Local options for gluten-free dining and drinking (with update)
A couple readers have contacted me with questions or suggestions regarding local restaurants that cater to those on gluten-free diets. Here are a couple observations:
• Bahay Kubo offers a gluten-free buffet on the first Tuesday and third Thursday of every month. Everything on the buffet, including six entrees, soup and dessert, are gluten-free those nights. Chef Arnold will also prepare any item from the menu gluten-free when requested. He even uses different pans and utensils when preparing gluten-free meals to prevent cross-contamination. That’s not surprising, given the attention to quality food and service that I’ve always found there.
Bahay Kubo serves Filipino Asian cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Carry-out is available, and lunch and dinner buffets are offered every day.
The restaurant is at 263 N. Convent, Suite 10, in Bourbonnais. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. They’re closed on Monday. Their phone is (815) 802-9889.
• Monicals began offering a 10.5″ gluten-free pizza crust in May. It’s available at all area Monicals locations. A reader named Elizabeth has tried it and emailed me this:
“We tried the gluten free pizza from Monical’s because Mitchell is on the diet. It tastes wonderful!!! I ate a piece of it and then a piece of the regular and really could not tell any difference in the crusts. Mitchell really loved it and ate all the crust (it’s actually better than the one Aurelio’s has). There is only one size of pizza in the gluten-free but it easily feeds two, three if you don’t eat as much as Mitchell does. It is available in Monical’s original thin crust or a thicker one. I highly suggest it!”
• Aurelio’s in Bourbonnais has a “Gluten Free Crust Available at an additional charge,” according to the menu.
• The growing demand for gluten-free products has influenced the beer industry as well. Redbridge is “a rich, full-bodied lager brewed from sorghum for a well-balanced, moderately hopped taste.” It is brewed by Anheuser-Busch and is available at several area grocery stores, including both Jewel locations, Kroger and Berkott’s; and at Liquor World in Kankakee.
Liquor World (110 Meadowview Center) also carries New Grist, which is made at Lakefront Brewery, a Milwaukee microbrewery specializing in handmade beers. According to their Web site, “New Grist is brewed from sorghum, hops, water, rice and gluten-free yeast grown on molasses. These ingredients are carefully combined to form a crisp and refreshing ’session ale’ sure to be popular among those with Celiac Disease, but really brewed for anyone with an appreciation for great tasting, handmade beer.”
If you have any more suggestions for gluten-free options in the area, or the names of restaurants that are accommodating to special requests, please leave a comment below or call me at (815) 937-3374. I will be including this information in my column in a few weeks, and the more info the better!
Also, thanks to a reader named Joyce for suggesting I write about this.
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UPDATE (Oct. 1, 2009)
I’ve heard from a couple readers on this topic. Make sure you read the comment from Joyce below, and here’s my paraphrasing of what three readers shared with me by phone:
Beth: America’s Bistro in Kankakee is very accommodating to requests for gluten-free meals. The staff are knowledgeable and very careful.
Jack: At Jimmy Jo’s BBQ in Bourbonnais, all the rubs, sauces, sides and meat are gluten-free. Just ask for no bun or bread, of course. LoneStar and Ruby Tuesday, both in Bradley, have special gluten-free menus that you can ask for when you arrive. Also offering special menus but a little further away are Texas Roadhouse (I80 and Illinois 45) and Burgandy Bistro (3462 Vollmer Rd. in Olympia Fields). The Kankakee Celiac Support Group meets the second Thursday of the month at Kankakee Natural Food. The group’s Web site (http://www.kankakeeceliac.webs.com/) has more details.
Deena: Gluten-free vodka is available at Plush and R Bar in Kankakee, and Village Pub in Bradley. The vodka is made from potatoes instead of wheat or grain.
There’s still time to comment if you have something to add. I hope to put this in my print column on Oct. 8 or 15.
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UPDATE (Oct. 5, 2009)
Jim from Jimmy Jo’s BBQ emailed me with this information:
Most of the items at Jimmy Jo’s BBQ (meat items, rubs, etc.) are Gluten Free. Coyote Canyon also has a large Gluten Free Menu, which I have attached. Not all Coyote Canyons have all items on the menu, but the menu is available at the restaurant for guests to check.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
America’s Bistro is good about gluten-free cooking (upon request).
We are also dairy-free which eliminates pizza (so far) but would love a GF soy cheese pizza. (Anyone?)
Most local Mexican and Chinese restaurants have no-wheat choices, although I suspect there may be cross-contamination issues for the highly sensitive. (I bring my own GF soy sauce or use Bragg’s Amino Acids, but keep forgetting to ask for no cheese on the beans…)
Bull’s BBQ makes almost everything there and they are very good about being careful, and without the bread and buns, much of the menu is basically gluten-free. Their wings and fries (and those at Paul’s Place) are available “naked” (no breading) and both are excellent, but I have yet to find a place that uses a separate frier for true GF fried foods.
Oliver’s was very attentive at dinner and actually sent a manager out to make sure I could eat everything I ordered, but their banquet center was just the opposite and wouldn’t even get me sandwich meat that had not been already on bread.
One of my favorite GF meals is the Huevos Machacados at Tacos del Norte, which is no longer on the menu but Freddie will still make if you ask nicely.
Thanks for covering this issue- It is estimated that one in three American women is allergic to wheat, but most are unaware of the problem and its many varied symptoms.