Oh My Gosh! - Lunch at Carino's Italian Grill was fabulous!

[Guest guest]

Only another celiac can truly understand how much it means to eat out

at a restaurant and absolutely enjoy your meal! That is what

happened to me today, and I couldn't wait to share with you.

I had lunch at Carino's Italian Grill in Gilroy this afternoon. I

went shopping at the Gilroy outlets, and this fine restaurant was

only one exit down on Highway 101 from the outlets! Carino's is also

located in Fremont and Antioch - and other locations further outside

the Bay Area.

Carino's Italian Grill (or ny Carino's) is a chain of restaurants

that works with the the GIG group (like Outback and pfChangs) to

provide a gluten-free menu for us. On Carino's website (just type

www. and then carinos.com in your web browser) and you will be

brought to their website. Right there under menus are the magic

words " Gluten Free! "

I spoke with Carino's manager, Castro, and even though he was

not familiar with gluten-free, I gave him a print-out of the website

gluten-free menu, and he read it thoroughly and was so

accommodating! He even suggested that he should tell the chef to use

clean tongs when he took a piece of chicken to cook so I knew that he

understood the perils we face when eating out. (They always use

clean pans for each order.)

Okay, now to the good stuff. What is Gilroy noted for - their

garlic, of course! They brought out a plate of little roasted garlic

pieces and then poured their wonderful concoction of oil, vinegar and

herbs for us to dip our bread in. Of course I couldn't eat the

bread, but thinking ahead, I had toasted and buttered a couple of

pieces of Kinnikinnick english muffins and had kept them warm so I

asked for a separate plate of garlic and oil to dip my bread in. It

was absolute heaven, not too garlicy - just absolutely delicious. I

then had a bowl of Italian chili soup (their garlic potato and

Italian chili soups are gluten-free). I began to tear up a little

bit at that point because I was so happy - SOUP! The manager even

brought out the ingredients to the soup so I could I be sure!

Now on to the entrees! Well, they don't have g-f pasta yet, but will

substitute veggies or potatoes for the pasta. I ordered the chicken

scaloppini with roasted red potatoes. Their sauce of sliced

mushrooms, diced roma tomatoes and bacon in a lemon butter cream

sauce is to die for! Okay, by then I was absolutely euphoric! The

only thing I would do different is ask for the potatoes on the side

because they put the chicken on top of the potatoes and then poured

that wonderful sauce on top of it all (like they do the pasta). The

manager was so sweet - he ordered another plate of red potatoes for

me! They have ice cream for dessert, but I was so full and happy by

that time, I didn't have room!

They have other wonderful entrees - grilled chicken diavolo, lemon

rosemary chicken, chicken marsala, grilled strip steak, cedar planked

salmon, etc. You should have to be sure to tell them not to flour

the chicken and substitute sauteed green beans, garlic sauteed

spinach or roasted red potatoes! Who knows! Maybe if enough of us

go there to eat they might even bring in some g-f pasta!!

I'm secretly hoping the pair of shoes I bought at the outlet doesn't

fit so I can use that as an excuse to head back down there and enjoy

another meal very soon!

Hope you make it to one of the restaurants and have such a great

experience like I did. The usual disclaimer - eating out is risky!

Enjoy!

Sue