I’m taking a trip to Denver next month and it just happens to coincide with Denver’s restaurant week, which is from February 23 to March 8. Many restaurants are participating and will offer a multi-course meal for two for only $52.80. As someone who loves food, I naturally want to try at least one restaurant! As someone with food allergies and Celiac Disease, I’m also a little nervous.
I contacted the people coordinating Restaurant Week to ask if there would be restaurants offering Gluten-Free meals. I received a quick answer with a pretty big list. I was able to get in touch with almost all of the restaurants on the list to get more details. I wanted to know if during this time, they would be able to accommodate food allergies and Celiac Disease by avoiding cross-contamination. Some of the restaurants, though offering gluten-free selections, told me up front that they have no way of avoiding cross contamination. Others gave much more satisfying answers, telling me their procedures for avoiding cross-contamination, saying they regularly have Celiac or allergic customers, and some even had entirely gluten-free menus.
Here is the list of restaurants that I would feel safe dining at:
The 9th Door: A Spanish tapas bar, which has vegetarian and gluten-free options. Their ratings on Find Me Gluten Free.
Ernie’s Bar and Pizza: Their gluten-free pizza is prepared in a contamination-free area, and baked in an entirely separate oven. They told me they’ve been working with gluten-free products for over 2 years and are quite confident in their process. Their ratings on Find Me Gluten Free.
Mercury Cafe: This restaurant is committed to providing local, organic, vegetarian/vegan and gluten-free options. They told me that their entire menu is Gluten Free except for their bread and the occasional special. They also offer many gluten-free desserts. “We cater to many gluten intolerant and celiac friends, and are very sensitive to cross contamination issues.” Their ratings on Find Me Gluten Free.
Nonna’s Chicago Bistro and Bella Vino Wine Bar: They seemed knowledgeable about cross-contamination, confident that they would avoid it and said to let them know when making a reservation that I’m gluten-free. Their ratings on Find Me Gluten Free.
The Garden: While gluten is present in the facility, they have procedures in place to avoid cross-contamination and have Celiac friends who dine there. I could not find them on Find Me Gluten Free.
The White Chocolate Grill: They prepare all gluten-free meals separately to avoid cross-contamination. Their ratings on Find Me Gluten Free.
I can’t wait to try some of these restaurants!
While I always use Find Me Gluten Free as a guide, I have had good experiences with restaurants which had poor ratings, and awful experiences with restaurants which had great ratings. I take it with a grain of salt, like any other review site and use my own discretion.
The original list of restaurants offering gluten-free selections included 20 restaurants. Some are UNSAFE for people with Celiac Disease. Others, I was unable to get in touch with. The restaurants included on this list are the ones who seemed the most knowledgeable and the most allergy-friendly and Celiac-friendly.
Denver and Boulder seem to have loads of gluten-free or gluten-free friendly restaurants. Do you have any others to recommend? Have you tried any on this list?
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