If you are allergic to wheat or wheat products or have Celiac’s Disease, and want to eat out once in a while—don’t fret!  

There are many restaurants that offer gluten free entrees and desserts and we’ve found some good resources for you to use when you eat out.

First, start by word-of-mouth for your city or town.  Many restaurants do not advertise that they offer a gluten free menu along with their regular menu so ask some of your friends who are gluten free and see which restaurants they visit on a regular basis. 

Along with that, we found some great websites and books that will help you dine out without gluten.

The Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program® gives restaurants who offer gluten free menu items to list their restaurant online.  This site allows you to search for gluten free restaurants by zip code or do an advanced search on your specific area.  You can find this site at: http://www.glutenfreerestaurants.org/find.php.

Gluten Free in San Diego (SD) is another site that lists gluten free restaurants in the San Diego area.  If you don’t live in San Diego, search the Internet for a gluten free restaurant guide in your city or town. You can visit Gluten Free in SD at: http://www.glutenfreeinsd.com/sd_restaurants.html.

The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide is a book that offers over 4700 gluten free restaurants all over the United States.  Published by Triumph Dining© in 2007, this book is great for the traveler who needs to eat out a lot and is looking for gluten free options.  You can find this book at: http://www.triumphdining.com/index2.aspx.

Life Without Gluten® is another great website that offers restaurant goers good finds for gluten free menus.  On this site, you can select your state from an interactive map or use their state drop-down menu to find great restaurants in your area.  You can find this website at: http://www.lifewithoutgluten.com/bakeryfinder.html.

The Gluten Free Mall® offers not only great gluten free dining out tips, you can also buy great books on dining out in the area where you live.  Visit their website at: http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog/glutenfree-a-2.html.

Gluten Free:  The Celiac Site offers chain restaurant favorites that offer gluten free menus.  There are many chain restaurants on this site from Boston Market to Chili’s including which menu items are gluten free. Visit this website at: http://www.glutenfreeceliacweb.com/chain-restaurants-serving-gluten-free-meals/.

Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide is an Adobe .pdf file that is an excerpt from a book by David Brownstein, M.D. and Sheryl Shenefelt, C.N. called, “The Guide to a Gluten-Free Diet” This excerpt offers good tips and ideas on how to dine out if you want to stay gluten free.  You can find this excerpt at: http://www.aplacetobe.com/gluten-free_restaurantguide.pdf.

First Watch-The Daytime Cafe™ has restaurants in eleven states and lists their menu right on their website.  The states included in this chain are Arizona, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.  Visit their website at: http://www.firstwatch.com/locations.cgi.

There are many resources if you want to eat out and stay gluten free.  You don’t have to eat in all the time and if you invite some of your friends to these recommended gluten free restaurants, we are sure they’ll be surprised at the delicious menu items they offer and will come back with you again and again.

Tags: buying gluten free, finding gluten free restaurants