Big Daddy's Burger Bar

As many people with Celiac's Disease, I've become accustomed to eating my burger's without a bun. It's often the cause of a little bit of ridicule at a cook out ("What, are you trying to lose weight or something?") or at the Wendy's drive-thru ("You ain't want no breaaad!??"). The low carb trend was a big help because many restaurants got used to the idea of people ordering burger's without buns. Basically, I came to terms with the fact that my version of a burger would always include a knife and fork.
Not so fast. Back in April, when my parent's were in town, we stopped at Big Daddy's Burger Bar in Dilworth for brunch. On the way out, my dad stopped and read the posted menu on the outside wall.

"You know they have a gluten free menu here?" He asked me. At first, I wasn't surprised; so many restaurants claim to have a "Gluten Free Menu" when really, all it is is a collection of their salad list. We left the restaurant and I didn't think about it again for a while. I received a couple of texts from friends over the following month about the gluten free menu there (my friends have gotten in the habit of pointing out everything they see that's gluten free and I'm grateful for it).

I finally found myself back at Big Daddy's Burger Bar and decided to check this gluten free menu out for myself. I was surprised to find that it was pretty in depth and even included gluten free buns! After talking with the waitress, I found out that the actual burger has to be made gluten free because the seasoning used in the regular burgers contained gluten. Also, they offered Cape Cod potato chips to gluten free customers because they couldn't guarantee the GF-ness (new word?) of their other side items. If you don't want the gluten free bun, they also offer a lettuce wrap (Good bye fork! Good bye knife!).

I ordered the gluten free burger with cheese AND the gluten free bun, pretty excited to try it out. When it came, my roommate, who was sitting across from me, told me it looked like a biscuit rather than a bun. I took a second look and she was right, but what did I care, I just wanted to find out how it tasted. The first bite was pretty dry and very crumbly. I felt like I was clutching on to pieces of the biscuit-bun for dear life so that it didn't fall apart all together. As I ate more of the burger, the bun began to absorb the juice from the burger and became soggy to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. I was not impressed, and slightly embarrassed by how difficult this burger was to eat.

I came back a second time and gave the bun a second chance, but got the same result. I found out that The Thoughtful Baker is the actual creator of this gluten free bun and while I very much appreciate the thoughtfulness behind it, the actual bun is not impressive what-so-ever.

Now when I go to Big Daddy's I order the Gluten Free burger, without a bun. The servers are always extremely helpful and quick to point out that certain items I order (the pesto) are not guaranteed to be Gluten Free.

Honestly, I absolutely love Big Daddy's and the fact that they're so informed of the GF allergy is a great help, I just wouldn't recommend getting the Gluten Free bun. Here's their information if you'd like to check it out for yourself:

www.bigdaddysburgerbar.com

1626 East Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28203-5822
(704) 714-4888

I LOVE Cupcakes

Some of you may know that my job involves working with children with autism. Recently I started getting a lot of questions from parents of these kids about the connection between autism and gluten. I researched it a little bit, but honestly, I still don't feel knowledgeable enough to give any definitive answer. I can tell you that GI problems are much more prevalent in children with autism than in typical children, but as for a gluten-free diet "curing" autism, I really don't know much about it.

Anyways, the point of all this is that A LOT of the kids I work with are on either a Gluten-Free diet, a Dairy free diet or a Gluten AND Casein free diet. One of the moms and I were talking about gluten free food the other day and she asked if I was familiar with Polka Dot Bake Shop. I told her that I had never heard of it which surprised her because it's literally under 5 minutes from my house. She told me that they offered gluten free cupcakes every other Wednesdays! She happened to tell me this last Wednesday so I immediately called the bakery when I left her house to see if I was lucky enough to have discovered them on a GF Wednesday. Unfortunately, the guy that answered the phone told me that I'd have to wait until next Wednesday.

