Day Twenty-Six:

P.F. Changs, I love you. You too, Plaza Azteca! Another two restaurant debacles avoided. Let me start by saying that just because a restaurant HAS a gluten-free menu doesn't mean that one might enjoy eating there. Exhibit A. Bertuccis. Here's a great salad... but you can't have any bread (the best part about their restaurant!)  Number 2. Chili's. Go ahead, have a burger! Just don't get a bun or fries with it.  Well, that's ingenious, feed me like a dog and that'll encourage me to come back! And Exhibit C. Wood'n Tap. A gluten-free bun? Really? That's great! But oh, wait, you have to eat string beans with your burger, because the fries are mixed in with other gluten-containing foods.  UGH! Seriously?  Luckily for me, the Spanish and Asian cultures either don't like gluten or really appreciate the predicament I'm in, so most of their cooking includes or can be adjusted to use corn or soy-based products.  Whoopee! So dinner last night was somewhat successful.  I only say somewhat because I couldn't REALLY order what I wanted, which was flour tortilla fajitas... but I can't complain because I had a great meal. And then today, when I went to P.F. Changs, I was so excited to discover that my lettuce wraps can be made in a gluten-free version, as can many of their dishes.  I didn't have to miss out on anything... except maybe the fried chicken, but I didn't need that anyway.  Even the girls' birthday dessert was gluten-free. Hooray!  They've got SUCH a clue that they have different colored plates for GF customers... another way to not only make me feel comfortable that they haven't confused my dish with another, but also to make me feel somewhat normal at a table full of non-Celiacs.

The lesson of the day... I've come to the realization that restaurant eating is exhausting!