Our go-to spot in Park City is 501 on Main. One of the reasons for that is that they have gluten-free (celiac safe) Utah Sweet Onion Slivers with a spicy ranch dipping sauce. This past trip, we visited twice as it is also great for my daughter with allergies and my vegetarian husband. I ordered the Slow Roasted Turkey Melt with a side of the fantastic onion slivers.
Tag Archives: sandwiches
501 on Main
20 AugMetropulos
23 May
One of the first spots in the Funk Zone when it was more funk than trendy was Metropulos. I had always heard they had great sandwiches, but I had just assumed that they didn’t cater to gluten-free folk like myself. I gave them a call this week to ask if they had GF options and was surprised to find out that they make their own GF bread. The lady I spoke with (who I believe was the owner) explained that for celiacs, they won’t warm it up in the contaminated toaster. After inquiring, she also let me know that their aiois were in squirt bottles rather than a spread to minimize more opportunities for cross contamination. I hustled over so that I could try one of these much-talked about sandwiches. I ordered “This Little Piggy” which had ham, bacon, grilled onions, mixed greens, tomatoes, melted cheddar and chipotle aioli. I added avocado to it. This little piggy devoured every crumb of the sandwich.While exploring the grocery area, I also stumbled on some items that I had to buy. First, I found truffle potato chips. 
I love the taste of truffles, so these potato chips were a big hit. They also had some fantastic looking gluten-free pastas that I couldn’t resist buying.
Look at these beauties! If you’ve been to Italy, you know that their attention to making great GF products is second to none. I’ve never been so excited to make pasta!
Pickles & Swiss
16 Jan
This past weekend I went on a lunch date with my 96-year old grandma. She loves a good sandwich, so we decided to try the new location of Pickles & Swiss at Hollister Village in Goleta. When ordering, I found out that the cashier thought she may have celiac. Not so awesome for her, but awesome for me as I knew that she would ensure my sandwich would remain gluten-free. She had the staff change their gloves and the sandwich was placed on a GF-specified tray before being heated in the toaster. I had the tuna melt which was perfectly gooey and yummy. If you are in downtown Santa Barbara, you can also try their Paseo Nuevo location. I’ve eaten successfully at that location a handful of times as well since I wrote about them 4 years ago.
Little Kitchen
11 Nov
Whenever I see gluten-free bread listed on a menu, I am always skeptical. More often than not, it is prepared with no consideration to the people that actually will get ill if they consume gluten. So when I visited Little Kitchen in downtown Santa Barbara, I was pleasantly surprised. Upon asking the owner how they prepare the sandwiches with gluten-free bread, she asked if I was celiac and then explained that her good friend is as well. She then assured me that my sandwich would be prepared in a clean pan rather then the usual flat top. Additionally, she proactively walked over to the chef making the food to have him change his gloves and clean the work space. I ordered the Vineyard Chicken Sandwich with chips (the fries are made in a contaminated fryer). It had organic chicken with a balsamic glaze, goat cheese, caramelized onions, butter lettuce, tomato and rosemary garlic aioli served on BFree’s GF Brown Seeded Sandwich Bread. I had never had this GF bread before but found that it had a really good consistency and taste. The restaurant itself has a super cool decor. It is located right next to the Kitty which seems perfect as they also offer up a very appealing late night menu. I can’t wait to go back to try their grilled cheese (hello Sriracha mayo)!
Five Loaves Cafe
3 Jun
If you are visiting Charleston, you MUST make Five Loaves Cafe one of your stops. This casual, allergy friendly restaurant went above and beyond in accommodating our tricky group. After letting them know about our dietary needs, they brought out “normal” bread and oil and a separate plate of GF bread and oil. The bread wasn’t anything special (I believe it was Udi’s), but the fact that they served it along with its own safe olive oil was awesome. I had read that their soups were great, but I was having a hard time deciding between the six gluten-free choices so I went with the three soup sampler. I chose the potato, cheddar and broccoli, the tomato tarragon with crabmeat and the carrot ginger. They were equally yummy and the perfect size. For my main dish, I had the Pumpkin Seed Encrusted Salmon.
Even though I didn’t taste much of the pumpkin seed, the salmon was cooked well and the accompaniments were light and fresh tasting. We couldn’t resist ordering their gluten free carrot cake for dessert.
This was a very good decision. We made quick work of the cake, finishing the meal on a high note. The menu at Five Loaves was so accommodating that we ended up getting take-out from there another day. I had the Rueben Sandwich on GF Bread which was pretty darn tasty… so tasty in fact that I ate it too quickly for a picture. There were about ten other things on the menu that I would have tried if we had more time in Charleston. It is so nice to find a place where you have as many choices as anyone else!
