The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium - Universal CityWalk

I was surprised when my friend Debbie, a fellow celiac and Disney lover, messaged me earlier this week that she had a new favorite restaurant in Orlando, The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium opened on Universal CityWalk after we moved to California, so I have not had a chance to try it yet.  In my private Facebook group, Gluten Free in Orlando, I have read some mixed reviews, but Debbie had a great experience.

Bahama Breeze Island Grille

Over Thanksgiving Break, we traveled to our hometown of Pittsburgh.  While we were there, my husband's family asked us if we wanted to meet them for dinner at the Bahama Breeze Island Grille in Robinson Township.  Bahama Breeze, which serves Caribbean cuisine, is a restaurant chain owned by Darden Restaurants.  Earlier this year, I had a great meal at Seasons 52, which is also run by Darden.

Bahama Breeze does have a gluten sensitive menu, which has the typical disclaimer I am used to seeing, even at Disney World.  No one is going to guarantee you a gluten free meal, unless it is a 100% gluten free restaurant.  The key for me is that restaurants take appropriate precautions to keep my food safe.  When I started asking my usual round of questions about food preparation, our server said he would get a manager.  The manager I spoke to told me that my food would be prepared in a separate area of the kitchen, and that she would make it herself if I would like.

Hotto Potto - Orlando

A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner with our school's international students and their host families at Hotto Potto on Semoran Boulevard near Baldwin Park.  They also have a restaurant on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park.

I don't particularly love dining at restaurants without a gluten free menu, but the employee I spoke to before we were seated was very knowledgeable about gluten free options.

Provisions & Buzz Co. - Baldwin Park

Last Friday, we had dinner at Provisions & Buzz Co. in Baldwin Park.  The restaurant used to be Jack's Steakhouse, but it was rebranded late last year, and features a new menu and a beautiful new interior.

We arrived right when the restaurant opened at 5:00, because I prefer to eat out when restaurants are not busy.  When I asked our server about gluten free options, she sent out their general manager, who just happens to have celiac.

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill - Orlando

Last night, we had dinner at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, which is located in The Market at Mills Park in front of The Fresh Market.  Firebirds, which serves American cuisine, has restaurants in 18 states.  You can view their restaurant locator here.

I was impressed from the moment I walked in the door.  The restaurant itself is beautiful inside, and equally impressive is their gluten free menu, which you can view online here.

Zoes Kitchen

Yesterday, my daughters and I had an early dinner at Zoes Kitchen, a fast casual restaurant serving Mediterranean-inspired cuisine in Oviedo.  Zoes Kitchen will soon be opening a second location in the Orlando area on Sand Lake Road.  They currently have restaurants in 18 states.  You can view their restaurant locator here.  

I have been wanting to try Zoes Kitchen for a while, because my husband has been raving about it for months, and my friend Amanda has a great review on her website The Gluten & Dairy-Free Review Blog.  My daughters had a volleyball game last night in Oviedo, so it was the perfect time to stop in for an early dinner after school.  I feel much safer eating at restaurants when they are not busy, because hopefully there is less of a risk of cross contamination.  I checked out Zoes' online gluten free menu before we got to the restaurant, but gluten free menu items were clearly marked on their menu above the counter.  Vegetarian and vegan options are available as well.  

Seasons 52 - Orlando

Last weekend, we had lunch at the Seasons 52 on Sand Lake Road.  Locally, you can also find Seasons 52 in Altamonte Springs, and they have over 40 restaurants in 18 different states, which you can view here.

Seasons 52 features seasonally inspired menus, and they have gluten sensitive, lactose & dairy sensitive, vegetarian, vegan, and sodium friendly menus.

Rocco's Tacos - Orlando

Last Sunday, we had lunch with friends at the Rocco's Tacos on Sand Lake Road, which is about 5 minutes away from Universal Orlando.  They also have restaurants in Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Fort Lauderdale.  Outside of Florida, you can find Rocco's Tacos in Brooklyn, New York.

I love the Day of the Dead theming at Rocco's Tacos, and they even incorporated some of my favorite Star Wars characters.  Just look up near the stand where you check in to see them.

Hot Krust Panini Kitchen - Orlando

Yesterday, we had lunch at Hot Krust Panini Kitchen, which is located next to the Whole Foods Market on Turkey Lake Road.  I have had great feedback from blog readers about this fast casual restaurant, the Orlando Celiac Support Group recently had a meetup there, and my friend Amanda wrote a review on The Gluten & Dairy-Free Review Blog that convinced me I needed to try Hot Krust.  

