New Discovery: Wolff's Biergarten

This weekend, we made a new discovery right in our own backyard!

Wolff's Biergarten, on Broadway Avenue in Albany, from the name obviously has several beers on their menu, but did you know that their menu includes Green's gluten free beer? It's a darker, Belgian beer made with buckwheat, rice and millet. This is one beer that we haven't seen at Oliver's, and it's actually the first time we've tried it -- I'll have to confess that I'm not a sophisticated dark beer drinker, but it tasted pretty good to me. It certainly went well with the peanuts they have on each table!

The Biergarten posts their menu online -- we didn't eat there, or ask the staff if any dishes were safe, so I'd call/ask before planning a meal there. Still, it's nice to know there's another place to grab a gluten free beer! It's a very casual place, with wooden picnic tables and benches.

One note: If you do decide to check out the Biergarten, hit the ATM first. They're a cash-only joint, and while they do have an ATM there, I certainly don't like spending money on ATM fees. ;-)

Albany Gluten Free Resources, Part 2

It's about that time again to update the list of gluten free resources in the Albany area. In my original post, I focused primarily on Albany gluten free resources, but this list includes several capital district gluten free resources as well as restaurants that serve gluten free food in other areas of New York State.

If I've left off any restaurants, stores or other helpful information please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear about more gluten free resources in the Capital District (and beyond!) not only for us to try but also to add to this ever-expanding list of gluten free resources.

Of course, before going to any restaurant, much less one listed here, it's always good practice to call ahead and verify that they can, in fact, accomodate your special dietary needs.

Happy gluten free dining. shopping and eating!

Restaurants with dedicated GF menus

• Avenue A, Albany


• Boston Market (Fast Food - where you can actually eat the meal and not just fillings! Are you listening, Moes??)


• Carabba’s Italian Grill, Latham


• Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, Fishkill


• Chili’s, Albany and Clifton Park


• Circus Café, Saratoga


• El Loco Mexican Café, Albany


• KDs Fish Fry, Saratoga


• Kirker’s Steak and Seafood


• Macaroni Grill, Albany


• Nunzio’s Pizza and Deli, Saratoga


• Outback, Albany and Clifton Park


• PF Chang’s, Albany


• Pizzeria Uno, Albany, Latham, and Saratoga


• Scratch Bakery and Café, Albany


• Sherry Lynn’s Gluten Free Bakery and Café, Brunswick


• Smokey Bones, Albany


• Soul Dog, Poughkeepsie NY


• Wheat Fields, Saratoga (Call and check, but I read a review that you can order any pasta dish to be made with rice pasta)

Restaurants without dedicated GF menus but that are generally safe

• Just about any sushi restaurant, as long as you bring your own soy sauce


• Just about any steak house – steak, baked potato and veggies are gluten free, the only real issue can be au jus from prime rib


• Cheesecake Factory (They don’t list anything online but have GF cheesecake so I’d imagine there has to be stuff that’s OK to eat there)


• Hattie’s, Saratoga (We haven’t been, but I’ve read a lot of good review RE: GF dining experiences there)


• Maestro’s, Saratoga


• Red Lobster (steamed crab and lobster only, with baked/mashed potatoes and salad)


• Also most high-end restaurants have chefs that can accommodate a gluten free diet. It's always good to call first though!

Grocery and health food stores that carry GF items:

• Dean's Natural Foods, Westgate Plaza, Albany


• Green Grocer, Clifton Park


• Hannaford (we particularly like the ones on Wolf Road and in Latham Farms)


• Honest Weight Food Co-Op, Albany


• It's Only Natural, LLC, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany


• Paradise Natural Foods, Albany


• Price Chopper (we particularly like the one on Route 9 in Latham)

As an additional note, Oliver’s Beverage Center on Colvin Ave in Albany is on my list of places to check out this weekend. Apparently they stock four different types of GF beer.

More Albany Gluten Free Goods!

A couple of weeks ago I was surfing around online and came across the Metroland's "Best of 2008" issue. Of course, I was gratified to see that Mari's Japanese Cuisine on Van Vranken Ave, Schenectady won the "Best sushi" category - I've known Mari and Jiro for years and they're not only extremely talented at what they do, they're wonderful people and most definitely deserve this recognition. Congratulations to Mari's, and if you haven't tried their sushi it's well worth the trek to Schenectady!