Dellz Uptown
1 Jun
I just got back from my first visit to Charleston, South Carolina where we attended a friend’s wedding. As we were there with a group a friends, we all rented a house together through airbnb. It was my first experience with airbnb but I loved it. If you need a recommendation for a house to rent, I have one for you! Close to the house we rented was a great spot called Dellz Uptown – a vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free friendly restaurant. Most of the food here has a Caribbean influence which was very appealing to me. I ordered the Turkey Goddess Wrap with a GF wrap and no sauce just to be safe. The wrap held together amazingly. This was definitely one of my favorite spots during our trip. I am still regretting that we didn’t make a return trip!
The Little Beet Table
13 May
While in NYC last weekend, we tried the entirely gluten-free The Little Beet Table. Not only is everything gluten-free, but they also are heavy on the veggies so you can feel good about what you are eating. To start, we had the Tender Shrimp which was served with chickpeas, garlic and chili. I would have ordered 5 of these. There was a fight at the table for the chickpeas, garlic and chili. We also shared the Tuna Tataki.
The charred jalapeño vinaigrette gave this dish a subtle heat that was quite good. For the baby, we ordered the Roasted Sweet Potatoes and their Market Beans.
Served in a cast iron skillet, the sweet potatoes were perfect in every way. Due to the yumminess of the smoked sea salt on top and the crispy skin, we took the opportunity to teach our daughter that sharing is caring.
She wasn’t too fired up about the beans which was fine by me as I finished these off with gusto. I ordered the LBT Burger as my entree. This was topped with roasted tomato, potato crunch, special sauce, bacon and NY state cheddar.
Although it was really good, I didn’t really get much crunch from the “potato crunch”. It was served with fingerling potatoes and some extra “special sauce”. The special sauce had a little kick in it that tasted a bit like horseradish. My dad ordered the Rigatoni with onions, garlic, olives, tomatoes and pepperoncini.
The gluten-free pasta was a great consistency so I asked whose they use. Apparently the reason it was so good is that they make it in-house. My husband got the Vegetable Panini served on a multi-grain bread.
The bread was outstanding. I would use it for all my bread needs if it was available for purchase. The sandwich was so good with the sliced zucchini that we have talked about recreating it at home. It was so nice to be able to go to a restaurant where I could try what everyone had ordered. I am not sure that they appreciated how much I ate of their dishes, but it was definitely a special experience. I can’t wait to get back there so we can try their flatbreads.
River Edge Pizza Kitchen
13 May
We were back on the East Coast recently to see a pediatric allergist for our daughter. While there, we found an amazingly gluten-free friendly spot called River Edge Pizza Kitchen. The owner, Francine, has three celiac grandchildren so she has taken it upon herself to have safe Italian food for them to eat. I had the chicken parmigiana hero – something I haven’t had in 11 years. Eating it brought back so many great memories. I also had the cheesy garlic bread since it would have been wrong to not order gluten-free cheesy garlic bread.
I inhaled these during the short walk from the restaurant to our car. They did not disappoint. As good as this place was, it was a reminder that there isn’t a place in Santa Barbara for safe gluten-free comfort Italian food.
Speaking of reminders, GFSB will be meeting at Lilac this Sunday at noon! For more information or to RSVP, visit our Facebook page.
Joni’s Kitchen
30 Sep
This month, we headed back east to Montauk to see our friends get married. I used my trusty Find Me Gluten-Free App to see if there was anything GF friendly near where we would be staying. I ended up hitting the jackpot with Joni’s. While ordering, I noticed an array of GF baked goods on the counter including a plethora of doughnuts! I devoured my cinnamon doughnut outside on one of their faded turquoise picnic tables. I then had the zen rabbit wrap with chicken.
When ordering, the lady (perhaps Joni) assured me that they would be changing their gloves and taking precautions to limit cross contamination. This spot is just blocks from the beach and definitely had a local’s feel to it. I wish we were in the area for more time so I could have had a couple more meals here!
C’est Cheese Cafe
7 Jul
I love cheese… I sometimes think that not being able to eat gluten is easy when compared with the idea of not being able to eat cheese. My favorite place in Santa Barbara to stock up on some cheese has always been C’est Cheese. So when I found out that they were expanding to include a cafe, I was so excited. I tried it out for breakfast and it did not disappoint. The pastry chef’s significant other has Celiac Disease which has translated to an awareness of what gluten is and what gluten-free means. That being said, I did have to ask questions when ordering. I ordered the smoked salmon with their own gluten-free bread. Typically they warm the bread in a contaminated toaster. However, they were able to warm it up in an oven for me on some foil. I loved my dish and can’t want to go back to try something else… preferably with one of their signature cheeses!
gluten-free in sb 