Mackenzie's Tips For Dining Out

Parties

When it comes to parties, bake a bunch of my favorite The BEST Dark and Rich Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes and keep them in the freezer. They freeze well and then you always have something on hand for parties that pop up. As far as party food goes, I always ask ahead what they are serving and bring my own food to match the menu. It's better than making the host worry about ingredients and such. This works well for us; use your own judgment here.

Restaurants

Here are a few tips that will get you by until you learn how to look for gluten-free options at restaurants.  So far, these have worked well for me.  Still, YOU MUST EAT ANYWHERE WITH CAUTION.  Even a place that works out for me could be different for you:

Lunch or Dinner:

• Fast food such as McDonald’s:  Mighty Kids Double Cheeseburger meal NO bun, NO fries, double apples and any drink; even a shake.  Most stores will give leaf lettuce with your burger.  This works at any fast food place.  Skip the bun and fries and take fruit options.

Why no fries?  Cross contamination from breaded, deep fried items AND McDonald’s fry oil contains a seasoning that is not gluten-free.

• Any sit down restaurant:  Cheeseburger with NO bun, again no fries.  Get a side salad or fruit with no croutons and lemon/vinegar and oil for salad dressing. 

We know why we can’t get fries now, but why no salad dressing?  Well, you can take your chances but many dressings can contain wheat starch.  A good example of that would be Texas Roadhouse; the ranch dressing is not gluten-free like many you can buy at the store.

Try and skip any other cuts of meat such as steak or grilled chicken.  Often they are marinated and you just never know what is in the marinade.  For a long time, McDonald’s grilled chicken marinade contained wheat.  Last I checked it no longer contained wheat. We must always double check however.

Breakfast:

For breakfast try and get whole eggs, cooked as you like and fresh fruit.  Many places use liquid eggs that could be questionable and some places like Ihop put pancake batter in their omelets and such. Not all breakfast meats like bacon or sausage are gluten-free because of seasonings and binders.

Links to allergen listings (none guarantee gluten-free due to cross contamination possibility):

• McDonald’s:Ingredient Listing
• Hardee’s:  Ingredient Listing
• Texas Roadhouse:  No Information Disclaimer only.
• Applebee’s:  Gluten-Free Suggestions
• The Bar: Standard Menu lists gluten-free options throughout.  They also have gluten-free crust and a dedicated fryer for gluten-free fries.
• The Green Mill:  Gluten-Free Menu
• Dominos:  Crust Information.  They have gluten-free crust, yet they stress that cross contamination is still possible.  VERY YUMMY!
• Godfather’s: Gluten-Free section on menu.  Godfather’s is much more careful about cross-contamination.  They ship the pizza already made and it is placed in a special bag to go through the oven.

That should get you started!  Check back often as I will add more to this page as I recall restaurants that have menus or as learn of new options.  If you have any you would like to share, please leave in a comment on my Guestbook J