I also noticed that Paradise Natural Foods, on Western Ave in Albany, was listed as the best health food shop and gluten free was specifically mentioned in the blurb. They're located about half a mile west of Crossgates Mall, in the same plaza as the Runi hair salon.

We walked into this store and were blown away by their selection. Of course, they have a lot of standard fare - the popular grains, flours, and pasta products that we've all come to know and love. They carry Tinkyada pasta at a significantly better price than our local Price Chopper, and they have more varieties of other well-known brands like Mrs. Leepers, Glutino and Glutano just to name a few. We were impressed to see that they carried the Glutano soda crackers that Vince loves and we usually purchase online. We ended up picking up cereal, quite a few different types of gluten free pasta, gluten free bagels (hopefully they'll be much better than the Enjoy Life bagels we tried), pretzels, chicken noodle soup, new england clam chowder, frozen mac and cheese, a frozen ravioli dish, and quite a few other new things to try. I'll definitely note the winners on the blog at a later date.

The woman I talked to behind the counter was very nice - and while she was ringing me up she informed me that they run bulk discount specials if you prefer to order goods by the case. Unfortunately we can't take advantage of that now due to space, but anyone with a chest freezer or a large pantry should duly take note - especially with food prices what they are these days!

Paradise Natural Foods is certainly worth a look in your gluten free travels - we plan on coming back and stocking up in the future!

Gluten Free goods, right in Stuyvesant Plaza!

On Friday, I took a half day from work and spent the afternoon shopping with my mother. Instead of hitting Crossgates like we usually do, we decided to change it up and check out some of the stores in Stuyvesant Plaza. Now, Stuyvesant Plaza is pretty close to where I live and we go often go there - however, I'm sometimes guilty of tunnel vision, and I had no idea there was a food store selling gluten free goodies until a co-worker clipped a coupon for me.

The store is It's Only Natural, LLC, and the sign outside their door boasts the largest selection of gluten free goods in the Capital District, with an added note that if they don't have it they can get it! That was pretty encouraging, so my mother and I went in to browse.

Now, I wouldn't say their selection was the largest I've seen in the Capital District, but it certainly rivals the gluten free selections available at the larger Hannafords in the area. They carry Authentic Foods flour (at a slightly higher markup than online, but it's really useful to know if we run out of something!), an assortment of baking mixes, cookies, pretzels, chips, crackers, and other snacks, and a wide variety of frozen items - breads, rolls, frozen pizzas, etc. They had some gluten free items that I'd never seen before, even online, including gluten free croutons and hot dog buns.

What really impressed me, though, is the fact that they've started carrying products from local bakeries. They had muffins from Sherry Lynn's Gluten Free Bakery in Brunswick as well as bread, rolls and cookies from Saratoga Gluten Free Goods. Everything was fresh and soft to the touch and looked amazing! I really wanted to pick up some of their whole grain bread, but figured my hubby wouldn't be thrilled with it - he grew up on Freihoffer split top wheat bread and isn't thrilled with a lot of the whole grain options available. It's a shame.

Still, I did pick up some yummy looking buns made by Saratoga Gluten Free Goods, a box of Kinnikinnick vanilla glazed donuts (we'd seen the cinnamon sugar donuts in Hannaford, and they were pretty decent, but hadn't seen the glazed donuts before), some gluten free rolled oats from Bob's Red Mill, and a package of Pamela's bread mix (I usually bake my bread from scratch, but I've heard that's the best brand and it can't hurt to have on hand if we're feeling lazy).

The next day I brought the rolls down to Yankee Stadium, where we tailgated with our dads before Old Timer's Day. Great time, great food - and those rolls from Saratoga Gluten Free Goods did not disappoint. They were amazing!

Overall - please, check out It's Only Natural, LLC in Stuyvesant Plaza. The odds are you'll see a lot of familiar brands and products, but you'll probably also see something new and worth trying. And it can't hurt to make suggestions for new products either!