Dining Out - Gluten Free - Easier Than You Think

Mike, here...

So, today Kelly had the car, so she picked me up from work at 4:30.  She had emailed me earlier, saying, "dinner tonight will be cod, roasted potatoes and pomegranate, fennel and blood orange salad."  Well, you can imagine I was pretty excited about that.  Sounds like a pretty sexy gluten free spread, yeah?  Plus since she had to cook it after we got home, it would mean snacks beforehand.  Fresh veggies and hummus.  And, well, hummus is yummus.  

So you can imagine my surprise when, as we are pulling out of my employer's parking lot, she says, "You know, I think we should eat out."  She didn't actually say that, but I can't remember exactly what she did say, and, well, close enough.  But I digress.  

At first, I wasn't really up for the idea.  Fresh out of a 2-day cleanse, actually below 200 pounds for the first time in several months, didn't seem like a good way to start the weekend.  And then she made it even more interesting by saying, "how about Ruby Tuesday's?"  

Well, at first, I'm thinking, "Chain restaurant.  Gluten free?  AYFKM?"  But then I thought harder, and realized that she was on to something.  Sure, the burgers are out, and most of (turned out to be all, but I'm getting ahead of myself) the appetizers are nuh-uh.  Not much fun, right?  

But their salad bar...aha.  And they have ribs.  Pretty damned good ribs for a chain restaurant, actually.  And steak.  And fish.  Hmm, maybe this isn't such a bad idea, after all.  

And, let's face it, we have to be able to live with our dietary habits.  And we do like to eat out.  We almost love the social aspect of it even more than the food aspect, but the food weighs in pretty heavily.  We like to eat.  Always have, always will.  It's just the way it is.  So, sooner or later, we're gonna eat out.  That being the case, any lifestyle, gluten-free included, is going to have to be restaurant-friendly.  

We've done almost 2 weeks of gluten-free eating.  And, truth be told, I still think it's been a cake walk.  But, I thought to myself earlier today (ironically enough, this was still with the thoughts of a home-cooked meal in my head), this was because we hadn't eaten out yet.  I said last weekend that, well, weekends would be a true test.  Well, this is another test: can we dine out and remain gluten-free?

So, anyway, I threw caution to the winds, and we headed over to our local Ruby Tuesday's (one of the only chain restaurants in Aroostook County that we will eat at.  KFC?  No thanks.  Taco Hell?  Um, I've had real Mexican cuisine before.  You're not even close.  And you share the same building as KFC.  WTF?  And contrary to popular belief, I am not thinking Arby's.  McDonalds and Burger King?  No.  Freaking.  Way.  Subway is about the only other chain I will eat at up here, and, well, after reading about their bread, I'm not such a fan anymore.  And, well, we're gluten-free now.  Subway is about as compatible with our diet as an all-you-can-eat southern barbecue joint is with a vegan's).  

But I digress.  Again.  I suppose you're used to it by now.  If not, well, expect it.  Anyway, we sidled up to the bar (we almost always eat at the bar.  More fun that way).  Usually at Ruby's, I order a beer (they have Sam Adams on tap.  Nom).  Oh, wait, beer is brewed from malted barley.  Definitely not gluten free.  OK, a bottle of wine for the lady and I.  No problem, we can work through this.  

"How about an appetizer?"  asks Josh the bartender.   Yeah, some queso and chips would be great!  Surely that doesn't have gluten in it, does it?  "Oh, by the way, we've gone gluten free," we casually mention, expecting people to start looking at us like we've sprouted extra heads.  To our surprise (well, Kelly knew this already, but I was surprised, so there), they actually produced a gluten-free menu for us to peruse.  Hey, cool!  But, wait, there are no appetizers on here!  Did they forget to include those?  

The bar staff consults with the kitchen.  And comes back to us.  "Actually, none of the appetizers are gluten free."  Oh.  Well, crap.  That means we can't get our queso and chips.  And here's where a very interesting thing happened.  Kelly and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said, "Oh well, we'll get the salad bar instead."

Stop for a moment.  This is mind-blowing.  We love, love, love a good appetizer. And the queso is one of the biggies.  Yet the fact that it was technically off limits to us now did not bother me one  bit.  I had absolutely no problem passing it up.  A year ago, we would have turned a blind eye to our principles and eaten it anyway.  But now?  Not so much.  We made a commitment to go at least 30 days without consuming any gluten that we knew about, and now that we knew the queso and chips were not gluten free, we really didn't want to go down that road.  I don't know about anybody else, but this is huge. 

So we forewent the appetizer.  And, yes, a lot of the options were not available if we wanted to stay gluten free.  Most of the sauces are bechamel-based, meaning they're thickened with flour.  BZZZZT.  Nothing with tortillas.  Nothing with buns.  And, *sigh*, no garlic cheddar biscuits.  And, worst of all, no asian-glazed anything.  Noooooo!  But we will persevere, dammit! 

In the end, we both got the same thing: A half-rack of Memphis-style ribs (Dry rub), a loaded baked potato, and a veggie (green beans for Kelly, broccoli for me).  And, oh yes, we both hit the salad bar and loaded up on things...except for the croutons, of course.  And all their salad dressings (except French, I believe) are gluten free.  

And it was awesome.  Every last bite was fantastic.  It didn't hurt that the service was amazingly fast (especially considering that it was a Friday evening in the middle of happy hour).  And we're friends with most of the bar staff, so that didn't hurt, either.  

End result?  Total win for gluten-free dining out.  And from a chain, no less!  They even have a complete allergen-conscious menu online that covers all sorts of allergies, gluten being one of the smaller ones.  Check it out here (it's a downloadable PDF).  Ruby Tuesday gets high marks for being gluten-free friendly.  That is so cool.  

The real test will be going to Cafe Sorpreso for lunch.  Their panini are the shiznit.  And their quiche doesn't suck either.  I'm sure the soup and salads will be totally satisfying...but the bread...the bread!  So we're not strong enough to do that yet.  Maybe in a month or two...