Eating out with celiac disease is always a bit of a challenge. We were recently in Sarasota and I spent some time searching out places that we actually could eat if we wanted to go out to dinner.

When we are here we tend to eat at the gluten-free chain restaurants because, quite simply, they have gluten-free low-dairy desserts, I have a six year old, and I know what to expect. Outback Steakhouse, Five Guys, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s and Carrabba’s are all available in Sarasota and / or Bradenton. We avoid Carrabba’s because the bread is a big deal and they have no GF low dairy desserts for my son. Otherwise, this is where we tend to eat.

Which is a bit of a shame because there are great places to eat that cater to the gluten-free or food allergic diner and are not chain restaurants in Sarasota. I just need to get my nieces to prefer gluten-free Peruvian tapas to a Bloomin’ Onion.

So here in mostly geographic order is my list of restaurants friendly to the gluten-free diner. It is by no means exhaustive and if you have a restaurant you want me to add, please comment below. I am happy to include a link to any decent gluten-free menu.

If you are in the mood for fine dining on the beach, The Chart House is part of a California chain, but is really impressive here in Florida. The Chart House is located near St Armand’s Key and downtown Sarasota and it has a full gluten-free menu which currently includes a raspberry sorbetini which is something I could actually eat. There is also a location in Tampa. The fact that the lava cake is not gluten-free would probably cause my son distress but this really is more of an adult dinner out place anyway.
You can see the gluten-free menu for the Chart House here
www.chart-house.com/pdf/gluten_free_menu.pdf

If you are looking for more casual dining on the beach then the Chiles family restaurants including The Beach House and The Sandbar both out on Anna Maria Island are now offering gluten-free menus. The menu for The Sandbar would not load for me so I am just including the one for The Beach House. Unfortunately they have no dessert offerings (guys, sorbet can be bought at the grocery store and is gluten and dairy free…just sayin) but as long as your gluten-free diner is not offended by the lack of chocolate, this is a fun place to eat. Your kids can play in the sand while you drink hurricaines on the deck. The sunsets are outstanding.
http://www.groupersandwich.com/food-menus/bh-gluten-free.pdf

If you need a place to take grandma to dinner Madfish Grill at 4059 Cattlemen Road is in that part of Sarasota that is probably where she has a condo. It is the land of the golf courses off of I-75. But they get my vote for having a gluten-free chocolate torte as part of their gluten-free menu. They also have a patio. They have a vegan vegetable platter. They have creative salads. Check out the menu here
http://www.madfishgrill.com/pdf/Gluten-Free.pdf

If grandma likes Mexican Mi Pueblo at 8405 Tuttle is a Mexican restaurant with an extensive organic menu where most items are gluten-free and several are vegetarian. Do not go to the other Mi Pueblo locations as this menu is specific to only this location. Again while this is not near the beach, it is near the golf course communities and Lakewood Ranch. If you have a hankering for Mexican and Margaritas here is your place. Note that while it is a strip mall location they have done a great job with the decor. I have actually eaten here before. The Organic and mostly gluten-free menu is here.
http://www.mipueblomexican.com/en/organic.html

Unlike most other places Caragiulos is an Italian restaurant that has finally figured out that making pasta gluten free means simply boiling gluten-free pasta in a separate pot. They have a gluten-free pizza crust which I am wary of simply because pizza is tough to make completely gluten-free unless you have a flour-free environment. We cannot eat dairy so that makes pizza rather worthless, but if you can eat dairy and you are less sensitive than I am the pizza may be a real gift. The menu with gluten-free selections is below
http://www.caragiulos.com/menus/Caragiulos_dinner_Menu_12-21-12a.pdf

If you are planning to spend time on Siesta Key, Javier’s Restaurant at 6621 Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key is the one place I wish I had known about in time to eat there. They are located near the beach and they serve Peruvian tapas and other Peruvian food. Not that we celiacs are bored with grilled fish and grilled steak mind you but…If you are going to be spending time on Siesta Key and you want to try something different for a change you may want to try this place out. DO NOT let the website scare you off. Yes, it is a bad website, but read the descriptions of the food. There is a reason that his place has tons of four and five star reviews on Yelp and Urbanspoon. They don’t have a GF menu per se, so I did not do a link.

Rosebud’s at 2215 S Tamiami Trail is at the southern end of Sarasota but it has an extensive list of gluten-free offerings which are marked with light grey X’s on the menu. This place gets consistently good reviews. I am not sure how much I would enjoy lobster tails without butter or my own safe substitute but they are an option here. I would probably stick with the lamb chops or the BBQ ribs. One warning, this is not a place for anyone with a shellfish allergy. Rosebud’s gluten-free menu can be found here.
http://www.rosebudssarasota.com/menu.pdf

The Saltwater Cafe AT 1071 N. Tamiami Trail is south of Sarasota in Nokomis (near Venice), but it is on Route 41 and they have an extensive dedicated gluten-free menu. No desserts, but plenty to make the adults in your party happy including gluten-free beer! I really appreciate it when restaurants bother with the gluten-free beer. This place also has happy hour specials and they have plenty of steak options for the non fish eaters in your group. Yes it is in a strip mall near a Subway, but did I mention that they have gluten-free beer?
http://www.saltwatercafe.com/assets/dynamic_image/menu/menu_0_3955.pdf

Finally if you are planning a big party or a wedding one really neat and truly local option is to have Mattison’s cater it. They have a catering kitchen and They can do both Kosher and gluten-free and the kosher is quite real. Mattison’s is always packed and the reviews are consistently good. The link for Mattison’s gluten-free and kosher catering is here.
http://mattisons.com/mattisons-catering-kosher-gluten-free/