I have the great good fortune to live outside Chicago. Chicago is home to many gifted chefs. It is a town for food. Whatever you need you can find.

Unfortunately eating out becomes kind of a project when you have food allergies or sensitivities. You need to call the restaurant in advance. You need to explain your requirements. You need to see if they are willing to accomodate you at all (some places genuinely can’t provide a gluten-free meal) and a lot of the time you end up eating prime rib or pan seared fish, baked potato, and a green salad, no dressing. Which is great until you have to eat it. Then it can get old.

So it is always refreshing when you can order something off the menu that is not a 1950s style dinner. It is nice to be able to order dessert. And while I know what to do in Chicago, all too often I am trying to find a place to meet with people out of state where I have no knowledge of the local restaurants.

This is where the responsible chain restaurants come in.

Chain restaurants are found in most mid-sized cities and if you have never worked in a chain restaurant, be assured that they run on almost hilarously rigid rules. The military precision around how to cook a burger or fries is astonishing. As a result, when they say that they have procedures to keep gluten-free diners safe, they actually do have procedures to keep gluten-free diners safe.

One chain of restaurants which does a nice job providing for the gluten-free customer is Outback Inc. They run the Carrabba’s, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s and Outback Steakhouse chain restaurants. Each of these chains has a decent sized gluten-free menu and most include at least one dessert that is not ice cream. P.F. Changs has many gluten, dairy and corn free asian selections and Five Guys has truly gluten and dairy free fries, and if you bring your own bun they can pull together a burger for you. And no I have not received so much as a free dessert from any of them for writing this.

Not all restaurants are in all cities, but most of them are in and around most major metro areas. They give you a place to take people out to dinner where you actually can join them in a very similar meal.

Each place is a bit different and each one is going to appeal to a different audience. So here is my summary of each place.

Outback Steakhouse – An “aussie” place famous for ribs. And yes, the ribs are on the dedicated GF menu. They also have GF cocktails and the last time I went they had GF beer as well. The bloomin onion is not gluten free and the GF sides are disappointing for a small child. They have baked and mashed potatoes, but the fries are not gluten free, they are, in fact, flour coated. One good note, they have a brownie dessert which is gluten-free. It is not dairy-free as served, but I am not sure if it is dairy free without the ice cream and whipped cream. My son’s dairy intolerance is not as bad as mine is so small amounts of dairy are OK. You can read their GF menu here.
http://www.outback.com/menu/pdf/glutenfree.pdf

Bonefish Grill – Our go to special occasion restaurant, this place has fabric tablecloths covered with paper so my son can color on the “tablecloth”. This may be my son’s favorite restaurant…ever. They have a delicious gluten and dairy free house salad, a variety of gluten free fish selections and side dishes, and a massive chocolate macadamia brownie normally served with whipped cream and ice cream (we pass on those) for dessert. The gluten free menu is extensive and has lots of fun cocktails. Oddly they do not have GF beer or at least they did not last time I was there. There gluten-free menu can be found here
http://bloominbrandscms.blob.core.windows.net/bfglocations-menus/gluten_free.pdf

Carrabba’s – They have lots of options for the gluten free diner but no pizza or pasta. For an adult celiac this place is fine. For a child it is less than ideal because he doesn’t want steak or chicken and a salad. He wants ravioli or spaghetti or lasagne. They don’t have any GF pasta which I think is silly since all it takes is a separate pot. Check out the menu yourself here
http://www.carrabbas.com/Content/menu-gluten-free

Roy’s – I have not eaten here. This is founded by a James Beard winning chef named Roy Yamaguchi and it appears to be very high end asian fusion food. They have many locations in CA, IL, FL, HI, NV, AZ, MD, TX and The gluten-free menu is extensive and includes a melting chocolate souffle. They state that their menus change often and you will need to pick the one for your designated location. This is the Chicago one because I live in Chicago.
http://www.roysrestaurant.com/cuisine/pdf/glutenfree/GF_Chicago.pdf

Five Guys Burgers – If you have a peanut allergy stay away from Five Guys. That said, if you are like us and can eat nuts…but not gluten, you are going to love this place. Sure, they said they were gluten friendly but I did not believe them. I was wrong. They grill the buns on a separate griddle. There is literally a small wall keeping the bread away from the burgers. The fries have only three ingredients (potatoes, peanut oil, and salt) and only potatoes go into their deep fryer. You will need to bring your own bun if you plan to have a burger there, but they do a great job of not cross-contaminating and you can watch your food get prepared and make sure that the way they handle it doesn’t freak you out.

P.F. Changs – Chinese asian fusion. This restaurant is a godsend for people wanting gluten-free chinese or other asian food. They have gluten-free noodle dishes and separate plates for their gluten free diners. I have never gotten sick there and I get sick easily. This is a great place for a business lunch or for getting together with friends. It is kind of pricey for the food that you are getting, but you are paying for atmosphere. Please note that the meat marinades contain cornstarch, so if you are also corn-free you will need to be careful
https://www.pfchangs.com/mobilemenu/Item.aspx?sid=6200&mid=6&catid=84

Well, that is my wrap up for now on restaurants that are available nationwide and that are friendly to the gluten-free diner. I hope to do a post on where to eat in Chicagoland because we have some marvelous places for gluten-free dining in Chicago, but for that time you are visiting your aunt in Tampa, it sure is nice to have a place where you can meet up for drinks and dinner.