<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thanks to all who replied.  We had a great trip.  We didn't seek out
specific restaurants, but we found people were very helpful and willing to
work with us.  Fish restaurants eg Sam's are especially easy.  We also had
great Thai at BKK downtown.  Some responders recommended that you bring a
restaurant card (CSA) with you (we didn't).  Here is the scoop:

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The mango chicken or mango prawns at Eric's (Chinese food) restaurant is
gf and excellent.
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Regarding Ghiradelli - they now list gluten as a potential contaminate on
their products.  Evidently one of their factories produces gluten containing
foods thus they consider EVERYTHING made in that plant "potenitially
contaminated"  anything made in their second plant (no gluten in use) is OK.
  I cannot comment on the icecream or chocolate sauce except to say check
out the label.  It is true that if you go to Ghiradelli Square you will have
to do a lot of label reading to find a chocolate bar that is OK to eat.
***
I always make a reservation when going out and mention that I am on a
gluten free diet.  They already have the info when you walk in the door.
I recommend Boulevard at 1 Mission St., San Francisco, telephone
415-543-6084.
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GF friendly restaurants in San Francisco

1) Boston Market
2) Hawthorne Cafe
3) Chic's Seafood Restaurant (Pier 39)
4) Haegen Daiz
5) Alioto's Fish Market (upstairs Fisherman's Wharf # 8)
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For those going to Fisherman's Wharf area, there are wonderful
crab/fish restaurants.  Just exercise the same cautions you do in
any restaurant.  Or you can buy a steamed crab (unfortunately without
accompanying loaf of sourdough bread), make sure they crack it well, and
sit in the nearby park and enjoy.  You can contact Jeff Golden at
[log in to unmask] for a copy of our local celiac-friendly restaurant guide.
***
There's wonderful food in asian markets in Chinatown in SF and Oakland.
Also, check out Rick and Ann's on Domingo street in Berkeley near the
Claremont Hotel for rice flour blueberry pancakes right on the menu. It's a
wonderful breakfast/brunch place and the pancakes are
heavenly and worth the trip. It's crowded on weekends.  Cafe Rustica on
College Ave in Oakland has rice flour pizza, you need to call the day
before.  Then when you get there, you order whatever toppings you want.
It's not fabulously delicious crust, but still, where can a celiac order up
a pizza!  As far as markets go, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have large
stores in SF and around the Bay Area.  Both have lots of goodies for
celiacs.  For asian food,  I skip Chinese food because they use lots of soy
sauce, but you can eat well in Thai restaurants and of course, there's sushi
in Japanese restaurants.  Just watch out for imitation crab.  Bring your own
soy sauce.  You can eat crab at Fisherman's wharf, no problem, and there's
lots of seafood there and elsewhere, just make sure there's no breading on
the fish or even dredged in flour.  I like to stop in Chinese bakeries for
dessert.  They have all kinds of sweet rice flour products some with bean
paste filling.  Hopefully there's someone who speaks enough English to ask,
but there are lots of  pasteries you can eat (and lots you can't).  For
example,  there's a round ball which has been deep fried (yes it's greasy,
but really good) about the size of a golf ball with sesame seeds all over
it.  Inside there's bean paste or lotus bean paste.There are also rice flour
savory things which are rolled out rice flour dough in a circle which are
then filled with shrimp (fresh or dried) and green onions, and then the
circle is rolled up. These either come in a package in an asian market, or
in a chinese bakery, they are in
the deli case.  Very yummy.  I add a bit of shrimp paste from the Thai
market and g-f soy sauce and heat in the microwave or if it's from the
deli, we take it to the park and just eat it up.  You may also see
triangular packages wrapped in dark green leaves and tied with string.
This is rice with savories inside.  It's been steamed.  Also nice to eat in
the park.  There are some dim sum goodies you can eat, and lots you can't. I
like to go to Yank Sing on Battery Street in SF. It's crowded on the
weekend.  Talk to the main person in advance about which dim sum goodies you
can eat there. There are really good taro root dim sum and lots of others
made from rice flour. Generally those with translucent wrappings are rice
flour and the others are wheat flour. You may want to bring your own soy
sauce here too.  I should also add that any nice restaurant should cater to
your dietary restrictions, no problem.  Wendy's won't but if you can afford
to eat out a few dinners at nicer places, the waiters should take very good
care of you,
especially if they speak english.
***







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