Gluten free guide to Athens: top restaurants and dishes to try
As dieting and healthy eating trends continue to gain popularity, gluten free restaurants are bound to follow. Gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye that provides dough with its stretchy consistency and helps ingredients bind together. Though dieting is one path leading to gluten free living, many aren’t left with a choice.
Gluten allergies, intolerances and Celiac Disease can leave people suffering symptoms such as upset stomachs, rashes, nausea or in Celiac’s case, a slow deterioration of the small intestines and vulnerability to autoimmune complications. In situations like these, avoiding gluten at all costs is the only solution and strictly adhering to the diet is necessary. Therefore, it is important to be aware of possible cross contamination at restaurants. Cross contamination occurs when the usage of shared utensils, surfaces, friers or other preparation stages result in gluten contact. Dieting situations often dilute the levels of severity in gluten free eating. For someone on a diet voluntarily, cross contamination isn’t as much of a concern as it would be for others. This is why restaurants and staff that have an understanding of these concepts are very important.
When I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2017, I faced a learning curve that stretches through today. Finding restaurants that handle gluten free situations seriously and also make food that I enjoy was difficult. Gluten free eating was a change I experienced very abruptly, as the prior 11 years of my life weren’t gluten free. Over time, after countless google searches, company contacts and isolating situations, I’ve widened my pool of food opportunities.
Athens is a diverse community with a variety of unique restaurants that offer a mixed bag of gluten free possibilities. As a customer, it can be hard to tell how a request will be handled, so I hope my experiences can help others find what they need.
Your Pie
Though in recent years the Five Points and Eastside locations have closed, Your Pie still has many locations across the country, including one in Beechwood Shopping Center. Making brick oven style pizza, Your Pie creates a handcrafted experience, allowing customers to select their own combination of toppings and crusts as it is being made in front of them. Your Pie offers vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free options. When requesting a gluten free crust, if it’s an established allergy, the pizza will be made in the back kitchen with uncontaminated ingredients. Restaurants rarely use this process, especially ones that have such high levels of cross contamination possibilities in just toppings alone. Your Pie also cooks gluten free pizzas in a pan, providing not only contactless cooking in the brick oven, but also a crisper crust. Due to the typical crumbly consistency of gluten free crusts, soft crust is more common. Your Pie’s addition of the aluminum pan helps generate more heat around the crust and allow it to be thoroughly cooked. However, this can lead to overbaked or burnt crust. Despite those occasions, Your Pie is clearly knowledgeable enough in regards to gluten free risks, creating a restaurant experience where I can feel confident.
5/5
Another Broken Egg Cafe
Another Broken Egg Cafe opened on March 19. With eight locations around Georgia, its newest edition is located on West Broad Street. This unique establishment focuses on creating southern inspired food, serving breakfast, lunch and brunch options. The cafe offers both gluten free and vegetarian options, providing a separate menu for both at request. The gluten free options are described as “gluten friendly,” meaning though the company will try their best, they cannot fully guarantee a gluten-absent meal, mostly to avoid liability. Despite this fact, their gluten free menu is full of many lunch and breakfast options, even offering a gluten free bread for many sandwich options. Though they can’t fully confirm complete lack of cross contamination, if asked they will try their best to clean surfaces and utensils during preparation. During breakfast they offer gluten-friendly pancakes, accompanied by a side of your choice. The sides aren’t explicitly listed, so I did have to ask about what sides would be considered safe. The pancakes themselves were a bit undercooked and bland, so toppings in or on the pancakes would be a good addition to add some extra flavor. Though Another Broken Egg Cafe provides many unique gluten free options, the overall lack of flavor and confidence of safety in the food makes it difficult to choose over the other few gluten free breakfast establishments in Athens.
3/5
Gusto!
With the motto to “live with gusto” or in other words live with enthusiasm, Gusto! brings a modern and bright environment to their diverse food selection. Originating in Atlanta, the restaurant has locations around Georgia, one being on Alps Road. When walking through the doors, you are greeted with a menu of just seven bowls alongside a seasonal option, with a question above asking “what’s your gusto?” Each bowl has its own sauce, and salad with the choice of a protein and a base. Gusto! takes on flavors inspired by many cultures and cuisines around the world and translates them into individual bowls. The menu itself identifies which bowls do not contain gluten. My personal favorite is the chipotle mango avocado bowl, combining savory, sweet and spicy flavors. The only qualm lies in the amount of gluten free options available, as only three bowls are officially, one being the current seasonal bowl. The other bowls vary from being vegan, vegetarian and dairy free, but gluten free options are much more lacking.
4/5