When I asked about gluten free options, I was told that any of the panini can be made gluten free, and the cactus chili and butternut squash soup were marked gluten free on their menu.  Hot Krust uses Udi's, which appeared to be their whole grain bread, and they leave blue cheese off sandwiches for gluten free orders.  Gluten free panini, which cost 75 cents extra, are double wrapped in paper and foil to protect them from cross contamination before being placed on a panini press.  My friend Amanda has detailed information on the precautions they take to prepare allergy-friendly food in her review of Hot Krust Panini Kitchen, which you can read here.

Mamak Asian Street Food - Orlando

Last night, we had dinner at Mamak Asian Street Food on Colonial Drive in Orlando's Mills 50 District.  There is parking available behind the restaurant, and they have a back entrance.

 I found Mamak using the Find Me Gluten Free app, and one review mentioned a gluten free menu, which is rare for Asian restaurants in Orlando's Little Vietnam district.

The Tasty Trend - Winter Garden

Last week, I had a chance to sample four different gluten free cupcakes made by The Tasty Trend, a 100% gluten free bakery specializing in cupcakes.  On February 13th, just in time for Valentine's Day, they will celebrate the grand opening of their storefront in Winter Garden.

My favorite cupcake was the tasty chocolate, which my gluten-eating daughters enjoyed as well.  As I ate it, I kept thinking that it reminded me of milk chocolate, which is great, because I love milk chocolate.  The chocolate cake was moist, and the chocolate buttercream was not overly sweet.

Boardwalk Pizza - Winter Park

A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner at Boardwalk Pizza in Winter Park with family that was visiting from out of town.  We first discovered Boardwalk Pizza about four years ago, when I was still teaching full time.

Before Boardwalk Pizza, I had never had a gluten free pizza that I liked at a restaurant.  Last month, I found this picture of a Margherita pizza I ordered there years ago.  I enjoyed their pizza so much, we ate at Boardwalk Pizza pretty regularly until I retired from teaching and started making pizza with Chebe at home.

Carrabba's Italian Grill

Earlier tonight, we had dinner at the Carrabba's Italian Grill in Oviedo.  We have had several good dining experiences there since moving to Orlando, but we haven't eaten at Carrabba's in probably three or four years.

Carrabba's recently expanded their gluten free options with the addition of casarecce gluten free pasta, and modified their signature grill-baste to make it gluten free.

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse

We recently had dinner at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Oviedo.  Locally, they also have restaurants near the Mall at Millenia, on International Drive, and in Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista.

BJ's has a pretty extensive gluten free menu, which you can view online here.

The Melting Pot

Saturday night, my daughters and I had dinner at The Melting Pot on Sand Lake Road.  I have eaten at fondue restaurants before, but not since being diagnosed with celiac disease seven years ago.

Since reading Jennifer's review of The Melting Pot on her blog Celiac in Orlando, I have been excited to dine there.  The Melting Pot worked with the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) to create their gluten free menu, which you can view here.

Hawkers Asian Street Fare - Orlando

Last night, we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday at Hawkers Asian Street Fare on North Mills Avenue in Orlando.  Hawkers is named after the Asian street vendors who sell food from stands and mobile carts.  Their menu features the best "street food" recipes from different areas of Asia.

Wendy's Frostys

Yesterday, we decided that we didn't want to spend our whole afternoon in the kitchen preparing our Labor Day dinner, so we kept it simple - mini turkey meatloaves, corn, and a tomato & cucumber salad.  For dessert, we were going to make our first cream cheese pumpkin pie of the season, but in the spirit of keeping it simple and enjoying our holiday, we went to Wendy's for Frostys.

Toasted - Winter Park & Lake Nona

Earlier today, I had lunch at Toasted in Lake Nona.  Two years ago, I discovered Toasted using the Find Me Gluten Free App.  Their first restaurant is in Winter Park, just a couple of miles from my house.  Toasted, a fast casual restaurant, is on my list of best restaurants for gluten free dining in Orlando, because we love their food, and they have great protocols in place to protect gluten free dishes from cross contamination.  

I was excited to see that Toasted now has a gluten free menu, and I was told they have a vegan menu too.  

P.F. Chang's China Bistro

You can read my most recent review of P.F. Chang's here.

Tonight, we had dinner at P.F. Chang's China Bistro in Winter Park.  When we are in the mood for Chinese food, we usually dine at Pei Wei, which is owned by P.F. Chang's.  It's closer to home and the prices are a little cheaper, but the gluten free menu is more limited.  

Before I was diagnosed with celiac, we loved to eat at P.F. Chang's, so imagine my excitement when I found out that they had an extensive gluten free menu, which was rare seven years ago.  Today, the list of gluten free options takes up an entire page in the menu they pass out to all customers.  

Gluten free dishes are prepared in a separate area of the kitchen with designated woks and utensils, and your meal will be served on special plates with the P.F. Chang's logo.  You can read more about P.F. Chang's gluten free community here.

