Friday, August 29, 2014

Trail's End Restaurant Lunch - Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

This afternoon, I had lunch at Trail's End Restaurant at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort with Kathryn, a fellow celiac.


Today was a quiet day at Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, which didn't surprise me, because by Labor Day weekend, the summer crowds are gone.  


Chef Michael went over the menu with us, and I was surprised at how many gluten free options were available.  For an appetizer, we could order the soup of beans & greens (minus the croutons), mixed greens salad, grilled romaine hearts (minus the croutons), house-made cornbread (gluten free version), and a gluten free version of the smoked cheese-stuffed jalapeno could be made for us as well.  


Because of recommendations from my blog readers, I ordered the gluten free cornbread with local orange blossom honey-butter.  I was so excited to dig in, I forgot to take a picture of my untouched cornbread!  The gluten free cornbread at Trail's End is the same amazing cornbread with honey butter that they serve at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue next door.  


For an entree, our choices included: fresh berries with grilled chicken breast salad (minus the blue cheese), roasted vegetable or BLT flatbread (made with Udi's pizza crust), a barbecue pulled pork sandwich or the angus chuck cheeseburger with a gluten free bun, chicken and waffles made with grilled chicken and gluten free waffles, or spicy shrimp and grits.  


I love shrimp and grits, and they were recommended by Chef Michael, so my choice was easy.  The naturally gluten free shrimp and grits at Trail's End Restaurant is served with Andouille sausage and red-eye gravy.  There were no worries about the red-eye gravy, because it is made from pork pan drippings and coffee.  I really loved all the flavors in this dish, but my grits were too runny.  I want grits to be thick enough that they don't run through my fork.  The shrimp and sausage were great, and I enjoyed what appeared to be pearl onions in this dish.  


I was tempted to get the Angus Chuck Cheeseburger with candied bacon and hickory-smoked sharp cheddar, because I have a serious weakness for bacon, but I ended up just getting some on the side.  It was nice and sweet from the brown sugar, but also had a spicy kick from the cayenne pepper.  


Kathryn did choose the burger with house fries, which she said were very good.  Chef Michael did mention that they had a dedicated fryer for the fries.  When my friend Sarah from Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW went to Trail's End last November, the house fries were a mix of sweet potato and regular fries.  


Lunch is a la carte, but for breakfast and dinner, Trail's End serves up American favorites at an all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet.

None of the dessert options on the lunch menu are gluten free, but Chef Michael said they had OMG...It's Gluten Free Fudge Brownies, or he could make us some sort of ice cream sundae.  I decided to pass on dessert after eating that huge piece of delicious corn bread.

The next time I dine at Trail's End for lunch, I would like to order the the gluten free version of the chicken and waffles, which is served with warm buttered rosemary-maple syrup.

You can view Trail's End Restaurant's breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Trail's End?


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