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ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
A good friend of mine has invited me out to eat at Fiesta del Mar in
Mountain View, CA. The web site is: www.fiestadelmar.com. I didn't find it
mentioned in the recent summary on SF area restaurants. I did find a
mention of it at SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RESTAURANTS WITH GLUTEN FREE ITEMS
-last updated 2/9/05
(http://celiacsupport.stanford.edu/restaurants/restaurants.htm) It states
"Fiesta Del Mar, two locations in Mountain View. Lots of Mexican dishes.
Homemade sangria."
Does anyone have experience getting GF food at Fiesta del Mar? Can you
recommend any specific dishes? Do you know if their margarita mix is GF (my
friend is effusive in her praise of their margaritas)? I plan to call the
restaurant before flying out, but I'd prefer to have some info in hand
before I do so. :)
FIESTA DEL MAR
Folks who responded to my query didn't have a lot of actual gf info. So I
stopped at the restaurant to talk to the gentleman in charge of the kitchen
the night of my visit.
We decided I should AVOID:
-any tortillas, even the corn tortillas have some wheat in them
-rice, the seasoning was suspect
-chips, they are deep fried in the same oil as wheat items
-house margarita mix, but that I could order any margarita and ask for it to
be made with fresh ingredients.
He suggested I have seafood and other dishes made with fresh ingredients.
He also said the refried beans, salsa, guacamole, etc. would be ok. I had a
delicious meal: shrimp fajitas, refried beans, guacamole, and a margarita
(made with fresh ingredients). Yum!
Here's some of the advice I recieved from the list:
"When I eat out at Mexican restaurants, I always order the Fajitas without
the tortillas OR It is simple to eat the fajitas and leave the corn
tortillas alone. In my experience you can't trust that the corn tortillas
are 100% free. "
"Which Fiesta del Mar? There's two of them, one on Shoreline Blvd and one
just off of Castro St. My comments apply specifically to the one off of
Castro, but their menus are very similar. (one family owns both). We've
eaten at Fiesta del Mar about 6 times since going GF and had no problems. I
usually order one of their shrimp dishes and tell them I am "allergic to
wheat""
"Fiesta del Mar is very good; stay away from anything with wheat tortillas,
of course. I ate there many times without problems, but usually stayed away
from any white sauces. The enchiladas are good, the fish is good."
"I love their sangria, home made with fruit and wine. "
GLOBAL BLENDS: At the recommendation of a list-member I went to this coffee
shop/cafe when I arrived at my hotel. I had a delicious slice of GF
Chocolate Decadence cake and a cup of latte made with soy milk. It was
heaven!!
"just down Castro Street is Global Blends cafe. The owner is celiac, and
they sell both GF baked goods to go and make gf meals to eat there."
650 Castro St, Mountain View, CA
650-254-1110
PF CHANGS: "I have eaten a the PF Chang in Palo Alto and all you need to do
is ask for the Gluten Free menu when you are shown a table at reception.
They usually have a special that can be converted to Gluten Free service,
but if you order off of the GF menu it is no big deal. The server will want
to mix your dipping sauce from ingredients at the table. That will not be
GF, so if you want one that is you will have to ask for it."
OTHER RESTAURANT OPTIONS: "Other good local restaurants are Chef Chu's
(really good chinese; best bets are dishes without soy sauce of course, like
snow white chicken and sauteed prawns); Fish Market (except don't eat the
"rice" that comes with the grilled fish as it has wheat noodles in it -- I
always had potatoes and cole slaw); and there are lots of Fresh Choice
franchises (this is a salad bar place). If you want to go very very upscale,
head to Scott's Seafood in Palo Alto across from Stanford (it's at El Camino
Real and Embarcadero). Absolutely wonderful."
FOOD STORES with GF lists:
Trader Joes (near the intersection of El Camino Real and San Antonio)
www.traderjoes.com
Draegers (3 locations) www.draegers.com
Whole Foods: www.wholefoods.com
Finally I stayed at a reasonably priced motel with a fridge and microwave in
every room. The room was newly redecorated, large and pleasant.
Best Western Mountain View Inn
2300 W El Camino Real, Mountain View, California, United States, 94040-1420
Phone: 650-962-9912
I have no financial interest in any of the above businesses...
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