Joe L.'s Profile

Greg Kennedy and Mike Williams are two of the finest guitar instructors in the East Bay.

Customer service: OK. Results: Fail. Poor installation, poor matching, and even asking for the thickest padding and shag resulted in the thinnest carpet section in the house.

Gluten-free pizza. 'Nuff said.

OK I'll say some more. Peninni's began serving a gluten-free pizza option yesterday. My pizza orders this evening were numbers three and four. The reason I give five stars is this: The guys have nailed it with regards to serving up a gluten-free pizza in a laid back and casual atmosphere.

I ordered two pizzas just for the heck of it, and stuck to the basics: Pepperoni. My two boys and I (they are 4 and 7) dusted everything. Gone. Zip. Destroyed. Game over man! One, two, three, up with the skirt, and it's gone! I am the only celiac in the family, but the boys could have cared less. They ate more pizza than you could shake a stick at.

The things were delicious. Real pizza on a thin crust, nice and traditional-like. But the best part was that the guy that cooked it, Greg (I asked if I could print his name here), came out and described in detail the steps he took to ensure that this pizza was indeed as free as possible of any potential gluten contamination.

Since I like to work as a human guinea pig, I can attest to the quality of their process. It is two hours later, and I am happily here sitting on my recumbent bike machine at home doing at least an hour's penance for the debauchery that just ensued - grease, cheese, oil, and processed meats are the stuff of pizza made the way god intended. If there were even a tiny bit of contamination with wheat, I'd be sick by now. But I'm great!

In summary: Great gluten-free pizza, totally laid-back atmosphere, awesome friendly staff, family loved everything else they tried on the menu, and I'm stuffed.

See you guys again real soon.

This has been my favorite gluten-free dining experience to date. Almost everything on the menu is either gluten-free or can be modified, and they state so clearly on the menu. GF Redbridge beer is on the list too, so obviously these guys have gone way out of their way to accommodate celiacs.

We started with the greens salad and the salt/pepper calamari. The greens salad had these roasted walnuts which were sweet and crunchy - very tasty. The calamari was awesome, with a lemon-y dipping sauce.

Next we ordered some pho. The pho wasn't bad - quite tasty in fact. Only complaint was the beef slices were not all that plentiful.

We finished off with the shaken beef - this was an outsanding dish with very tender beef slices paired with fried yams. Crazy good stuff.

When we got there around 7 PM on a Saturday evening, I was surprised to find it nearly empty. But the place filled up in no time and the clientelle seemed to be enjoying themselves muchly.

Ate here - did not stay. However for gluten free, the restaurant at the Wawona did alright. The waiter went over all my options with me carefully and pointed out a few items I could have missed, such as the wheat in the roux that flavored their turkey chili. Not a lot of GF options for lunch, but high marks for the server understanding my plight.

Highly recommended for those that require a gluten-free diet. Both of the table service restaurants here basically share staff and kitchen resources. When I asked if they could accommodate, the gals at the front desk smiled and immediately replied that it would be no problem. My server informed me that just that week they had a meeting on the new menu and had discussed what was gluten-free and what was not. All of the pastas were gluten free - no need to even ask. Even though I sat in the bar & grill section, they read to me my options from the nicer menu as well as the bar one.

I went with the steak and mashed potatoes. The waitress even knew well enough that the roux that they were using had wheat flour in it and made sure to leave that off. There was no shortage of options there for the GF diet so if you are traveling to Yosemite and are worried about celiac and dining options, then this is a good place to stay.

Incidentally, every place I ate at inside Yosemite was well aware of gluten-free issues and went out of their way to accommodate.

Draeger's opens in my neighborhood.

Bonus!

I just walked in today out of curiosity. I had the kids with me, and the place was packed with gawkers just like me. There was a well-dressed lady walking around handing out balloons to the kiddies, guys out front handing out candy, and a show on a stage by the front door. Nobody was looking where they were going, and it was just a confused group of happy people stumbling around.

I came to a grocery store here when I was a kid and the Blackhawk mall had just opened up. I can remember my grandmother taking me there often. Nice to see this lot returning to her roots.

The sleepy Blackhawk mall looked way more alive than it has in years. The out-of-the-way location of this place is unfortunate - it is a gorgeous little place with some nice restaurants and boutiques. And a lot of for-lease signs. Maybe Draeger's is what this place needs.

Anyway, the bonus here is the gluten-free stock. They had a whole section dedicated to gluten-free, with a sign and everything. The sign was slightly misleading because if you look at it you see it sitting atop a freezer case full of mostly GF waffles, pizza crusts, bagels, and hot dog buns. Across the aisle though was the entire lot of GF stuff, including many things I had not seen yet.

The staff here were exceptional, and considering this was their second day open and everyone was walking around like stunned fish, things were appearing to run quite smoothly. Can't wait to give it a more in-depth examination, but the first impression was entirely positive. Highly recommended for celiacs and anyone looking for a good grocery shopping experience.

Considering there is no dedicated menu, the staff seemed very accommodating for my celiac issues. GF in SD maintains a list of Chevy's options here: http://www.kintera.org...

Bonus points for our waitress checking on all the ingredients on my plate, even though I already had researched options.

I went for the chicken tamale which was quite spicy in a very good way, and a couple of tacos from the classics menu. Quite tasty all around.

Gluten-Free options at Capistrano's in El Segundo, CA:

Steaks: No starches used in sauces, but check with the waiter to be sure. I had a buttery peppery sauce on my NY Strip and it was muy delicioso. Was served with mashed potatoes and carrots. Dig it.

Spinach salad: Too good. Almonds, Parmesan cheese, bacon, egg, and shrooms. Really crispy spinach leaves, light on the dressing, and the almonds were the kick.

Nachos: Hard to screw this one up.

I did specify to the waiter each time that these needed to be as far away as possible from any wheat, barley, or rye products when ordering, and gave the usual lecture on not using any modified food starch, soy sauce, malt flavoring, or other potential things that would usually ruin my day. He assured me that every ting was prepared simply and there were no such ingredients in what I was ordering. It is always risky eating out with celiac, but the two meals I had at this place were both completely reaction-free. Yea!

Oh and by the way, the Embassy Suites hotel that this place is in really sucks.

"YAPFCR" - Yet Another P.F. Chang's Review

It's nice to know that when you absolutely require a strict gluten-free diet and have to travel that there are a few consistent options. P.F. Chang's is by far the easiest chain restaurant I've experienced in dealing with celiac dining options.

The El Segundo location is no different. We went with a large group - probably none of us in a good mood - and the waiter survived. My only regret is not ordering martinis for lunch. I was on my way to the airport and had been having an ultra-shitty weekend...

Anyway, not much to say except thanks to P.F Chang's for making travel on a gluten-free diet somewhat tolerable."