Cheesecake Factory

Cheesecake Factory

 

I went to the Cheesecake Factory at 415 South 27th St in Southside Works because they advertise offering a gluten free menu.  I asked my server for a gluten free menu and reviewed it. 

I was impressed by the size of the gluten free menu, but what really peaked my interest was the pasta section.  Although gluten free pasta is readily available in supermarkets, not too many restaurants offer it.  I chose the Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Garlic.

When my pasta arrived, it wasn't exactly what I order, but the server asked, "Gluten free pasta?" and placed it in front of me.  In reality, the entree that showed up at my table was Chicken Pasta Carbonara.  It was close enough and since the server mentioned it was gluten free, I ignored the discrepancy.  Essentially, this was the pasta I ordered plus more stuff.

The portion size was huge.  It came in a very large white bowl.  The pasta itself wasn't too chewy, as some gluten free pastas can be.  The sauce was a creamy Alfredo sauce.  There was tomatoes and bacon accompanying the chicken chunks.  About half way through the entree, I couldn't eat any more.

The server wrapped up my leftovers and offered me gluten free desert - The Godiva Chocolate Cheese Cake.  Although I couldn't eat anything more and was starting to feel a little nauseated, I ordered it to go so I could try it later. 

I had just made it home in time to have a meeting with my porcelain friend.  And I realized that I had been glutened! I've had worse, so I'm pretty sure the pasta itself was actually gluten free, but a medium amount of cross contamination had occurred.

What a better way to feel better than eating some chocolate.  I began eating the chocolate cheesecake to self medicate.  The crust was a hard chocolate shell.  The layers were chocolatey; it was creamy; it was magnificent.  I bake a pretty good gluten free cheesecake with cornstarch instead of flour, so I had no problem believing that this was gluten free.

I began to Google Cheesecake Factory reviews for Celiacs.  I was shocked.  The Cheesecake Factory has made many people like me sick with their negligence in the kitchen.  Some people asked the managers about their procedures handling gluten free items and I was shocked to hear that one location admitted to cooking the gluten free pasta in the same water as the regular pasta.  One location suggested having a manager over see the preparation of your entire meal.  Who wants to be that customer?  To go to that extent is embarrassing.  I'd rather not eat there.

Then I looked on the Godiva Chocolate website and it states, "ALL of our products including solid chocolate pieces may contain gluten. Any person with a gluten allergy should NOT consume ANY of our products."  The Cheesecake Factory specifically mentioned the Godiva Chocolate Cheese Cake as a gluten free dessert.  I dropped my fork and stopped eating immediately. 

I was sick for days.

Seviche

Seviche

Seviche has a nice atmosphere.  The lighting is dim and cozy.  To the right is a bar, to the left is an open kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare your food and even sit at the counter, and in the middle are tables. 

There isn't much on the menu that is gluten free, but they make everything fresh and made to order so adjusting their menu to satisfy your dietary needs is not a problem. I love diver scallops and that is precisely what I ordered, but I asked for them gluten free and no red peppers.  

The presentation is nice.  They were evenly spaced on a long rectangle plate.  Each scallop sat on top of a small pile of grits, has a green sauce on top and was separated by wilted spinach.  Each bite was delicious.  The grits were warm and buttery.  The spinach was a wonderful palate cleanser between the saltiness of the scallops and the sour of the green sauce.  I really enjoyed this meal.  Between the grits and the scallops, I felt it was a sufficient portion for a meal, at least for me.

Seviche succeeded at keeping away the gluten from my meal, giving me a wonderful dining experience, and a tasty meal.



930 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh



http://www.seviche.com/

Emporio: A Meatball Joint

Emporio

Emporio is a trendy little place in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh.  The walls are brick and the lighting is dim, but that makes it quite cozy.  They serve meatballs in different sauces and sides.

There are four different types of meatballs on the menu & one daily special meatball.  Only one of which is gluten free.  There are four of the sauces that are gluten free.  The salads, although don't say they are gluten free, can be made gluten free by omitting the croutons.  There are also soups and snacky things on the menu, but none of which are gluten free.  They did have some gluten free sides that you could get your meatballs on top of like mashed potatoes or gluten free penne pasta.

I ordered the spicy pork meatballs with an almond spinach pesto sauce.  Since I'm not much of a meatball eater, I ordered two balls ala carte. 

The meatballs arrived in a little silver basket.  They were bright green.  The pesto sauce was quite tasty, although I'm not sure I tasted any almond in it.  The meatballs were tender and moist, just as you'd want a meatball to be.  They had a heavy pork flavor with a bit of bacon and a nice kick of spice from the chili peppers.  Overall, these were some tasty meatballs and so was the sauce.