We started our meal with GF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps, their signature appetizer with wok-seared chicken, mushrooms, green onions and water chestnuts over crispy rice sticks, with crisp lettuce cups.  This appetizer was the perfect size for our family of five.  Not having dined at P.F. Chang's in a while, I had forgotten just how amazing these lettuce wraps are.  They are slightly sweet, and I love the cool crisp lettuce cups with the warm chicken filling.  

Tonight, we decided to eat family-style, so all the dishes we ordered had to be gluten free.  I cannot go to P.F. Chang's without ordering the GF Chang's Spicy Chicken, which has been a favorite dish of mine for over a decade.  The sweet and spicy chili sauce on the chicken is so delicious, and I love to eat it with brown rice.  My only complaint about this dish is that it doesn't include any vegetables like its counterpart at Pei Wei, the Pei Wei Spicy Chicken.  P.F. Chang's does not have spicy shrimp on the menu like Pei Wei, but they have been willing to make it whenever I have asked.  

Everyone in my family agreed that our three favorite dishes were the lettuce wraps, Chang's Spicy Chicken, and the GF Cantonese-Style Lemon Chicken, which the menu describes as fresh, crispy whole chicken breast sliced and drizzled with warm lemon sauce, and served with chilled broccolini salad.  The breading on the chicken was amazing, and this dish was just perfect with the slightly sweet lemon sauce and broccolini, one of my favorite vegetables.  

We also ordered the GF Shaking Beef, which is tender flank steak, thinly sliced potatoes and broccolini, on fresh greens, tomatoes, and red onions, with zesty lime vinaigrette.  I liked this dish, but not enough to order again, because I prefer my Chinese food to be sweet and spicy.  

We felt the same way about the GF Singapore Street Noodles, which are thin rice noodles in a light curry sauce with sliced chicken breast, shrimp and fresh vegetables.  They were good, but we will probably stick with our favorites the next time we dine at P.F. Chang's.  

For dessert, I tried the gluten free flourless chocolate dome, which is rich, flourless chocolate cake served with fresh berries and raspberry sauce.  The chocolate cake was rich and creamy, and was served with a generous amount of fresh berries and raspberry sauce, which you cannot see in the picture because the plate was so long.  This dish would have been gluten free dessert perfection with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or maybe even some whipped cream.  Even without ice cream, we all loved it.

After our dinner, we all agreed that we enjoyed this dining experience better than the meals we eat at Pei Wei, which are always consistently good.

May 17, 2015 Update

Last night, our school had a dinner for our international students and their host families at P.F. Chang's in Winter Park.  Because two people in our group have celiac, all of the dishes that were ordered for our party were made gluten free.

After enjoying some Chang's chicken lettuce wraps and Chang's spicy chicken, I tried two new dishes, which my family will definitely be ordering on future visits to P.F. Chang's.  The Mongolian Beef with soy-glazed flank steak wok-seared with scallions and garlic was very flavorful, and slightly sweet.  It's definitely the best beef dish I have had at P.F. Chang's, though I would prefer it was served with some broccoli or snap peas, and less scallions.  

We all loved the vegetable fried rice, which was excellent as is, but in the future, I would order it with some chicken, shrimp, beef or pork.

Another dish ordered for the vegetarians in our group was the Buddha's Feast.  The vegetables were very tasty, but we are big meat eaters, so I think my family will skip this dish when we go back to P.F. Chang's.

June 25, 2016 Update

Last night, we had dinner at P.F. Chang's in Winter Park with friends.  We ate family-style, sharing a variety of different dishes.  I did not want to eat a lot, because I had a huge breakfast at Boma earlier in the day, so I was content to just have the Cantonese-style lemon chicken and a little bit of brown rice, but we ended up ordering two gluten free entrees.

The lemon chicken was amazing.  The breading was super crispy, and the lemon sauce, which was served on the side, was delicious.  I was also really impressed with the broccolini it was served with.

P.F. Chang's Mongolian beef never disappoints, so I was happy to have a few bites of this dish as well.

The gluten free flourless chocolate dome is no longer on the menu, but P.F. Chang's is now making a gluten free berry ginger shortcake, which I have heard is very good.  I look forward to trying it on a future visit.

You can view P.F. Chang's locations and menu on their website here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at P.F. Chang's?  

Gluten Free in Orlando for Gluten-Free Living Magazine

I wrote this post for Gluten-Free Living magazine for their conference in Orlando in April of 2014.  It is no longer posted on their website, so I decided to publish it on my blog.

There is so much to do in Orlando, and early April is a great time to visit.  With average daily highs around 80 degrees, I am sure those of you who have experienced the crazy winter I've read about and seen on TV are happy that Gluten-Free Living chose Orlando as the destination for its first conference.