G-Free Foodie Guide to Gluten Free Fast Food
30 Comments
May
03
G-Free Foodie Guide to Gluten Free Fast Food
by G-Free Foodie Team, Posted May 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Use this G-Free Foodie Guide to help navigate the world of Drive-thru & Fast Foods Restaurants.
Looking for something more than Fast Food? Use our Gluten Free Restaurant Search Engine to find places to eat safely G-Free in your area!
Arby’s: Many of Arby’s meats, salads & sauces are G-Free, as are their shakes. The staff will put the meat & sauce in a plastic container for you, or order a Chopped Side or Farmhouse salad and add your protein. Arby’s Gluten Free Menu
Carl’s Jr.: Order almost any of of Carl’s Jr.’s burgers with no bun for a tasty G-Free meal, just steer clear of the onion rings, sides and chicken. Carl’s Jr. Gluten Free Info
Chick-fil-A: This restaurant offers their Chargrilled Chicken filet, Chicken Garden Salad and Chicken & Fruit Salad for G-Free Entrees, along with many of their sides, dressings, and desserts. Chick-fil-A Gluten Free Menu, Locations
El Pollo Loco: The flame-grilled chicken, pinto beans, corn on the cob & side salad are all G-Free options at El Pollo Loco. El Pollo Loco Nutritional Guide
In-N-Out Burger: With the exception of the buns, everything on the menu at this West Coast burger chain is Gluten-Free. Order your burger “Protein-Style” to avoid the bun, and feel free to add a side of fries – their fresh cut potatoes are the only thing to hit the fryer oil here. In-N-Out Locations
Sonic: The hamburger patties, hot dogs, steak & bacon are G-Free at Sonic, but avoid the chicken, chili & fryer items. The soft serve and drink syrups are all Gluten-Free too. Sonic Allergen List
Subway: All the salads at this popular sub shop are Gluten-Free, with the exception of these three: Meatball Marinara, Seafood Sensation & Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. Sandwiches, bread, & cookies are out of course, but there are more options than you’d think. Subway Allergen Chart
Wendy’s: The G-Free Foodie team loves Wendy’s, where we can score Gluten-Free Frostys & delicious Chili, plus lettuce-wrapped hamburger patties with bacon, cheese & trimmings that are all G-Free. You can also pick up a baked potato with G-Free toppings, side salads, or the Southwest Taco salad. Yum. Wendy’s Gluten Free Menu
*While there are some other fast food chains with Gluten-Free “options,” we’ve chosen to list the ones where we can actually eat. Check back for updates to this list.
Filed under:
Dining Tips, G-Free Foodie Guides
More by G-Free Foodie Team
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
Popular Topics
Follow Us
Outback has a GF menu they’re happy to share. Also, Hardee’s has a lo-carb burger, which in fact, is a burger wrapped in lettuce. It’s big too!!
red robin and pf changs have great gluten free food!
pizza luce has a wonderful gluten free menu for the whole family. awesome.
Thanks everybody! We’ve just added all the PF Chang’s locations to our restaurant search database, and we’re working with Red Robin now. We will check out Pizza Luce & Hardee’s, and we love Outback too!
Please let us know if you have any other favorites!
Are there no websites that list Canadian restaurants that are gf.
chipotle is gluten free except for their flour tortillas. and it is delicious. i love their burrito bowls. all the benefits of the burrito without the tortilla!
While many of the chicken entrees might be GF, you should be aware that many of the restaurants add MSG to their food, which many people are sensitive to in additiona to having gluten intolerance. This website says to avoid any fast food chicken:
http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm
Pizza 9 – got to try it! Best gluten-free crust in the Albuquerque area!
Thx I found just the info I already searched across the whole internet and just couldn’t find. What a perfect website.
Nice post. I just discovered your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
Our 4 year old was diagnosed 9 months ago and eating out has been a challenge. Olive Garden has a gluten free dish that is frozen when you order it. Our daughter ate it up!!
Extremely insightful, and educational. I never usually make comments, as I am kind of a web site lurker, but I idea it deserved a word or two. Gives thanks for revealing.
If you are going to eat at In and Out Burger, please make sure you tell them "No Spread" and ask for it on the side. The sauce is gluten free but it is used in a container with a brush to spread it on the bun which contaminates the entire bucket. If you ask for it on the side, you will get sealed, individual servings that are safe for those of us who eat gluten free. I often get an extra packet to spread on my fries
Jack in the Box has great salads.. without the chicken. And dont forget The Yard House! They are THE BEST!!!
BJ’s has a new gluten free pizza and a really good rotisserie chicken, as well.
I often eat the cup of chicken salad at Chick-fil-A. Their website does not include it as gluten free, but i started eating it before I knew that. I’ve had no reaction and my mother, who is even more highly sensitive than I am, can eat it as well. It may be worth a try for some. It’s yummy!
El Pollo Loco is great food, but our local one closed.
I’ve had mixed results with Chipotle, but it should be safe if you always request the servers put on fresh gloves.
Thank you for the info on Wendy’s. I can now add a new place to my choices!
I would be very grateful if someone could recommend a gluten free cookie company that can make crushed cookies for ingredients and toppings or a company that can make cookies on an extruder!
Thank you.
Joni – we use Mi-Del Gluten Free cookies for crusts & toppings all the time, maybe they could help you – http://www.midelcookies.com/our_products.shtml
Mary’s Gluten Free also makes crackers, cookies & crumbs that we love, http://www.marysgonecrackers.com/ns/products.php – Hope that Helps! The G-Free Foodie Team
The Yardhouse gluten free/sensitive menu is great. The food and environment is pretty good as stated earlier. As it is a brewery style restaurant, they even serve a gluten free beer produced by Anheiser Busch. There is also Pizza Fusion ( http://www.pizzafusion.com/ )for great pizza.
