Gluten Free Eats in Jacksonville

After completing the Clean Program Cleanse this year, Ryan decided to give up gluten and cheese for Lent to see how he felt. I initially agreed to take this challenge with him, but I only made it a day...I'm weak!! We are not Catholic but he thought it'd be a good opportunity to test out a gluten and cheese free diet since he felt a lot healthier when he wasn't eating either on the Clean Program. Instead of feeling sleepy and sluggish after lunch and towards the end of the day, he now stays up later and gets up earlier...he was already hard to keep up with but now it's impossible. There are also less tummyaches and "digestive issues"...which people don't want to talk about but is worth mentioning for those suffering the same ills. For those who don't know what gluten is (there are many! You're not the only one!), here is a pretty thorough explanation.

I can't believe how long he has kept this up already and he shows no signs of stopping. This is the same guy who brewed his own, gluten-ful beer and would eat cheese covered cheese on top of some more cheese (if it was on the menu)...and he has been going to some very tempting restaurants and ordering things like: salad with no cheese at Moon River Pizza!! HOW DOES HE DO IT? They have the best pizza ever, but not a gluten-free, cheese-free pizza...so salad it was! Ryan is my hero.

Anyway, after eating gluten-free at a few restaurants, I thought I'd share with you some of our experiences, in no particular order. Another good resource is a blog we found, Gluten Free Jacksonville.

Fionn MacCool's Irish Restaurant and Pub at The Landing: We have eaten here twice since Ryan gave up gluten and cheese and both times the servers were so helpful and seemed to genuinely care about Ryan's restrictions. They both offered to speak with the chef to give us the rundown on what had gluten and what didn't. Certain seemingly "safe" options were quickly ruled out: the bangers (sausage) are made with grain and the boxty (made of potatoes) also has grain in it. Any meat by itself is safe as well as most of the vegetable side items. Since he could not eat the traditional Irish breakfast on St. Patty's Day, they instead made him a plate of rasher bacon and eggs. So, while they don't have a ton of gluten-free options, they are very understanding and make every effort to accomodate someone steering clear of gluten (and cheese). Plus, they serve Strongbow which, according to Strongbow's website, is gluten free and delicious!

PF Changs at St. John's Town Center: We were surprised to find out that soy sauce usually has gluten in it! Apparently this is because wheat is used to aid in fermenting the soy beans used for soy sauce. Luckily, you can buy gluten-free Tamari (a Japanese soy sauce) at Publix and health food stores which is every bit as delicious as soy sauce. How do you avoid soy sauce at a Chinese restaurant? Go to PF Changs! They have an entire section of their regular menu that has gluten free options and substitutes gluten-free Tamari for soy sauce. We tried the shrimp fried rice and it was absolutely wonderful. Add a few glasses of wine and you have a delicious dinner that doesn't feel like you're sacrificing good food for gluten free food.

TacoLu, Jacksonville Beach: I love TacoLu!! Just pulling up to their building makes you fall in love with this place. The food is so fresh and yummy. The interior is super artsy and has everything from Dia de los Muertos skeletons painted on the walls to Sacred Hearts in frames and religious candles on the tables. The best part for the gluten averse? Corn tortillas, gluten free corn chips (on request, with a separate salsa to avoid contamination from us gluten eaters) and knowledgeable servers who know to tell you to steer clear of certain menu items (Carne Asada taco, marinated in soy sauce) and suggest delicious gluten-free alternatives! While parking can definitely be an issue (everyone else loves to TacoLu too), they do offer complimentary valet parking if you are unable to find a spot. You may also have a wait but I promise, both of these cons are worth the innumerable pros! I often judge Mexican restaurants on their salsa and boy, do they have good salsa! Garlic-y and amazing! Ryan had a grilled mahi taco with mango salsa and some other taco with grape salsa (I think it was a special for that day with some type of white fish). I had the Baja mahi taco which is not gluten free, because the fish is breaded and fried, but I believe they can grill it instead. TacoLu offers a gluten free beer, but Ryan decided to try the sangria and he was not disappointed. If I had more than 2 thumbs, I would give that many thumbs up to TacoLu :)

Taverna, San Marco: We visited Taverna after reading on Gluten Free Jacksonville that they had a gluten free menu and seemed to "get it". I hate to report that we were extremely disappointed by Taverna. Maybe we just happened to make bad choices but after ordering a few appetizers from the gluten free menu, we didn't bother to stick around for dinner. The only highlight of our brief trip were the drinks: Ryan had a glass of wine and I had a basil and Prosecco concoction that was very pretty and very tasty! (Taverna does not have a liquor license, so all of their cocktails are made with wine)
To start, we ordered fried fingerling potatoes served with an aioli sauce that was decent but rather bland. We then had sauteed calamari served with tomato, lemon and capers(waaaay too many bitter flavors...very unbalanced) and garlic and chili prawns (very fishy tasting...how do you mess up shrimp?!).
After these items, we decided to ask for the check. If I thought there was anything they could have done to fix these items, I would have mentioned it to a manager, but it seemed like the food was just not good...harder to fix than simply undercooked or overseasoned. Taverna is very chic looking and we enjoyed the drinks, but I wouldn't eat there again!

So far, the gluten-free, cheese-free journey has been a hard one for Ryan but he says that he feels so good, he's thinking of making this a permanent decision. People don't always understand and it makes life more difficult since so many social activities are tied to food and drinking (beer), but where your health is concerned, sometimes you have to make the hard choices. I'm proud of Ryan for having the willpower to do what it takes to feel better and I'll do everything I can to support him. This means, yes, I'll buy gluten free bread and pasta at the grocery store and I'll stand by him as being that "pain in the butt couple" but, sorry, I'm probably going to eat an entire loaf of bread dipped in olive oil by myself at Italian restaurants.

Do you have any experience eating gluten free in Jacksonville or anywhere else? Please let me know in the comments!