Gluten Free in Orlando, Florida - Part 5: Restaurants Outside the Parks and Wholefoods

So, I'll admit we did most of our Florida gluten free eating inside the parks, but we still had a few evening meals in restaurants on I-Drive and  the surrounding area.

Bahama Breeze

This was definitely my favourite restaurant chain, just because I love Caribbean food and really liked the vibe, we ate at the one on I-Drive twice (near the Wonderworks building), both times we had to wait around 30mins (they operate a pager system). They were really friendly and knowledgeable about gluten and offered us lots of choices. Both times I had the grilled chicken with cilantro crema, mashed potatoes topped with toasted corn. Totally gluten free and really tasty. Seb had grilled chicken breast and fries (dedicated fryer) both times. You can see their menus HERE but unfortunately they do not mark them gluten free.

Outback

Brilliant for coeliacs! They even have a dedicate gluten free menu, I think this is probably my top choice for a gluten free friendly restaurant outside of Disney. Both times we had their ribs with a jacket potato, I think they are probably the nicest ribs I've ever had. Top marks, the only downside is we had a long wait, even at 9pm.

Pollo Tropical

We grabbed a quick lunch here on the way back to Sanford airport. It's a quick fast food type place but with really good food. We totally over-ordered, just beware the portions are huge! You can check out the gluten free/containing items on their website - we had lots of grilled chicken, corn, slaw, rice and mashed potatoes.  

Wholefoods

Oh my goodness I am totally in love with this HUGE natural supermarket in Turkey Lake Road. We only discovered it a week into our holiday but I wish we'd found them sooner. It is literally gluten free heaven. I've never seen so many gluten free products under one roof - they stock anything you can imagine, we bought gluten free pizzas, gluten free waffles, gluten free doughnuts (yes doughnuts!), gluten free blueberry muffins, gluten free breakfast cereals, gluten free brownies, gluten free cookies, gluten free bread and more and the fresh salad/ready cooked food section looked glorious. Oh how I wish there were stores like this in the UK (I know there are a handful in the UK, but nothing like the size of this one and all too far away sadly). I would seriously consider moving to Florida JUST for Wholefoods, it's that good. If you are a coeliac off to Orlando you MUST, MUST, MUST go here as soon as possible to stock up on gluten free goodies, you know when you go to a normal supermarket and spot something gorgeous, choc full of gluten and you wish that you didn't have coeliac disease? well that doesn't happen at Wholefoods, you feel normal and their gluten free food is *really* good. Have I sold it to you yet? LOL.

Gluten Free in Orlando, Florida - Part 4: Universal & Kennedy Space Center

and so the gluten free Florida journey continued!

Universal Studios
We spent a day at Universal studios, whilst we all absolutely loved it the food options here are pretty terrible. A google before we went told me we might be able to find gluten free food at the World Expo. So we headed there and were really disappointed to find disinterested (even rude) staff who had no knowledge of gluten. We had chicken and chips and were definitely gluttoned, I spent the afternoon in and out of the toilet whilst Seb complained of feeling nauseous all afternoon. All I can say here is if you're going to Universal studios, leave the park to eat and go to Universal City Walk instead!

Universal City Walk - Margaritaville
Wow - I *loved* this place, they had a seperate gluten free menu! A great atmosphere and really knowledgeable, helpful staff. Definitely the best (non Disney) dining on our trip. I had mushroom Cheeseburger and fries (with a gluten free bun) and Seb had their volcano nachos, followed by brownies and ice cream sundae (or as they call it chocolate hurricane) for desert. The food here was really good and SO nice after a terrible gluten free day in Universal Studios. Thank you Margaritaville for making us feel normal!

Universal Islands of Adventure
We made ADRs at Mythos restaurant well in advance, it's supposed to be the no.1 theme park restaurant. It was pretty good and nice to eat 'proper' food instead of burgers and chips! They were knowledgeable about gluten free food and helpful. I had their chicken caesar salad and Seb had their pad thai. Both were really good. We skipped desert as we were so full. Later in Harry Potter land we had some pumpkin juice (the butterbeer topping contains gluten and they won't make it without). Although we didn't eat there we did notice another restaurant, the Confisco Grille, had a seperate gluten free menu.

Kennedy Space Center.
Although this was a great day out the food was awful, I had enquired in advance if food would be available. We had booked their 'dine with an astronaut' package and I had emailed in advance to enquire if there would be gluten free options available. I received this reply:

Sarah,

We can't wait to have you join us for Dine with and Astronaut, the lunch takes place only at 12:00 pm. This is a wonderful experience because the astronaut will go to each table for a brief discussion and then they will discuss their experience in space.  When you arrive just let the server know about the restrictions, and we will be more than accommodating to your families needs. We are very excited to have your family join us. I will also suggest that you sign up for the Up Close Tour, this is a once in a life time experience. If you wanted to purchase snack at out concessions just ask for the manager and they will be able to suggests the different items that your family can have.

Thank you,

Aina Wukits, C.S.C.