As I was driving home from work today, around 5:30, I realized it was Wednesday. I called Polka Dot to see what time they closed. The girl on the phone told me they closed at 6:00 but would let me in if I couldn't make it there by then. She chatted with me as I rushed through traffic (the fastest I've ever driven for cupcakes) and told me that they currently had chocolate cupcakes with either buttercream or chocolate frosting. I ordered 2 of each. She also informed me that they were giving away banana cupcakes that they were trying out. I told her to box me up some of those as well.

I made it there just at 6:00 and my cupcakes were sitting on a box on the counter with the banana cupcakes in a bag on top. The 4 cupcakes came to a little over $10.00 (a steal for gluten free cupcakes if you ask me). I couldn't wait until I got home so I bit into one of the banana cupcakes in the car -- it tasted just like banana bread! It wasn't crumbly and dry like other GF cupcakes I had tried - these were moist and delicious! I couldn't wait to get home and try one of the chocolate cupcakes.
I opened the box when I got home, and noticed that this girl was either terrible at counting, or a cupcake angel - she had included an extra chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. I tried my best to eat it slowly and savor it, but it was gone in a matter of seconds -- it was that delicious!

I absolutely recommend this bakery to any one gluten free or even not gluten free. Oh, and the best part is, they've had so many calls about GF cupcakes, that they've decided to offer them every Wednesday! Enjoy :)

More from Zada Janes

So I went ahead and e-mailed the owner of Zada Janes to find out more about their Gluten Free menu items and was happy to find out that there are more GF options other than the pancakes!

Rebecca,

Wow and thank you for the response and inquiries.
Actually, the g-free pancake are the "bready" item but we do carry Sami's millet & flax bread, which is 99% g-free. We ask folks whether they are celiac before serving Sami's.
Unfortunately we use flour tortillas for the Bunny Rancheros. However, you can sub the millet & flax bread for a .50 cent upcharge. I do believe our spinach wrap is g-free, but I will have to get back to you on that issue. Also, I don't think it works to good with the Bunny.

The eggs are hormone-free/cage free and we add nothing except a little vegetable oil to the pan for the omelets.
Ah the sweet potatoes! Ain't they dee-lish! We go thru a dang ton of them every week and we do it all right there in our precious and loverly little kitchen. I do not know exactly what you mean by thickeners so the only thing I can think of that you are suggesting... would be butter.

Most importantly we try to keep it simple and use l-o-v-e as the main ingredient in all that we do for you the customer.

I may need a little enlightening on the g-free issue as I thought gluten was mainly in bread products. Please let me know other products to look for it in and I will update you on what we offer that I may not know about so you can make your article more better.

Sincerely,
Roger
----

I went there this morning for breakfast and although I didn't order the Sami's bread, I did get the sweet potato hashbrowns which are absolutely amazing! I was a little worried at first because when I asked to substitute of GF pancake the server told me they might be out of them... luckily they weren't:

I highly recommend checking this place out. I'll continue to post anything more I find out about gluten free items!

A pleasant surprise

One thing I missed most when I went to college was homemade pancakes. My mom had tried a million different recipes, and finally found that the best pancakes came from The Really Great Food Company. I missed the smell of pancakes cooking on Sunday mornings when I woke up. I especially missed smothering the pancakes in butter and watching it melt under the dripping maple syrup (hungry yet?).

In college, it wasn't just my lack of cooking skills that kept me from making pancakes, but my general laziness. There's something about OTHER people making you pancakes that make them taste SO much better. So I was deprived of yummy gluten free pancakes for four years, with the occasional treat when I went home for holidays and summers.