Folks who are really gluten sensitive should avoid the chicken salad at Chick-fil-A. My daughter works there and says that it may include chopped up chicken nugget pieces, which are breaded and fried.
For those who absolutely crave french fries, McDonald’s uses dedicated fryers for their fries and hashbrowns. No breaded products are put into those fryers.
All Olive gardens have a GF menu. always ask to talk to a manager. We had an upset a few months back and were told by a waitress a olive garden dident serve gluten free. They have sense corrected that statement and sent us a gift card to make up for it . Corporate says "all Olive gardens carry the menu and items on it" Our Fridays has a GF menu but it was put together by a nutritionist from the hospital here. I have never had a reaction from there. Logans road house has a nice GF menu too! Inly place I can get hot wings! Just a tip. I keep two binders from the dollar tree with printed GF menus (most of the web sites provide them) . One for home and one in the car. That way when we want to go out I can check them and take it in with me. Oh also we visited hacienda and they gave me a gluten free menu print out to take home!
Carrabba’s Italina Grill has a nice gluten free menu. Ask at the front before being seated for it. Our waiter didn’t know his restaurant even had a gluten free menu. I might’ve been his first customer who had the menu.
Once our order was placed, I asked that he take the menu and ask the kitchen to follow the notes on it.
Hi all – great website for US dining options.
For the lady looking for Canadian Restaurants, the website you can use in Canada is http://www.theceliacscene.com – a website that was created several years ago by a Celiac, supported by Celiacs and only lists Celiac recommended restaurants. Restaurants cannot self-recommend themselves. The site lists individual restaurants along with both Canadian and US Chain restaurants. This GFreeFoodie site lacks the depth that TheCeliacScene has for US chains. I have been diagnosed for 28 years and I took a job where I travelled full time, primarily in the USA, for about 8 years just before the Celiac boom hit (about 1999). There are quite a few chains that I was able to provide theceliacscene.com with the names of that I patronized before they had gluten free menus – the chains had a great awareness of CD in the early 1990′s, Funny enough they have all ended up with GF menus now!
For the person looking for ground up cookies – Kinnikinnick Foods, a GF products manufacturer, makes chocolate cookie and graham cracker crumbs. You can place a mail order or order on their website. Also, any store in the US that stocks their products should be able to bring in these ground cookie items which work excellent for pie crusts and bar recipes. Their website is http://www.kinnikinnick.com. There is a list of stores in the US that sell their products on the website.
As for Chick-fil-A chicken salads, I totally concur with the poster regarding contamination with wheat. I have received salads from them that contained breaded chicken too and had to return them. This is after the clerk at the counter told me that the salad was gluten free! I would not recommend Chick-fil-A as a gluten free chain.
One has to be careful with chain restaurants that exist in the USA and Canada as there are differences! I will not eat at Wendy’s in the USA as in Canada their grilled chicken filets are not GF – they are marinated in soy sauce. Red Robin in the USA has an allergen menu yet Red Robin in Canada does not really accommodate GF customers such as the fries being served in a different basket when they are cooked GF.
Thoughts for the day!
Jimmy John’s is good for quick food too. Get the "Unwich" (a lettuce wrap, basically). The company tells me all the food is safe except for the roast beef. A manager whose wife is gluten-intolerant also told me to ask for no lettuce inside. They clean off the cutting/building board and throw the scraps (including bread crumbs) into the chopped lettuce bin!
WARNING – About Wendy’s Chili : I’ve learned that the chili has been made from leftover hamburgers – sometimes they take the meat off the buns and throw it into the chili! I was glutened by this, so call ahead and ask what their process is. for all I know each location could be different. Just aheads up.
Whomever mentioned the spread at In N Out – thanks! I’ve been eating there for a while, and now I know to get the spread on the side. Good call.
Hey, KC….not sure if they have it in CA, but Subway started carrying gluten free bread rolls a few months ago in TX! And they have to train their employees on G-Free food handling.
MCDONALDS FRIES ARE NOT GLUTEN FREE!!! although they have dedicated fryers, pure wheat gluten is added in the factory preparation before they are frozen to aid in browning. This is true of many of their other items, as far as I know only the drinks are safe.
Again. McDonald’s fries DO contain gluten. They are NOT safe for celiacs.
A word of caution regarding Subway and gluten…
I recently tried their GF sandwich and was glutened! I was very careful to watch the entire process and I was impressed with the steps that the employee used when making my sandwich. They used fresh waxed paper, washed their hands and put on fresh gloves. Then they opened the prepackaged GF roll with it’s own plastic knife for cutting the roll and spreading the sauce. I ordered turkey, swiss, lettuce, cucumber, olives, peppers, oil/vinegar, honey mustard, salt and pepper. Three hours later I knew that I was in trouble.
My guess is that with all of the handling of ingredients for the non-GF sandwiches, it is impossible to prevent cross contamination.
I’m not trying to dig on Subway. I appreciate their efforts. But please beware that in spite of what they do for us, it just may not be enough.
I have also been glutened at Subway. Now my local Subway works with me on the items, they will also warn me if it has been busy and there is a high likelihood of cross contamination. It is so difficult with all that bread around for them to be truly gluten free, unless they had a separate prep area and ingredients for gluten free customers.
Leave a Reply