Guide to a gluten-free Harrisonburg

Update, 12/8/13: There have been a number of additions to this list since I first made it--a great problem to have! I'm adding options as I learn about them. Thanks to all who have commented. Keep the suggestions coming! 

It's been nearly ten years since I went gluten-free, after 18 months of dealing with a digestive system that was, shall we say, uncooperative. Ten years ago, alternative flours were just starting to become  more common, and fast food options were almost nil. I still know where every Wendy's is between here and Philly because when I first started on this, my only options were that or a burger sans bun from McDonald's. Thank God for Chipotle.

But I digress. Gluten-free options are growing. It's getting easier to eat well and safely, and not spend the whole meal discussing unpleasant symptoms, explaining that "flour" is actually wheat, or asking about the ingredients in a cup of plain green tea. In short, you get to be normal. In that spirit, here's an overview of the restaurants in Harrisonburg I know of where you can eat gluten-free. Full disclosure: I'm not a doctor, nor do I have celiac disease; I have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, so accidentally ingesting some gluten doesn't affect me in the same way it may affect you. If you're not sure, ask questions--you are your own best advocate.

Local Chop & Grill House: As its name indicates, the Chop House sources much of its food locally--insert your joke about the ducks on Blacks Run here--which means less processed, which means less gluten hiding in your food. Servers are helpful, and they make risotto. Risotto! (Update: The Chop House has now added two gluten-free beers to its menu, including Omission.)

Grilled Cheese Mania can make some of their sandwiches gluten-free. Very tasty and recommended.

The Little Grill: They offer gluten-free pancakes and will allow substituting grits or potatoes for toast. They've switched their gluten-free beer option to Omission, and can make certain dishes--like the Mexi Night special--gluten-free. They don't advertise this on the menu, so do ask.

Clementine Cafe: Clem's will make its lunch wraps in lettuce upon request. Fries are made in the same oil as breaded things. 

Pizza: The gluten-free pizza options in this town deserve their own post. Vito's Italian Kitchen remains my favorite. Domino's and Chanello's both offer gluten-free pies; I've heard that Franco's and Francesco's (in Park View) do, as well. I'm most excited about Bella Luna (scheduled to open "soon" as of December 2013), which is downtown and plans to serve gf pizza and other gluten-free items (also unspecified at this time).

Union Station: Okay food, has a gluten-free menu.

Rick's Cantina will make its burritos with open-face corn tortillas upon request. 

Outback Steakhouse: One of the first chains in the U.S. to have a gluten-free menu, and their "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under" brownie dessert is gluten-free.

Chipotle: The one here in town buys pork from Joel Salatin's farm. Go for the burrito bowl or anything with corn tortillas. They do have an allergen list.

Blue Nile: I'll be honest, I still miss the Zilzil Tibs at Meskerem, though I do like Blue Nile a lot. Their injera is a mixture of teff and wheat, but if you call three days in advance, they'll make you gluten-free pure teff injera. They always serve rice at their lunch buffet.

Beyond: I last went there in my elusive search for good pad thai. Not the first place I'd recommend, but not bad either. Nice ambiance.

Capital Ale: Gluten-free menu, knowledgeable servers, and they always have at least one kind of gluten-free beer. I don't go there often 'cause I still can't forgive them for not being Cally's, plus it's expensive. They have gluten-free mac and cheese ($14.99 if memory serves) and yesterday I noticed they had Green's, a gluten-free Belgian ale, on the menu--for $17. I like Green's, but I'll wait until I'm in Charlottesville and swing by the Whole Foods.

Thai food: Try any of them--Beyond, Thai Flavor, Taste of Thai, Thai Cafe--and ponder how we've been lucky enough to get four Thai restaurants in this city.

Taste of India: My office's favorite place to eat out, and I never complain. Avoid the naan, try everything else.

The farmers market: OCakes sells gluten-free baked goods. Brown Butter Bakery is on hiatus, but I'm hopeful they'll come back some day in their own space.

A Bowl of Good: Another restaurant supporting local farmers, and less pricey than the Chop House. Gluten-free options are labeled on the menu, and they sell gluten-free brownies. 

Greenberry's Coffee has sold gluten-free brownies and other baked goods for a few years now; I saw recently that they have gluten-free bread (and so sandwiches?) on the menu, too.