Executive Sous Chef
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts
Mail Code: DNPS
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
321-449-4295

321-449-4293
awukits@dncinc.com
www.KennedySpaceCenter.com

In reality though it was absolutely terrible, there were no special provisions, all we could eat from the buffet were the mixed vegetables and the salad. They prepared us a grilled chicken breast each (no sauce or seasoning) so we had a plain chicken breast and a few pieces of carrot and brocolli and lettuce. I wasn't too bad, but Seb was really upset. For desert they bought us out 2 packets of plain gluten free cookies (2 small cookies in each pack). It was possibly the worst gluten free dining experience of our trip. All I can suggest is if you are a fellow coeliac/celiac that you DON'T eat at KSC and instead take your own food. We were soooo hungry in the afternoon and after searching for a snack all we managed to find to eat there was a snickers bar each. Not good.


Part 5: Gluten free Florida outside of the parks & Wholefoods gluten free heaven: http://glutenfreechild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/gluten-free-in-orlando-florida-part-5.html

Gluten Free in Orlando, Florida - Part 3: Sea World and Discovery Cove

Hmmmm after we'd been spoilt with gluten free food at Disney,  Seaworld - Orlando and Discovery Cove were both a bit of a let down. Disney definitely rules the gluten free/allergy catering stakes. I researched gluten free dining heavily at both Seaworld and Discovery Cove and had never really discovered much, but I was hopeful - given how great Disney was. I had even emailed Discovery Cove to ask about their gluten free catering and even though their reply was very swift and courteous it didn't fill me with hope:

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for contacting Discovery Cove. We appreciate the opportunity to 
provide world-class customer service!

Our Culinary Team, like everyone else at Discovery Cove, would like to provide 
you with peace of mind that your day will be as enjoyable, and safe, as 
possible.  They also recognize the importance of all aspects of food safety – 
especially those challenges our guests with food allergies encounter when dining 
out.  We would be more than happy to place a note on your reservation to alert 
the culinary staff of a guest’s specific food allergy.  Please respond to this 
e-mail with this information.  Then, on the day of your visit, you are welcome 
to visit our restaurant, Laguna Grill, early in the day to discuss your personal 
dietary needs with one of our chefs.  
 
After speaking to many guests, we have found that allowing our guests to use 
their judgment based on personal experience is best.  Guest response to this has 
been excellent.  In addition, many guests have expressed it is the best 
experience they have had, since it allows anyone dealing with food allergies a 
more precise idea of what menu selections they should avoid. 

I hope this information was helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we 
can be of further assistance.


Best Regards,
Louise | Guest Relations

Discovery Cove, Orlando
6000 Discovery Cove Way | Orlando, FL  32821
O. 407-370-1427 | F. 407-370-1452
dco-guestrelations@discoverycove.com

Discovery Cove
So, after receiving the email above we were more than nervous about a gluten free day in Discovery Cove! We did as instructed on arrival and headed straight to the Laguna Grill and they said that "yes we provide gluten free food and snacks". We had a pretty decent cooked breakfast of scrambled egg and bacon - the food was unlimited, which was good as the portions served were pretty tiny!

The refreshement stands all carried gluten free snacks, we tucked into several bags of trail mix and crisps (potato chips) and ice lollies, however were pretty sad that everything else was gluten containing.

Lunch was in the Laguna grill again. Gluten free food was very limited. I had a salad to start, which they prepared freshly for me, with no dressing (I wanted dressing - but they said that it all contained gluten), whilst Seb skipped his starter as salad was the only thing on offer. For our main course they cooked us plain chicken and chips, which was nice, but again quite boring and we had to wait 25  minutes for it. Desert was only fresh fruit, which didn't impress Seb! However in the afternoon - after the lunch rush - a sign appeared saying "gluten free snacks available" - so I asked and was given two "Gluten free to go" packs. These are an amazing idea, from two Floridian mums. They contained  all sorts of gluten free snacks, my favourite were the snickerdoodles! We really appreciated our packs, it's just a shame we had to ask for them! Food aside though Discovery Cove is an amazing place - we'd go again in a heartbeat!

Seaworld - Orlando

Again I hadn't read great reviews about SeaWorld's gluten free offerings before our trip. Upon arrival we visited every restaurant we could find. We really wanted to buy their all day dining deal wrist bands, but were worried that there would be nothing for us to eat. We were assured we'd be OK though and were told it was a shame we weren't there a month later (we went in April 2012) as they were introducing gluten free pasta and pizza to their restaurants shortly.

We managed to find a decent lunch in the Voyager's Smokehouse restaurant. Seb and I had ribs (with no sauce and corn on the cob. We couldn't eat the fries here as the fryer wasn't a dedicated one, but the ribs and corn were feeling and taste really good, even without the sauce and were cooked especially for us by the chef (more waiting!).

We ate dinner at the Seafire Inn, cheesburger and fries again, but without the bun. It was OK, we were hungry and it filled us up, but we wouldn't rush back and we certainly didn't get value for money out of our wristbands. Hopefully if they now have the GF pizza and pasta as we were told things will be a lot better at Seaworld for fellow coeliacs.

One thing to note though, on our way home we popped into a little shop nearish to guest services selling drinks and snacks to find that they sold the Gluten free to go packs we had been given at Discovery Cove, which helped to quell the hunger on the journey home! 

Part 4: Universal studios, Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal City Walk and Kennedy Space Center: http://glutenfreechild.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/gluten-free-in-orlando-florida-part-4.html