whole the meal made me very happy.

When the waitress asked about dessert, we asked her to see what she could find that was gluten free. Imagine our surprise when the Sous Chef came out with a plate of GF cookies! They aren’t on the menu yet, but he is looking to get them on there sometime soon. He mentioned he has been able to adapt most menu items with the GF noodles, even making a lasagna for one woman! I know what I’m getting the next time I go! Of course, it is lasagna made with the spiral noodles done in layers, but beggers can’t be choosers. He was VERY friendly and we talked a bit about baking with GF flour. It was a good thing he gave us an even number of cookies, or else my boyfriend and I would have fought over the last one – they were that tasty!

The meal wasn’t too expensive (the meals range from $12-18 per person, not including salads or soups or drinks. My chicken was $15). If you really go for the full soup, salad, alchoholic drinks, and meal it could add up – but you can keep it reasonable if you want.

I know I’m hoping to go back soon – I had a great time and felt confident in the kitchen being able to handle everything.

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Hello world!

May 4, 2007 at 6:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Hello world indeed! This is the first post of hopefully many that will allow me to share my gluten free restaurant experiences with the world (and hopefully the world with me). Most of the experiences will be centered in the Greater Philadelphia area, expanding to South Jersey and Delaware. If I take a trip or two, I’ll write about the occasional trip of course, but the majority will be centered around my home base.

Reviews to look forward to:
Pasta Pomodoro in Voorhees, NJ (A++++ in GF wonderfulness)
Pizza by Elizabeths in Greenville, DE
Jules Thin Crust Pizza in Doylestown, PA
Christopher’s Neighborhood Grill in Wayne, PA
JB Dawson’s in Plymouth Meeting, PA (Chain)
Outback Steakhouse in Conshohocken, PA (Chain)
Unos Chicago Bar and Grille in Conshohocken, PA (Chain)
PF Changs in Glenn Mills, PA (Chain)
Bahama Breeze in King of Prussia, PA (Chain)
and others! This isn’t going to be a ‘visit only restaurants that have Gluten Free menus’ blog, but rather a ‘visit whatever I can and write about their ability to handle food allergies’ instead.

If you have any suggestions of places to try, please do share!

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