Olive Grove Restaurant Victoria, BC Canada

Another great find thanks to www.celiacscene.com.  This restaurant has a very knowledgeable staff.  It has the atmosphere of a fancy restaurant, but it really wasn't very expensive.  Go on a Monday or Tuesday for their special "Pasta Night" where you can chose from a large variety of pasta for under $10.  Yes, they have GF rice noodles and can prepare most meals GF.

When we were seated, I informed my waiter I had Celiac.  He brought out bread for my family and I was pleasantly surprised that they brought out a small dish of hummus with GF crackers for me.  What a nice touch!  The waiter was very knowledgeable and a woman also came over to tell me which pizza toppings were GF.  Yes....they had GF pizza!

The first night we went, I ordered the Olive Grove Pasta (see menu below)  It was delicious & it was so nice to have a restaurant that I felt it was safe to eat & that my family could get the gluten foods they love.  My husband and youngest son got pasta also (pasta night!) and my 17 year old got a pizza.  Everyone gave their food a thumbs up.

We went back the next night and I ordered the house specialty.  Georges Lamb Kleftiko Style.  I have actually never tried lamb before, but the waiter made it sound delicious.  I also ordered a Greek salad. It was a very nice meal.  The meat just fell off the bone.

Overall it was an awesome experience.  The only drawback is when I ordered an appletini made with potato vodka.  The waiter assured me they had Russian vodka and surely it was potato.  I warned him most vodkas are made with grain.  He brought me a delicious looking martini, but came back a minute later (luckily before I tried it) and swiftly removed it from the table.   He had checked the label, which I greatly appreciate, and saw that it was made with grain.  He & another waiter checked all of the vodka bottles and all were grain.  He went out of his way to offer me selections of other grain free liquors & they even have a GF beer, but I passed.  Hopefully from this experience, they will now stock potato vodka.

Overall, the staff was very welcoming, the atmosphere was wonderful & the food was delicious.  I would highly recommend this restaurant.  Photos are: The menu, my appetizer, my pasta and my lamb dinner. 

http://olivegrove.ca/

Sassy's Family Restaurant in BC, Canada

I love breakfast food, however I am always worried about cross contamination. While searching my handy mobile page http://www.theceliacscene.com, I found a place called Sassy's. The page said they had GF options, so I called to ask questions. They assured me they were very informed about Celiac Disease & told me their website, so I could look at the menu. They had items marked with a (C) for celiac friendly!

 http://www.sassys.ca/

We went to the restaurant & everyone was SO friendly. The place was really cute. I ordered a GF meal & also informed my server that I had Celiac. She said she would make sure no cross contamination occurred. They had a GF toast option and it was the best bread I've had. It was of a normal size & was white. Yum! They had peanutbutter and jelly on the table so I made myself a PB&J sandwich for later.

My non-celiac family loved the food too.  It's nice that I can find a place where we can compromise.

I highly recommend Sassy's! Gotta love a place that tells you what wine goes with eggs Benedict!

Thai Gem in Canada

We checked out a couple of places for food safety & settled on Pad Thai Restaurant that was right across the street from our hotel.

I am so newly GF that eating out scares me to death. Something I have to get over while on a road trip through Canada!

The restaurant smelled like heaven and I immediately told the server that I couldn't have gluten. He told me no problem & not to worry. He told me he would put NO GLUTEN on the ticket & that they could make everything GF. He even made suggestions & it really helped me feel better.

I had Pad Thai with shrimp & my favorite Tom Yum soup. It was the best Tom Yum I've had! I am sure we will be back!

http://padthairestaurant.ca/