This past weekend I visited one of my best friends that just recently relocated a few hours south of Atlanta. I have Celiac Disease so that makes eating in a foreign place somewhat complicated. Since I had the luxury of staying in her home, I sent down a bunch of safe food a few days before my trip that I would eat while I was there. We also stopped at Publix the first day I arrived so that I could pick up some perishable gluten and dairy free staples.
I would have been totally fine if I stuck to eating all of the food I bought and brought with me, but what is a fun weekend with your bestie if you don’t go out a few times? Of course being in a new city and state, I just had to explore some Celiac Safe restaurants!
Below I have created a list that details my experience at each of the Celiac Safe (and dairy free friendly) restaurants that I visited during my trip. Since she is one of my best friends, this is not the last time I will be in Georgia so this list will be continuously growing!
**This list is organized in Alphabetical order by city. I will be updating this list a few times a year so check back periodically to see what other celiac safe restaurants I find in Georgia.
Atlanta
P.F. Chang’s
All I have to say is WOW. I had heard about how well P.F. Chang’s was with food allergies but had never experienced it for myself before and let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of attention and care that was given to me and my food.
Upon being seated, I told my server about my dietary needs and she immediately told me she would be back with a sheet that would tell me what I could have that was free from all of the allergens I needed to avoid. They had lots of gluten free options on their menu, but many of them contained dairy or were not deemed safe for people with Celiac or a wheat allergy. I had tears in my eyes as she brought me a piece of paper with all the safe items listed on it (pictured below). To know that a restaurant goes above and beyond for all of their allergy patrons just overwhelmed me with so many emotions.
I ended up choosing the chicken lettuce wraps (one of my favorite Asian foods). They were DELICIOUS! I also had the Tropical Green Tea which came out in a little tea pot and I thought it was the cutest thing ever! In terms of dessert, they do offer a chocolate gluten free cake that is safe, however, it contains dairy so I could not try it. All in all, the food and service were both 10/10 and I have officially added P.F. Chang’s to my list of Celiac Safe restaurants!
Macon
Mellow Mushroom
This psychedelic pizza chain knows how to do gluten free! I knew that they were good with food allergies and knew how to deal with gluten free based off of the many reviews I read on Find Me Gluten Free. I was super excited to go here and it was SO worth the trip in.
I told our server about my dietary restrictions and gave her the typical food allergy/Celiac spiel. She explained to me that their menu goes into detail about their gluten free procedures and processes and that they have dedicated kitchen space where they prepare the gluten free pizzas and told me that if I had any additional questions she would be happy to answer them.
Snippet from the Menu explaining their Gluten Free/Food Allergy Procedure.
I ordered a gluten free pizza (of course) and topped it with basically every vegetable that I could – green pepper, onion, mushroom, sun dried tomato, spinach, pepperoncini and vegan cheese (they use Daiya cheese)! It was one of the best gluten free vegan pizzas I have ever had! They are a chain so they have locations all over Georgia (and the south), you can look for a location near you here.
The Rookery
One of the great things about this restaurant is that it has dedicated kitchen space for preparing gluten free items. I informed my server immediately of my dietary needs and she was very well informed as to what I could and could not have on the menu.
They are known for their burgers so of course they had gluten free buns! I built my own burger and got a grilled chicken patty with lettuce, tomato and onion. She even double checked on the gluten free bun ingredients to make sure they were also dairy free and assured me that all GF buns and burger supplies are in their own section.
Unfortunately, their fryers are NOT gluten free so I subbed the fries that normally come with the burger for a side salad with oil and vinegar. The food was outstanding and I cannot wait until I am back in Macon so that I can go here again!
Do you have any favorite Celiac Safe restaurants in Georgia? Let me know so that I can add it to my list for the next time I visit!
