Gluten Free Friendly Restaurants with Kid Friendly Menus can be a hard to find, but they are out there!
The search for kid friendly restaurants with gluten free options.
If your family is anything like mine, they occasionally like to go out to eat, but eating out with my one year old can be quite a challenge. She is not gluten free, and there is nothing she likes more than throwing her gluten-encrusted dinner all over me. She has glutened me on more than one occasion. When she is with me I really need her to eat gluten free, she doesn’t need a sick mama. I started thinking,
Are there any places I would want to take my daughter that have gluten free menus for kids?
Adults aren’t the only ones who need gluten free menus. There are many children who have celiac disease and gluten sensitivity as well. Finding gluten free friendly restaurants to accommodate gluten free eating for children was not as easy as I hoped. I almost gave up all together. There were several criteria I was looking for:
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Reasonably loud. I know, I know, who wants to eat in a loud restaurant. Someone who has a one year old, that is who.
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Has a kid menu with gluten free options, or has a regular menu with “kid friendly” food.
- Is generally knowledgeable about working with celiac disease/gluten sensitivity and allergies.
It wasn’t easy. There are lots of restaurants that claim to be gluten free friendly, but few have any training. After quite a bit of research, these were the four national chain restaurants that I personally found to have the best options for kids and adults.
Please remember, whenever eating out to use your better judgement. If you would like some tips on eating out gluten free, you can read my post 4 Tips to Dining Out Gluten-Free. For help on what questions to ask when eating out, download our FREE Dining Card!
The 4 Gluten Free Friendly Restaurants
Mellow Mushroom
While they do not have a gluten free kids menu, they do have pizza. What kid doesn’t love pizza? This is one of the few places I will actually eat gluten free pizza. At our local Mellow Mushroom they have a cook who is specially trained to make your pizza (in a separate area) and the same cook also brings it out to your table to help diminish the risk of cross contamination. Plus, they have an awesome VW van, huge TV’s playing sports and even if my baby throws a tantrum, it’s so loud no one will notice.
Check out the gluten free menu here:
Mellow Mushroom Gluten Free Menu
Mellow Mushroom Full Allergen Menu
Outback
Outback has a fairly extensive gluten free menu and in most locations the staff is well trained. It is a great all around family restaurant. It is also one of the few gluten free friendly restaurants that has a variety of menu offerings for children.
Kid’s Menu:
Bunless Burger
Sirloin Medallions
Chicken Breast
Ribs
Check out their gluten free menu here:
Red Robin
Red Robin is basically a burgers and fries place. Their claim to fame in the gluten free world is that they have gluten free buns. You do not have to have your burger on a stack of lettuce. Most locations also have a dedicated fryer for the french fries. (Always remember to ask, a quick way to ruin a gluten free item is to fry it in oil with other items that contain gluten. Gluten can not be “killed” by high heat).
Kid’s Menu:
Chicken Stickens
Burger with Gluten Free Bun
Chicken Burger
Turkey Burger
Steak Fries!
Check out their gluten free menu here:
PF Changs
Honestly, their kid menu was a bit slim, but I was really trying to find a fourth option that had something other than burgers. The great thing about PF Changs is that they are very careful about labeling their gluten free dishes. The plates are clearly marked and in my experience, the servers have had some training on how to address gluten free dining.
The Kids Menu:
Fried Rice
Buddha Veggie Platter
Many of the adult gluten free entrees are perfectly fine for children as well.
Check out their gluten free menu here:
Do you have a favorite place to take the kids that is gluten free friendly? Let us know in the comments!
11 Comments
Jesus Betancourt
July 10, 2018 at 10:14 pmMy daughter enjoys P.F. Chang’s and also need to go to Bolay’s in Pembroke Pines.
Amanda
July 18, 2018 at 1:16 pmPF Changs is really good! They walked me through their procedures one time and I was impressed. I haven’t been to Bolay’s yet, but I’ve heard amazing things about it. I think they are opening one in Miami soon!
Stacy
July 29, 2016 at 11:43 amSo nice to have kid friendly options that support all dietary needs…thanks for sharing!
James Viteri
July 25, 2016 at 11:22 pmHi Amanda.
These a great tips. We love to go to Red Robbin for GF hamburger. Have you tried BJ’s ? They have a good GF menu. Just let them know because they have made mistakes with our order. Their Pizookie cookie with ice cream for dessert is delicious. Ask for the GF version. Cheers.
Amanda
July 26, 2016 at 8:17 pmHi James! I have tried BJ’s. I didn’t include them in this post because I wasn’t sure how “child friendly” it was. I haven’t tried the cookie though, I’ll have to next time!
Brianna @Flippin' Delicious
February 16, 2016 at 10:09 pmLuckily my kids don’t have to eat GF, but recently we had to cut dairy out of our baby’s diet. Figuring out what she can eat… I am reading every allergen kids menu I can find online. Thanks for putting this together.
Amanda
February 17, 2016 at 7:44 amMy daughter isn’t gf either, but I’ve glutened myself on more than one occasion while feeding her a kids meal at a restaurant that was not gluten free. It’s what gave me the idea, it was hard to find places, but links to allergen menu’s are so helpful!
Chrystal @ Gluten-Free Palate
February 16, 2016 at 10:28 amI love that we have all of these restaurants close to us 🙂 Thanks for the info.
Best,
Chrystal
Amanda
February 16, 2016 at 2:46 pmAwesome! They were hard to find, but I think they are all good options!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
February 16, 2016 at 6:45 amI’ve never been to any, but it’s great to have restaurants that have clear GF menus for us all!
Amanda
February 16, 2016 at 8:06 amIt was so hard to find any that had options for kids. Generally, I try to eat at local places, and luckily my daughter will eat anything, but when we are with family they like to eat out and finding safe places that are national is so hard!