Gandy Dancer at the Grand Concourse

Gandy Dancer at the Grand Concourse

I sat at one of the bars in the Gandy Dancer.  They gave me both a happy hour menu and a menu for the Grand Concourse.  I liked the options on the the grand concourse menu, but was considering some of the happy hour specials.  When I asked about the pecan crusted shrimp, the server checked with the kitchen to see if they could do it gluten free.  Upon return, it was a no and I was given the gluten free menu.

The gluten free menu was plain.  Most of the preparations I was looking forward to were eliminated from the menu.  It was plain grilled fish, shrimp, chicken and steak.  I was a little disappointed.

I ordered the grilled shrimp on rice with steamed broccoli.  The broccoli was just steamed, no seasoning and came as one whole piece. It was good for being so plain.  It was crisp, not mushy.

The rice was cooked well.  The shrimp were a bit small for a feature, but tasted good.  They weren't over done or fishy.  The beurre blanc sauce was mild, but pulled the dish out of totally bland and pulled it together.

The peel and eat shrimp were twelve tiny shrimp with a side of lemon and cocktail sauce.  I think they should either give you more shrimp or buy bigger ones.

A few weeks ago, I went to a bridal shower at the Grand Concourse.  They had a set menu for the guests, but when I told them I had to be gluten free, they did take care of me.  Instead of Chicken Romano or crab cakes, I got grilled salmon.  It was cooked to a very nice medium with a nice crisp on the outside.  The salad dressing was double checked by the kitchen for ingredients with gluten.  And when they brought cake for dessert for the guests, they offered me mango sorbet.  The sorbet was the best part of the meal! It was an amazing finishing touch.


100 W Station Square Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
http://www.muer.com/grand-concourse/

Roman Bistro 33

Roman Bistro 33

Roman bistro has a gluten free menu; just inquire. They have a few appetizers, salads, and entrees that are gluten free. I wasn't expecting to see crab cakes on the gluten free menu and that peaked my interest.  It's not every day you can order gluten free crab cakes at a restaurant.

The menu said to pre order the crab cakes, so I asked the waitress how far in advance I needed to order them.  Did I have to order them before I arrived? Could I order them now? She checked with the kitchen and told me I cold order them now and they would be ready with the rest of the table's entrees.  Great! I knew what I wanted.

The lemon risotto was amazing.  It was just the right consistency, have the perfect amount of tangy lemon, and the cheese complimented the rice so well.  The broccoli was steamed and still crisp. The crab cakes, however, were hard and had the texture of a kaiser roll.  It's not what I prefer in a crab cake.  It was more like a crabby cheddar puff.  Sure there was real crab in the middle and it was gluten free, which I appreciate, but it had too much filler. I think I'll pick something else the next time I come here.

I would actually recommend this place for a gluten free diner.  They are careful & the food is fresh.  They even have a gluten free menu.  I'm sure they can modify something that is not on the gluten free menu as well.

In case you wanted to see the Salmon, here it is. It's not gluten free, though.  But they can make a salmon variation that is gluten free.

2104 Ardmore Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15221
http://www.romanbistro.com/

Cork 1794

Cork 1794

This place looked like it had potential.  When I stopped in, one of the servers told me that there were a few items on the menu that could be made gluten free.  She pointed them out and I agreed they looked promising.  At least this place know what gluten free means.

The sign out front says they take reservations.  I made reservations.  When I showed up for the reservation, they didn't save any tables for the reservation and told me it would be about another 45 minutes.  That's irritating that they don't know how to handle reservations.  I guess maybe because it was during the wine festival, but don't take my reservation if you can't plan accordingly for them.

One of the the allure to this place is that it was an old bank and you can eat in the vault.  No one in my party wanted to eat in there.  There was only one table inside the vault.  I don't know, I thought the vault was pretty cool. 

The service was slow.  The waitress forgot our drinks. She was very ditzy, but they were very busy.  I ordered the chicken breast stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese with a fresh mozzarella cream sauce.  Nothing about it was fresh.

The entree was obviously prepared, cooked, frozen, then reheated.  This is not what I expect from a restaurant.  If I wanted to eat a pre-made reheated meal, I'd reheat it myself.  The chicken texture was weird and not pleasant.  The cream sauce made my stomach upset, and the spinach was over cooked, wilted, and mushy.  It's hard to claim something is gluten free when you didn't make it fresh at the time it was ordered.  So although I don't think the chicken was floured or the cream sauce thickened with flour, I do think there was cross contamination in this meal that had me sick for days.

I would not recommend this place for a gluten free diner.  Although, there wasn't much in the area that could accommodate a gluten free diner.  Go here at your own risk.

Unfortunately, their frozen prepared food extended to the the ravioli.  Their pasta was a lumpy ball stuck together and hard, and the flank steak was over cooked, but probably the best thing I saw here.  So I don't even recommend the food here for a non gluten free diner either.  It's just frozen reheated pre made meals.




17 W Main St, North East, PA 16428
http://grapecountrymarketplace.org/cork-1794