Dairy Queen: Of my immediate family (parents, siblings, in-law, nephews), five of us have issues with gluten. When I was a kid (pre-gluten free days) we always marked birthdays with ice cream cakes from Dairy Queen, and had been missing that tradition. We finally figured out that the Dairy Queen in the Harmony Square Shopping Center would make us gluten-free ice cream cakes--every time, we ask them to leave out the crumb middle, and replace it with whatever we want on top of the cake. Sometimes Butterfinger bars, sometimes strawberries. Be very clear about what you need and order two to three days in advance--but they can definitely do it.

Know of others? Leave them in the comments. I plan to occasionally post here about gluten-free options and will update this list as I learn more.

Updates:

I had a less-than-stellar experience at Quaker Steak & Lube not long after I first posted this. In talking to the manager who just happened to ask how our meals were--I'm not always great at advocating for myself, and sometimes it just gets frustrating to always be the one needing special accommodation--I was pleasantly surprised to realize he did understand proper, safe gluten-free food preparation. He said the Quaker Steak he'd worked at in Norfolk had separate storage and preparation areas, and food was served on distinct plates. He told me to come back in a week. I haven't, more because it's not so much my style, but I'm curious. If you go, let me know how it went?

L'Italia reports, as of November 7, 2012, that it offers gluten-free, whole wheat and regular pasta.

The Corner

In a break from our regularly scheduled programming, I would like to consider a philosophical question. What makes a location cursed? Is it as simple as repeated occupancy by people who don't know how to run a business? Is it the typical direction of traffic approaching it? Available parking? What? 

Oh, you don't know what I mean by "cursed"? I'm talking about those locations where it seems like nothing can stay open more than a couple of years, although businesses around it thrive. One prime example is that spot next to El Charro on South Main, the one that has, in the past four years, been an Indian place, a Cajun place, and now..."The Vibe," whatever that is. Yesterday, I ate in one such location. It's right down town, where Water Street crosses Main. Think about that spot. Billy Jack's, Dave's, Jack Brown's, and Earth & Tea all do really good business, every day. Dave's has been in that area for ever, and I predict long life for at least one of the other restaurants on that list. And then there's...what are they calling it now? Oh, right, The Corner. 95 South Main. Not to rag on the Corner itself, per se, but why doesn't anything thrive in that spot? We've had, just in the seven years that I've been a Harrisonburger, Luigi's, Fuzions, Cuchi Guido's, and now this. I really don't get it. That location should be *awesome*. You can't get any more downtown. I mean, I remember that the stoners at Luigi's would sometimes take a couple of hours to make a pizza, but that was really good pizza. Fuzions had the poor fortune to open around the same time as Beyond, but the location was far more prominent than Beyond's; if either of them should have failed, I would have expected it to be the one tucked up on the back end of Water Street. Cuchi Guido's was, by all reports, incredibly badly managed and deserved to fail (one of my colleagues actually told the owner, "I give you three months." This turned out to be a generous prediction). 

If anyone has a theory about this location curse phenomenon, please leave it in the comments. I'd like to know what you think.

And now we have The Corner, which, if you'll forgive my saying so, I think is also doomed. In addition to whatever mystery poltergeist trashed all those other places, the food is just okay, not terrible, but okay, and the place lacks personality. I have no idea how it expects to compete with Jess's or Jack Brown's, which have similar fare, but much stronger signatures. 

Well, good luck, The Corner. You'll need it. 

• Location: 95 South Main St.
• Website: http://thecornerdowntown.com/
• Food profile: Beer and beer-related food. The kind of food you would want with beer.
• Local sourcing: They don't say, but I'm thinking no.
• Takeout: The website doesn't say, but it's the kind of place where you'd expect takeout.
• Warnings: Not an awesome place for small children--no changing table in the bathroom, random sheets of glass leaning up against the wall. I wouldn't take my two-year-old back there until he was much bigger. Of course, I don't get the impression that they are trying to be a particularly kid-friendly restaurant.
• Specialties: In all fairness, no one in my party had a specialty pizza, which is what The Corner is really proud of. You should give that a try. My mother-in-law had a sandwich on some sort of pretzel bread, which she said was really good and unusual.

Food: 

Founded by a guy who wanted to bring the flavors of Long Island to the Valley, The Corner offers subs, pizzas, and lots of beer. I spent many summers of my childhood on Long Island, and I can attest that this is the real deal. 

Atmosphere: 

As I said, it kind of lacks much personality. It's not bad, the food's not bad, the atmosphere isn't bad. It's just that the bar for downtown dining is so high, now, I don't think I would pick this place over most of the other downtown offerings. I should note that our server was totally awesome, which definitely counts for a lot.