Gluten Free Travel Blog

For all you fans of pizza who agree that the gluten-free variety is hard to come by -- and mediocre at best -- I wanted to make sure you knew about two mid-sized chains who've recently taken on the commendable task of offering a gluten-free crust to patrons of their restaurants. Disclaimer: Neither chain is located in our area, so I have not personally tried either! A neighbor in the food service/franchising industry recently brought to my attention an Everett, Washington-based chain called Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza. They currently have 48 locations across 10 states, with expansion planned to another 15 states (including my own state of Virginia, so I can't wait to take my son there!). Garlic Jim's CEO Dwayne Northrop was motivated to take on the development of a gluten-free crust based on the volume of requests they received on their website. Since the launch of the gluten-free pizza across the entire chain on July 31, sales and feedback have exceeded his expectations. And for all you Canadians out there -- or for anyone visiting Canada -- you may already know about Pizza Pizza and its new gluten-free crust. This Toronto-based chain introduced its gluten-free pizza in... Read more →

OK...we can all admit it...there are some nights when you just don't have the time or desire to tackle the perennial question of "What's For Dinner?" But picking up take-out or microwaving a frozen dinner isn't always an option when you're eating gluten-free (or should we say...the options are pretty limited). That's where a great service I've recently discovered -- comes in. GF Meals by Your Dinner Secret offers a large range of options of ready-to-cook meals and will ship anywhere within the U.S. After recently trying -- Your Dinner Secret's GF Meals -- I was pretty excited. They really are the next-best-thing to a homemade gluten-free meal, and I feel like our family finally has some of the convenience so many families eating "regular" food have at their disposal. Don't get me wrong...they aren't as easy as "pop it in the microwave," and you still need more than a few minutes to cook the food. But at least you've eliminated the planning, shopping, and prep work involved. I ordered their Deluxe Package, so our family could sample many of their entrees, as well as some side dishes and desserts. I also added on an order of chicken nuggets. My... Read more →

Welcome to the Gluten Free Travel Blog, an offshoot of GlutenFreeTravelSite.com, the first website focused exclusively on user-submitted gluten-free travel reviews. Whether you're looking for a restaurant, hotel, resort, cruise ship or grocery store that accommodates your gluten-free diet, you can do a search by geographic region to find the information that's relevant to you. But what about the ever-increasing list of wonderful "chain" restaurants -- many with locations in many states or even many different countries -- that are so graciously taking the time and making the effort to develop gluten-free menus? That's what I wanted to focus on today. Most of you are probably well aware of some of the first restaurants to embrace Celiacs and others following gluten-free diets: Legal Seafoods, Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Uno Chicago Grill, P.F. Changs China Bistro... But recently I learned from a family member in the food service industry that a 75-restaurant chain called Pizza Fusion, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, has a new CEO with Celiac Disease. He became interested in the chain after learning that they offer a full range of pizzas on gluten-free (and dairy-free) crusts. They also have gluten-free salad, dessert, and beer offerings.... Read more →