Restaurant research and success

I did some research and have found a great restaurant: Memphis Taproom. It has a number of vegan items on the menu that are either already gf or can be made to be gf, and the chef knows all about gluten contamination issues and is sensitive to requests to prepare carefully. I ate lunch there this past week. I had the squash stew with rice. I can't wait to go back and try the bbq jackfruit. And there's one other thing -- something with coconut -- that I'll try too. The restaurant was funky and hip. It's apparently a well-kept secret for lunch -- my friend and I were the only ones in the dining room from 12:15 - 1:30 pm -- so we didn't have to wait for a table. Parking was easy. The downsides are that the seats are hard and that it is not walking distance. I had eaten at Memphis Taproom once before about a year ago, but learned about their gluten awareness through the Gluten-Free Philly website.

I also walked to El Rey near 20th and Chestnut one afternoon. They participated in the gf eat-a-thon, but everything was cheesy, so I wasn't sure if I would truly be able to get anything interesting to eat there. When I went in, I talked to someone who seemed to know what she was talking about. We looked at a menu together and I got some definite possibilities. I haven't eaten there yet, but I might this week. It's an affordable Steven Starr restaurant near a lot of offices, so I expect that they are packed at lunchtime. But, it is in easy walking distance of my office, so that's a plus.

So, two new restaurants that are kind of interesting that are making a point of accommodating the GF crowd. Now I really want to find an Indian Restaurant that I can have confidence in having GF experience.