Not Your Average Joe’s has had a gluten-free menu for sometime now, but they recently revamped their menu to include gluten-free buns!  The buns are both gluten and dairy-free (contain egg whites and soy) and are made in a dedicated gluten-free, tree nut and peanut-free facility.  There are three different sandwiches to go along with the buns and also offered on the menu are plenty of entrees, salads and appetizers too.

The childrens’ menu features Grilled Salmon, a Sirloin Burger or a Grilled Chicken Sandwich with a choice of vegetable, fresh fruit (nice to see!) or mashed potato (avoid the fries here, no dedicated fryer!).

On our visit we tried the Turkey BLT with the greens and the kids had the Sirloin Burger.  One of whom didn’t care for the choice of sides or the thought of  ’eating a cow’ and ended up with only a plain roll- thanks Joe for not charging us $9 for that one roll!  Their meal also came with a Hoodsie, but raspberry sorbet could be substitited if dairy is an issue.  Most of the items at Joe’s are made to order so accomodating other food intolerances may be possible.   

Be sure to ask for the gluten-free bread for dipping in their flavored oil prior to your meal.  We were not aware of this treat until reviewing the menu later which reads  ”Each meal begins with a gluten-free version of Joe’s legendary bread and dip.”  Oh well, I guess another visit is necessary! 

UPDATE:  Since this post was written, there has been a change in the bun purveyor. They are currently using Buckwheat’s  Gluten-Free Burger Rolls which are made in a dedicated facility. 

Recently, we had the opportunity to tour the plant of the soon to be opened ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD.  Baker and owner George  has been creating tempting dishes at Fresh Start for years and has now formulated delicious recipes to allow people living with diet restrictions to feel like regular folk.  This plant is a dedicated gluten, soy, nut and sesame-free facility!  In addition, they will offer dairy-free and sugar-free products too!  I was also glad to hear that they will have no GMO ingredients, artificial flavorings or colorings in their products. 

To decrease the risk of outside cross-contamination, they have a strict employee policy of no outside food containing allergens allowed (for example, no peanut butter sandwiches on gluten containing bread for lunch) and they will have an on-site lab for product testing as they are commited to coming in under the pending FDA standard of 20 ppm gluten. 

Kindhearted (and business savy) George does not have any food restrictions but met many customers with special dietary needs so he took it upon himself to formulate incredibly tasty treats to fill the needs of this customer base.  He plans to offer breads, cakes and sweets as well as an extensive amount of dishes including fresh pasta, parmesans, meatballs, meatloaf and croutons.  The full list runs the gamut from breakfast foods through dinner.  He will also have weekly meals available for purchase so you can load up on dinners for the week. Wouldn’t that make life easier!

We sampled cookies, brownies, pound cake, flourless chocolate torte and sandwich bread.  The rice flour/tapioca based sandwich bread tasted great whether plain or toasted.  Offered in the future will be quinoa and multigrain loaves.  All were wonderful tasting and very much “too good to be true”.  My kids kept whispering to me, “Is this gluten?” And when I told them repeatedly that the food was safe to eat, my daughter proclaimed “This is the best day of my life!”      

ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD will house a retail store, online mail order as well as a cafe!  I am so eager to return this spring to try more of the fantastic edibles from this enterprise.