Well, I recently had a ton of friends from college visit me in Charlotte. We all woke up Sunday morning, starving, but too lazy to make anything. We had been told about a funky breakfast brunch place called Zada Janes over in Plaza Midwood. We decided to head over, and as soon as we got to the lime green restaurant we realized everyone else had the same idea. This place was packed! We stood in the middle of the restaurant and decided to get our meals to-go and then eat them outside by the shuffle board court (Yes, they have shuffle board at the restaurant!). As I browsed the menu for eggs and bacon, my usual GF breakfast staple, my roommate got my attention, "Look! They have gluten free pancakes!" I was doubtful and didn't want to get my hopes up, so I scanned the menu myself. Sure enough, for $2.00 extra, you could substitute regular pancakes in any breakfast combo for gluten free pancakes.
I was ecstatic. Gluten free pancakes!? In a restaurant!? No way! We made our way over to the counter to order. I was sure that when I made the special request, the server would look at me like I was crazy. I ordered my meal, and he didn't even bat an eye. I asked him about the name of the place, which he said originated from his grandmother's name. He was very friendly, and even though he was clearly overwhelmed with orders, I decided to ask him about why they had gluten free pancakes. "I don't see why more restaurants don't have gluten free items to choose from!" he told me - as if this were commonplace.

We all waited patiently for our food and then took a seat on the wall bordering the restaurant to enjoy our breakfasts. I opened the styrofoam container nervously. What if they were awful? I poured the syrup on and took my first bite. They weren't bad at all! Definitely not the homemade pancakes that I was used to, but they tasted pretty good AND I didn't have to make them myself!

So there you have it. Gluten free pancakes at Zada Janes. Here's the address and website if you want to check it out:

1601 Central Ave
Charlotte, NC 28205
(Corner of Central and Thomas)
704-332-3663
www.zadajanes.com

More Pizza

Before my adventure to Fuel pizza, and even before officially moving to Charlotte, I had tried a different gluten free pizza.... Donatos GF Pizza. Unfortunately, I was pretty unimpressed. Even though the manager was more than helpful and friendly, I couldn't pretend to enjoy the pizza. Instead of a typical gluten free crust, Donatos uses soy flakes made of low fat IP Soy Flour, rice pieces, sunflower oil, sea salt. I ordered the pepperoni "pizza," expecting it to taste something like the frozen pizzas I was used to making at home. In my opinion, it tasted like pasta sauce, pepperoni and cheese cooked on a soggy rice cake. With that said -- Donatos does offer 4 delicious salads, so you can enjoy the friendly atmosphere without suffering through a crustless pizza! Sorry to be such a downer about it, but I will share another delicious gluten free pizza place in upcoming posts!

Pizza Pizza

So my first mission in Charlotte was to find gluten free pizza. I had gotten used to the healthy gluten free pizza at zPizza in Columbia, but wanted something a little greasier. I had heard about Fuel Pizza on South Boulevard and wanted to check it out for myself.



I loved the place as soon as I walked in. The menu clearly said "Gluten Free Pizza" and they also serve Redbridge (gluten free beer)! The pizza took a while to come out and my friends were halfway done with their slices by the time I got my full pizza, but it was worth the wait. It's a thin crust and a little hard to pick up, but it didn't crumble or fall apart like other gluten free pizzas. I didn't get the gluten free beer, but I think it would have been a good addition.

I ended up taking half of the pizza home because it was way too big to eat for one meal, and it was almost as good the next day.



Oh, and the best part is that THEY DELIVER! Even though it's right down the street from me, I've definitely enjoyed the convenience of having pizza delivered on a Saturday afternoon.

One disappointment was that when I went to Fuel Pizza in Uptown, they told me that they didn't offer gluten free pizza at that location.

Here's the information for the location that I went to:

1801 South Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28202
(704) 335-7375
www.fuelpizza.com

Enjoy!

Starting the adventure

Moving to a new city is tough, but it's even tougher when you're gluten free. I moved to Charlotte in February and was disappointed to find no real directory of gluten free restaurants, grocery stores, pizza places, etc. so I decided to venture out on my own and find some. This blog will be an ongoing collection of things I come across in Charlotte (and maybe other cities once in a while when I travel). Unfortunately I'm not much of a chef or baker so I won't be including recipes just yet but maybe someday!

I'll also be including places that server Woodchuck (a gluten free cider) and Redbridge (a gluten free beer). Hope you enjoy it!