Living Gluten Free in a Gluten Filled World

A gluten free Saturday

Last Saturday, the Las Vegas Celiac support group met at Whole Foods off of the Las Vegas Strip. We only meet a few times a year, but when we do, there are always a few new people and some old friends.

When we meet at a Whole Foods, we do a gluten free tour of the store.  Another member, Chris, and I shared our favorites and our “don’t bother” items and found a few new things.

Whole Foods Gluten Free Pizza

One unexpected treat was the fact that this particular Whole Foods offers fresh baked gluten free pizza. The marketing manager, Shelly, was nice enough to buy us each a pizza. I have to say, I was very impressed with the taste, texture and the crispy crust. I had pesto and veggies and I could have eaten a second pizza on the spot. I have pretty high standards for gluten free pizza. My favorite GF pizza is Picazzo’s (www.picazzos.com). My family and I have, on more than one occasion, driven to Flagstaff, Arizona just for Picazzo’s pizza.

While we were at Whole Foods, a friend of Chris’ (who is also GF) sent him a text message about a restaurant that served gluten free fish and chips and GF onion rings! I was so excited I sent my husband a text and told him we were going there for dinner that night!

Lazy Joes Fish & Chips

The restaurant is called Lazy Joes Fish and Chips. They have two locations in Las Vegas. One is at 7835 Rainbow Blvd Suite# 22 and the other one is at 1700 Vegas Drive.  We went to the one on Rainbow, it is south of the I-215. (702-489-6253).

The menu says on the front, Gluten Free! Everything on the menu, except the hushpuppies and the chowder is gluten free. They have a dedicated fryer for the hushpuppies to prevent cross contamination.

My daughter and I had the breaded cod, my husband had the fried clams and my son had the fried shrimp.  I also tried the onion rings. Everything was very good! The fish was very moist and flakey and the batter reminded me of H. Salt Fish and Chips (yes, I have just dated myself). I tried the clams, not my favorite before I was GF, and they were ok. Not chewy and the batter was delicious. The shrimp was a little tough but also very good. The tartar sauce and cocktail sauce tasted homemade and were full of flavor. As for the onion rings, I wish they were a little browner. The flavor was good, but it needed more crunch.

I spoke to the owner for a few minutes and he told me that the recipe they used was one his father developed many years ago and they didn’t realize it was gluten free until a few years ago. I will definitely go back to Lazy Joe’s.

It is great when you find new gluten free items, especially when you weren’t expecting them.

What gluten free items have you found that you weren’t expecting?