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Thank you so much to those who sent their advice!

My inquiry asked for restaurants, besides Outback, etc... in Richmond,
Virginia.
I was looked especially for a lunch spot in the downtown/fan/cary town
area.
I recieved replies from four nice local Richmond people. Here were their
recomendations:

1) Thai Diner Too in Cary Town.... has gf menu items listed
2) has dined at Julians (I mentioned this place in my original post)
successfully after speaking with manager
3) Acacia in Cary Town and Sal Federicos (Staples Mill/Broad)- talk to
chefs
4) also recomended Thai Diner Too

Trip report:

I took some homemade banana bread slices along for my breakfast and the
airport and also took along gf crackers and snacks and salad dressing
packets (Amy's lowfat Raspberry vinegrette).

Sat lunch- Acacia..... Thai Diner Too was not open yet, so we walked down
to Acacia (a few blocks) and had a lovely lunch on their patio.  I spoke
witht he hostess and gave her my one-page gf info sheet to pass on to the
kitchen.  I had a wonderful asparagus/porabello salad and grilled halibut.
 They cleaned off the grill before cooking my fish.  I passed on the
vinegrette since it had mayo in it and was not sure it was gf.

Sat dinner- Bonefish Grill.... wonderful meal!  And it's so hassle-free
since they have the gf menu items marked (just like outback).  Had seabass
with a lime/garlic sauce and a bite of my niece-in-laws creme brulee for
dessert.

Sun lunch-Julian's (italian across from science museum on Broad)..... My
husbands family knows the owners there and we go every visit out to
Richmond.  It's a mom-and-pop place and I didn't think they'd be very
gf-friendly.  But I spoke with the manager/owner and she went over almost
every menu item with me and explained how they could make it gf and said
they would, of course, use a new/clean pan, etc...  I had an 'italian'
salad and broiled scallops with veggies.  I passed on the cole slaw and
cocktail sauce that came with my meal, just in case.

Sun dinner-Ruth Chris Steakhouse...... Again the hostess and manager and
server were so nice and helpful.  They said I should pick a piece of fish
or steak and they could pan saute or grill it.  Steamed veggies and
potato, too of course.  I had salmon suated with dill and garlice.  All
very good.

You can see that I like seafood!  The only stumble the whole weekend was
Sunday night after the Ruth Chris meal I awoke to a little pain in my
tummy.  Less than pain really, more of just an uncomfortable feeling. Then
the next day, I had one quick run into the restroom.  It was not a
devistating gluten-accident, though, and I'm glad that my only reaction
was the very last night and not the first.

All-in-all a good trip and I now feel more confident about traveling.

Thanks,
Pam

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *