So, a couple of months ago I moved back to Pittsburgh. It’s good to be back here, where I went to college and where I have many appropriately fond memories of many appropriately goofy things.

One of my favorite recurrent memories involved this one Eat’n Park, where my friends had developed a “secret code” to talk about which tables had cute girls at them. Ah, college.

I spent a lot of time there, but rarely got anything other than coffee or ice cream – it wasn’t the most celiac-friendly menu, to be honest. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a 24-hour “diner”/Denny’s kind of place. They’re known for their Smiley Cookies and a Midnight Breakfast Buffet in places where people need pancakes at 2am.

Anyway. Somewhere between when I left town and when I came back, things changed. Forgive my tardiness; I’ve known this for a while now and I’m only getting around to talking about it now, but – Eat’n Park has a pretty decent gluten-free menu. Go figure.

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Some things in the gluten-free world have really perplexed us over the years. Like Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s  declarations throughout her book that celiac disease is an allergy. Or Starbucks’ recent decision to trumpet the addition of a new gluten-free offering followed, only weeks later, by a decision to remove said gluten-free offering with no more than a 140 character announcement via Twitter.

As perplexing as these decisions may sound to you, we found Sweetwater Tavern’s “Low Gluten Menu” equally bizarre.

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Every town, big or small, seems to have a Chinese restaurant these days. Usually locally or family owned, these restaurants serve up familiar dishes in those nostalgic, white rectangular take-out boxes. The food itself, however, varies widely; some places serve deliciously prepared entrees. Others  gain a notoriety for food poisoning and low standards of quality.

For such a ubiquitous type of cuisine, I expected there to be many name-brand chains where people could come to expect the same, consistent dishes and flavors served at a steady, high quality. But alas, P.F. Chang’s, listed in our restaurant guide, is among the very few major names in Chinese cuisine to open multiple, national restaurants.

And the restaurant shines as its gluten-free menu provides customers with many great options to choose from.

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Chalk up one more victory for the, “Does there REALLY have to be gluten in there?” brigade.

Boston Market has a good selection of gluten-free choices, which you already know if you’ve perused the back section of your gluten-free restaurant guide.

In my pre-diagnosis, pre-teen years we often stopped at Boston Market for a snack between school and evening extra-curriculars. I loved the macaroni and cheese, and of course like any kid I was a big fan of white meat chicken topped with gravy.

Now the mac and cheese is obviously not gluten-free, and the chicken’s been fine for celiacs all along. But the gravy? Remember when we talked about all the foods that taste better without gluten, and we called out gravy specifically?

Boston Market finally agreed.

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Sarah’s post on gluten-free Spanish food the other day reminded me of something very important: I haven’t yet talked about how easy it was to eat gluten-free in Spain! And for goodness’ sake, if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s talk about eating.

My experience was limited to two cities – Madrid and Seville – and my Spanish was limited to a few choice phrases and what was printed on my gluten-free dining card. Unsurprisingly, I managed just fine; both cities are popular with students, tourists and ex-pats and there were plenty of English-speakers to help me out when I got confused.

In fact, harder than finding safe foods to eat was getting used to Spanish timing: it takes a while to get accustomed to a 10pm dinner. Happily, there were plenty of places to snack and plenty of tasty things to try as I bided my time until then.

So what’s a girl to eat, when the café con leche just won’t suffice?
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Image curtesy of USA TODAY. Panera founder Ron Shaich in a "Panera Cares" cafe location.

One of last week’s blog posts focused on the cost of eating gluten-free and the potential benefit for restaurants to support their gluten-intolerant customers.  Much of the outcry surrounding the gluten-free community revolves around the expense of products.  And let’s face it – paying up to three times as much for a loaf of bread could get anybody in the wrong mood.

What if I told you that in three select locations in America, you could pay no more than any other person eating at the same restaurant?  That’s right: Dearborn, Michigan, Clayton, Missouri, and Portland, Oregon all have special community Panera Breads where the customers can choose how much they pay for their meal.

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Up until now, a gluten-free diet has meant that Subway is pretty much off limits – except for soda and chips.

This might, might, might change – starting today.

are these your new best friends?

If you live in the Dallas or Tyler, Texas area, your local Subway might have some new menu options. According to QSRweb, Subway’s gluten-free menu is being tested in these two markets. If it’s successful, expect a national roll-out to eventually follow.

So what can we expect to see from this popular purveyor of bread-bread-bread?

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Ah, December. Holiday season is in full swing – are you itching to get out of it for just a bit? If so, why not try Slovenia?

I love-love-loved Trieste, but as my friend and I boarded a bus to the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I’d heard of the country had been good, it’s just that I hadn’t heard that much.

Accordingly, there were some gluten-free Italian goodies stashed away in my bag, just in case.

I didn’t need them at all.

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Remember last week, when I mentioned TGI Friday’s gluten-free menu and promised more information?

Well here it is. I’m very pleased to be able to share with you the TGI Friday’s Allergen Menu, straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

Click here to download the PDF!

As you can see, the menu covers the top eight allergens, including wheat. They also indicate which items have MSG added to them. The last page is a listing of which items are gluten-free, and how to order them to make them safe to eat.

It’s not an overwhelmingly large selection — much of the menu is fundamentally wheaty, after all — but what is listed can be eaten with reasonable confidence. A disclaimer on the menu reminds diners that there are shared prep areas. Since cross-contamination remains a concern, you’ll still want to bring your dining card along and make sure to explain your needs to your server each time.

Have you been to TGI Friday’s since they introduced their new gluten-free menu? If so, what did you think of it?

We interrupt our normal Thanksgiving program to bring you this important bulletin:

There are gluten-free cupcakes in Disney World.

If you’ve been on the hunt for gluten-free baked goods in New York or Los Angeles – or in the pages of your gluten-free dining guide – you may be familiar with Babycakes NYC.

The internet is abuzz lately, because Babycakes just opened a third location. Not only is it in Downtown Disney, it’s taken the place of a McDonalds.

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