I’ve only been to Red Robin once since going gluten free. And it was a bit of a stretch to find a menu item. Living in Denver, most of the Red Robin’s there are corporately owned, since RR is based in Denver.
Today, a coworker suggested we go to RR for lunch and I thought, I can do a cheeseburger and steamed veggies, no problem.
We get to the restaurant, and I ask for the manager to ask some questions about “gluten free menu items”. Turns out, they’re a franchise location, and they have a gluten free menu, of which, the fries are on the menu, and cooked in a dedicated frier. If you’re in the Chicago burbs, definitely give your
dollars to the Red Robin at 28260 Diehl Road, Warrenville, IL 60555.
I ordered a side of ranch dressing for my fries, and the server wanted to make sure it was safe for me to eat. A few minutes later, the manager came over with the packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, informing me this is what they use and wanted to make sure it was safe for me.
It was so good to have Red Robin fries again. If only the Denver locations would catch on and offer gluten free menus. I think it’s because Red Robin is based in Denver, so those locations are company owned.
Tonight’s dinner isn’t going to PF Chang’s as I had thought. We were going to go drive down to Harvey, IL but they’re predicting bad storms, so we’re staying local. There is a place I went to a few years ago here called Stir Crazy -kind of like a Big Bowl or B.D.’s Mongolian BBQ type of place. I called their corporate office and they told me they have three gluten free sauces – a Terriyaki, a classic Chinese and a Szechuan. I asked the ingredients in the terriyaki, since an alarm went off in my head. The woman said, “It’s made with Tamari.” THEY KNOW! Oh wow. I am excited to eat here tonight. I asked about a zillion questions and she had great responses and knew that many customers want gf options, so they are trying to provide them. I’ll report in tomorrow about dinner.
Until then…
Steve,
There is a Stir Crazy here in Boca located at the Town Centre Mall which is about 15 minutes from my house. Although I’ve never eaten there, I have several friends who love it. When you visit we’ll have to go there.
You know who else has safe and delicious fries? 5 Guys Burgers. They also don’t put the bread on the grill or near the meat.
How did the dinner go? Not all tamari is wheat free, so I’m wondering how it went for you.