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