Mississippi Pizza

Date night at the laundromat.

Okay, this isn't just any laundromat, this is the place we lovingly refer to as "The Hipster Laundromat." Others know it a Spin City Laundromat. 

It's a great place for date night. Really. Buy an espresso drink after 10pm and get a free dry. They serve beer and wine. And gluten free snacks. This really is a neat place to do the wash.

But this blog post is about where we went after finishing up the laundry. It was 9pm and we were starving, so we drove up Mississippi a few blocks and landed at Mississippi Pizza. 

There was a live band on one side, and one little free table on the pizza side, so we meandered up to the counter and pondered our options. 

I explained to the girl behind the counter that I'm GF and DF and she said, "Oh! We can do that!"

Loved her attitude. This is what makes eating out fun - someone who is willing to help me find something tasty and safe. 

Almost all of the pizzas were available to me with only slight modification, if that, so it was great to have almost a full menu to choose from. She set me up with a chicken bacon basil tomato artichoke pine nut GF pizza with no cheese. She suggested a sprinkling of nutritional yeast on it to give it the tangy umami of cheese. I'd never tried that, so I said "Sure!" 

She mentioned that one of her vegan co-workers uses Daiya cheese on her pizza and would I like that as well? Not a fan of Daiya, so this was fine. 

Here's the finished product. I was so hungry and anxious to try it that I scarfed down the first slice before getting a picture. 

It was DELICIOUS.
One of the best pizzas I've had.

Dave ordered his own pizza with a traditional crust, meat, cheese, etc, and according to him, it was good. I believe him; he didn't box up any leftovers for lunch the next day.

The two pizzas plus soda ran us about $45, so it was a little spendy in my opinion, but we did order two whole pizzas. And I had leftovers the next day.

Now, on the local GF Facebook group I occasionally chat with, some have said they are sensitive to cross contamination here, and others have expressed horror at the amount of wheat flour in the air from making traditional pies. This is definitely an issue for some, but as long as I stay on the wagon consistently, I can handle a little bit of this.

Mississippi Pizza is a definite yes, and I can't wait to go back.

Punchbowl Social

During the Christmas Party season, D and I found ourselves somewhere in downtown Portland, looking for supper. The "Find Me Gluten Free" app suggested a place called Punchbowl Social, and it wasn't too far away, so we parked at Pioneer Place and went up to the restaurant. 

Several company holiday parties were going on. Several area of the restaurant were roped off for private parties, and there was a wait for the rest of the dining area.

I like a busy restaurant. 

That tells me the food is probably pretty good. 

Our waiter came over and I went through my polite song and dance about needing to be GF and DF, and he was really cool about it. There wasn't much I could safely order, unfortunately, so I had a burger. 

Don't get me wrong, I like burgers, but I end up only being able to order a burger at half of the places we go to, so I eat a hell of a lot of burgers. 

It gets old. Really old.

On the other hand, I consider myself a sort of connoisseur of GFDF burgers. 

Which is why I started this blog.

...that and it was getting hard to keep track of who gives good beef.

(That came out wrong. You know what I mean.)

SO... onto the burger. I ordered a basic burger, to be safe, with a GF bun and fries. I didn't ask about cross contamination in their fryer and assumed there was cross contamination. I wanted fries dammit, and preferred to not know. 

Drinks were served up in Mason jars, dinner was served up in a frying pan. Cute.

My GF "bun" was two slices of GF bread, and they disintegrated about 2 bites in. I flagged down the waiter and asked for a fork, I also showed him the problem and suggested he tell the manager there are better GF buns out there. I even went so far to tell him how much better WOW Burger is (I'm ballsy like that) and that what makes Wow so great is their bun. (Wow uses Jensen's buns. They're like buttermilk biscuits, only better. And they hold up. Do you hear that Slide Inn? They hold up!)

The Verdict: 

It was a burger. I ate it.

The atmosphere seemed really fun. If there were more options for me to eat, I'd love to go back. 

But a Meh Burger with a fally-aparty bun doesn't get me really excited about the idea.

Here's their menu, anyway.

I'm writing this post a few months after the fact. Maybe there's slaw or kraut on the burger. I don't remember. 

Apparently it didn't blaze itself in my memory as the best burger I've ever eaten. 

That trophy goes to Bend Burger Co. 

Only 168 miles away from my home. 

Sigh. 

I'd like to go there today. 

A burger sounds kinda good right about now.

Laughing Planet - Gabriel Park

Laughing Planet is one of those places I kinda sorta like sometimes. You know what I mean?