I also didn't experience any gluten related issues, so they did a good job of making this dish gluten free.  If you're in the mood for some meatballs, I'd recommend Emporio.

http://www.siennapgh.com/mercato/#emporio

942 Penn Ave Downtown

Giovanni's Pizza

Giovanni's pizza on West Liberty Ave in Dormont is a little place. There are only a few tables so take out would probably be a better option on a weekend.  They make that easy with their online ordering and if you are in the right zip codes, they will even deliver.

Giovanni's has a candy counter inside.  They have some ice cream and it looks like they are set up to make milkshakes, although I didn't inquire about them.  They also make chocolate.  Most of their chocolate is gluten free, unless otherwise specified.  For instance, the chocolate covered pretzels and Oreos are obviously not gluten free, although I have had their gluten free chocolate covered pretzels before - they weren't anything to write home about.  I did enjoy the truffles I've had from here.

The gluten free menu has pasta, pizza and salads that all come with gluten free garlic bread. I ordered a pepperoni pizza.  The gluten free pizzas only come in one size, medium.

The waitress brought out dipping oil with spices on a plate and the gluten free garlic bread.  It looked more like a pita bread and tasted like flat bread with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese on it.  I was pretty sure this is what the pizza crust would be like.

When the pizza arrived, I was right.  The crust was very flat.  It wasn't crispy, but also not soggy.  I would usually describe this kind of pizza crust as a cardboard pizza crust, which is not necessarily a bad thing regardless of how it sounds.  

The sauce was a mild red pizza sauce.  I don't like pizzas with a lot of sauce so I was pleased with the amount on the pizza.  I do like a lot of cheese on my pizza.  I thought there could have been more cheese on it, but it certainly wasn't lacking. 

The pepperoni were small and crispy with a bit of grease sitting on the middle of each circle.  They were spaced relatively well, evenly dispersed around the pie.  Oi really enjoyed the taste of the the pepperoni.

3049 West Liberty Ave

https://www.eatgiovannis.com/

Gus' Cafe

Gus' Cafe is in Lawrenceville.  It has an entirely gluten free kitchen, specializes in vegetarian dishes, and a wide selection of gluten free beers.  They also have regular beers for your friends who can have gluten.  The beer selection is quite good.

This place is kind of set up like a diner.  There are booth tables along the side of the establishment and a bar that runs along the other side.  In the middle of the floor are funky metal tables.  Above the bar are their beer selections written in calk.

This was my second time at Gus' Cafe.  The first time I ordered the sweet potato ravioli and the deep fried pickles.  The sweet potato ravioli was a disappointment.  I would say it was more like a butternut squash pierogi, but not fried to a crisp in butter.  If they wanted to pass this creation off as a ravioli, they should have added a marinara sauce and possibly some mozzarella cheese or evn just melted butter on top because the way it was served was bland.  If they would have fried it in butter, it could have passed as a pierogi.  I really didn't think it was sweet potato either.

The deep fried pickles are what brought me back.  I wanted to give this place a second chance.  This time the menu changed.  I didn't see the pickles on the menu so I inquired with the waitress.  To my releif, she said they were a special.  I ordered the pickles and a cauliflower soup.  She mentioned it wasn't a vegaterian soup, and I'm alright with that.  I'm glad she mentioned that because I'm sure they get a lot of vegaterian customers and that shows she was looking out for them.

The soup arrived.  It was a brown purée.  Beef stock is not the way I would have made this soup.  I would have used chicken stock and cream as the base.  It seemed to have a squash taste to it as well.  The soup would have benefitted from leaving some chunks of cauliflower in it to break up the baby food consistency.  I couldn't finish this soup.

Then the order of fried pickles arrived.  If you eat gluten free by force, not by choice, you know fried pickles are a rare commodity - very hard to come by.  First because of the vinegar used to make the pickles and second because of the batter coating.  These pickle spears are awesome!  The batter is like a thick funnel cake around a delicious dill pickle.  The only problem is they are served extremely hot and I can't resist trying to eat them before they have cooled enough. Burning my mouth is totally worth it.  I really can't wait to get this batted sour goodness in my mouth.

Over all, there are some growing pains going on in the kitchen as the chief figures out what works and what doesn't.  The concept here is good.  For the most part, there are a few gems on the menu, but most of the food is disappointing.

If it has to be gluten free, you can't go wrong with a place that doesn't have any gluten in the kitchen.  There's no reason to be concerned about cross contamination.  The recipes will hopefully get better with time and its worth the trip if you are dying for some gluten free deep fried pickles.  Because where else can you get that?



4717 Butler St in Lawrenceville