gluten free (Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert: buy, school, restaurants)

[jmorrall]

possible relocation to the western area of phoenix. thinking of verrado or estrella right now. we are a gluten free family. any dining or shopping suggestions?

[CheyDee]

For shopping, Sprouts has a very nice selection at reasonable prices. They have several stores in the valley.

[britishbees]

Again for shopping, Whole Foods has a huge range of gluten free products. There are a number of stores throughout the Valley.

[Finger Laker]

No whole foods that I know of in the SW Valley - but there is a sprouts @ dysart & mcdowell and it does have a pretty good selection, even gluten free beer

some restaurants are expanding their gluten free options .... one of my coworkers has concerns/issues so she's more up on it than me .... off the top of my head the main place that sticks out in the area you mentioned would be Picazzos Pizza off Indian School by Millenium HS - they have a very large gluten free menu

[Border Scot]

Not trying to hijack the OP's thread but what about the Queen Creek area or the SE area in general. My Daughter-in-Law requires a gluten free diet and the kids will be visiting soon. It would be nice to have some dining options available for them.

[CheyDee]

There are a couple of Sprouts in Mesa and one on Val Vista & 202/SanTan, in Gilbert. The latter one is closest to QC. If you click on their link, which I posted above, you can find all of their store locations. Comparing the ones I've been to, the stores are so similar they're almost identical. What I mean is each of their stores seem to carry the same items.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Border Scot

Not trying to hijack the OP's thread but what about the Queen Creek area or the SE area in general. My Daughter-in-Law requires a gluten free diet and the kids will be visiting soon. It would be nice to have some dining options available for them.

There is a Whole Foods in Chandler on Ray and 101. There is a Sprouts in Chandler on Ray and Dobson. There are several Fresh and Easy markets that have some gluten free products. They would have to take the 202 West and then take the 101 North and exit on Ray and go east (right).

[aiwei]

I buy Trader Joe's brown rice pasta and penn pasta. It's the best tasting brand for the price. $1.99 per LB. Whole Foods has Tynkyada brand which is very tasty too, but pricey. Above $3 per 12oz. WF also carries a GF pizza mix in paper bag that is very good. About $7. Both TJ and WF has a GF list at their cust service counter. You could ask for one before you start shopping there. My husband requires GF diet and we have been to all our local stores and suggesting to them to market GF foods and label them on shelves. Just lats week I noticed Fry's, Albertson's, and Safeway shelves now have GF labels. But these are not grouped together for easy one-stop shopping.

Eating out is tricky. Many places tout GF menu but they inevitably contaminate their cooking surface and cooking utensils with gluten. Beware that most places use one pot of oil for deep frying breaded foods and one griddle for cooking and only rinse out skillets with water between dishes. My husband has had bad reactions after he had supposedly GF dishes. So we have almost stopped going out to eat at all. But once in a great while, we go for Vietnamese food, especially pho noodle soup and spring rolls, both are made with white rice.

We do not recommend Chinese food while eating out, because most soy sauce is made from wheat.

[Border Scot]

Aiwei,

Thanks for your insight on eating out. That was my primary concern since my son and his family will only be visiting a couple of times a year. Looks like I'll have to learn how to cook some good gluten free dishes.

[BecomingJane]

I would agree with Trader Joes and Sprouts. Also in the SE valley there is the Gluten Free Country Store in Gilbert on Val Vista, just north of the 202 (San Tan).

http://www.gfcountrystore.com