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

A few weeks ago I posted a question to the list regarding places to eat 
in Seattle, specifically in the Pike's Market area and Seattle Center.  
We were traveling with my son's high school band, so we mostly had to 
eat in prearranged restaurants with the group, but had a couple meals on 
our own.

Thank you so much to the individuals who responded!  Their suggestions 
were as follows:

1.  You might try the very interesting tapas restaurant, Tango, which 
has a good GF menu http://www.tangorestaurant.com/

2.  Right across the street from the Pike Market is Cinnamon Bakery, 
which bakes and sells simply wonderful GF baked goods. Lots of local 
eateries are doable, they seem more aware of the GF diet, maybe because 
of it's the home area of GIG.

3.  Pike's Place has lots of wonderful restaurants and shops, you should 
have options there, such as grilled seafood.  We found (pricey) GF fresh 
pasta for sale in a booth there to purchase and take home.   There's a 
bakery there on a corner that sells GF quick breads and muffins.  They 
are so rich and substantial that one loaf of blueberry bread lasted me 
for several DAYS, and it was yummy!

4.  We LOVED Wild Ginger & they were very accommodating.

5.  My husband thought I was nuts when I wanted to eat at the top of the 
Space Needle several years ago.  He thought it would be VERY expensive 
and not too good!  It was WONDERFUL!  We both loved it - we had the 
Salmon salad for lunch.  It was FRESH (not canned) salmon and maybe a 
dollar more than elsewhere AND it's a terrific experience.

6.  Near pike's Place, there's an amazing restaurant called the "Pink 
Door".  It's hard to find, but seriously, look for the Pink door.   It's 
an Italian restaurant and the owner has to eat gluten-free due to being 
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  AMAZING food!  I'm not aware of 
anywhere else around Pike's Place.  Seattle was actually one of the more 
difficult places I've traveled to find good GF options.

7.  I know there is a Metropolitan Market near the Seattle Center.  It 
is a health food style grocery store in the uptown Queen Anne 
neighborhood.  I am not familiar with the other restaurants.  I would 
also check out Urbanspoon for gluten free friendly restaurants.  Perhaps 
they have reviews?

Our actual experience:
Our first night the group ate at Buca Di Beppo, a family style Italian 
restaurant.  The restaurant has a gf menu (accessible online), but also 
has a disclaimer at the top regarding potential cross-contact with other 
allergens.  I called ahead, and the manager explained that the head chef 
oversees allergy requests and clean pans are used.  They were 
fantastic!  We showed up with our group of 36 people, and as soon as the 
rest of the group was served, the chef herself brought out our dinner to 
assure us it was gf.  We had the Chicken Limone and it was very good!

The next night we went to the Tillicum Village Salmon Bake (dinner & 
show).  I had already called ahead, and had been assured that they would 
take care of us.  Sure enough, I was able to talk with a chef when we 
got there, and he informed me that the entire buffet was gf except for 
the bread and dessert.  The meal was really good there as well.

Our last dinner was at the House of Hong in the International District.  
Because we were with such a large group and the selections had been 
preselected by the tour group, I didn't feel comfortable trying to 
explain our needs and order something special.  Instead, we ate our Thai 
Kitchen noodle bowls back at the hotel.

Because I didn't know specifically where our group would be when we 
decided to eat lunches each day, we took along snacks in our backpacks 
just in case.  This turned out to be what we ate for all but one of our 
lunches, as the other kids in the group typically chose places that were 
not gf friendly.  This worked well for us.  It allowed us to stay with 
our group and not make a big deal about where we had to eat.

Our last lunch was quite a surprise.  We visited Vashon Island High 
School and our kids did a reciprocal concert with their band.  The band 
boosters provided sack lunches for our kids.  I wasn't going to mention 
gf and make them deal with that, but our tour guide called ahead (a mere 
2 hours before the lunches were needed-- I was mortified!) and let them 
know we needed two gf lunches.  When the band moms showed up with the 
lunches, they had two sacks labeled "GF- We promise!!"  I was 
incredulous.  Apparently one of the moms in the group has celiac and 
took care to make sure there was no cross contamination.  I was still 
horrified that they were put out like that with such little notice, but 
they were so gracious about it.  The lunch was delicious, and my son and 
I were thrilled to not be eating the same stuff again for lunch!  This 
just proved again to me that Celiacs are very generous folks.

I did email the Cinnamon Works bakery before we left, and the owner 
graciously responded.  They do clean the equipment thoroughly between 
gluten and gf goods, and cover and store the gf goods separately.  But 
because they do bake gluten items, they can't absolutely guarantee that 
no flour dust has settled on the gf goods. (There is a sign stating this 
at the bakery counter as well.)  While I have seen nothing but positives 
about this bakery from other Celiacs, I was reluctant to purchase 
something to be eaten while we were on a trip with a group.   The owner 
did say that their mixes (which are also available at the bakery and via 
the internet) are produced in a completely gf facility, so those are 
guaranteed to be safe.

Unfortunately, due to the schedule of the group, we were not able to try 
any of the fantastic suggestions above.  Hopefully this information will 
be helpful to others visiting Seattle.  It is a beautiful city, and we 
really enjoyed our visit.

Thanks again to all who made suggestions, and a special thanks to the GF 
Angel on Vashon Island!

Laurie

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