Most of the time I avoid places that feature the popular vegan cafe "Veggie Bowl" or "Veggie Wrap" thing. It just doesn't appeal to me. This is why every time I venture into Cafe Yumm, I see this on the menu and venture back out to seek out another place to eat. 

When I'm desperate I find myself at Laughing Planet, and it seems like every time I go here, that's what I find. There is one near a laundromat we use, and that's usually when I eat there. 

Despite not liking the bowls or wraps, this place makes it easy to find food that I can eat. 

Last laundry night we ended up here just before closing I found a Paleo Bowl that seemed edible, and I asked about the Killer Green sauce that comes with it. The gal at the counter said, 

"Oh, it's very mild. It has avocado, cilantro, serrano pepper... (blah blah blah)...and other chile peppers"

"Can I have a taste first?" I asked.

Holy crap. Serrano was a red flag that I overlooked because I trusted her when she said it's mild. It is NOT mild, and I coughed and choked and wished for a piece of bread of glass of milk to kill the heat. 

"I like spicy food," she said, "So I guess it seems mild to me. Do you want to try the BBQ sauce or peanut sauce?"

Having previously learned that their BBQ sauce is super spicy, I asked to try the peanut sauce. 

It was tasty, but the one taste continued to heat up as we talked, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle a whole dinner with that all over it. 

After tasting the hummus, I went with that. Dinner was ok. I ate more kale than I normally do. 

Dave ordered a quesadilla and it was ok, but he wished it had more cheese. 

This is why we save this place for days when we're desperate. 

Here's the Laughing Planet menu. It is very easy to order GFDF here. 

Petunia's Pies and Pastries

Valentine's Day.
I wanted cake, dammit, and I didn't want to get sick. Plus, it had been a very rough previous 6+ weeks (my dad became very ill then passed away) so this was an especially big treat.

We entered the beautiful shop and studied the menu. 

Grilled cheese sandwiches? I know this is a 100% GF place, but cheese? Is it vegan or not?

I asked the girl at the counter about the cheese. She said, "Yes, it's grilled 'cheese,'" giving me air quotes with the word "cheese." Ahh, THAT kind of cheese. Okay. This place is 100% GF and 100% vegan That means no dairy. 

Yay! I don't have to think, and every single thing on the menu is safe. 

It's very hard, being both GF and DF. Once I find out what the GF options are, I have to further narrow them down to find the DF choices within my limited options. When it comes to dessert, this usually means I get nothing. Even at fully GF places like Ground Breaker, there are no dairy free dessert options. 

So. I got the Champagne Cake. As expected, it was heavier than traditional cake, and a little beany, but the frosting made up for the bean flavor of the cake. It was pretty good, considering it was GF.

Dave got the chocolate cake. Again, it was very dense. The chocolate flavor masked the bean taste, but we both agreed it could have used a little more sugar. He ate about 6 bites and said I can have the rest. It's not his thing. 

We spent about $29 for two slices of cake plus a mocha and a latte, and a tip for the very helpful girls at the counter. I was a little disappointed that so-so cake was $7.99 for a slice. Yes, I realize that GF ingredients cost more, but for that price I'd expect cake that didn't have so much bean flavor. ( I can make a GF cake without so much sorghum or other bean flavored flours, but maybe keeping the eggs out makes other flours more difficult to use?) Anyway, it was just okay. It was cake. I'm impressed by the bakery, not so much by the cake.

Maybe someday we might return for cupcakes or other bakery, but we're not in any rush to do so.

Here is Petunia's Pies & Pastry's menu. It is very easy to order GFDF here.

El Nutri-Taco

While on a late night date night stroll down NE Alberta, Dave and I came across this joint. The menu looks good. Must try it sometime when it's warmer outside.

Killer Burger - Hollywood

Elvis has no buns at Killer Burger.

Yes, I ordered Elvis for dinner without his buns.

That's fun to think about...
A Bunless Elvis.

This is my bunless, fork and knife burger and fries in the foreground.

It was tasty, although the bacon was a little overdone. Hold the cheese, double the attitude, and the music volume didn't make me cringe so I can't be THAT old.

Dave (the pair of hands with the cool watch) ordered The Barnyard. He happily eats gluten and dairy and is proud of it.

I didn't get sick, I'll be back, the bathroom was amusing. 

 

That's all I have to say about that.

Here's the menu at Killer Burger. I don't know if they have a dedicated fryer but rather doubt it. (I didn't ask.) It was easy to order a bunless burger without cheese, but I'd probably stay away if I was worried about cross contamination.

The Sudra

This is a vegan Indian restaurant with a decent GFDF dessert on the menu.

Dave and I had been out and were looking for a decent place to get a nice dessert.

We ended up meandering around NE and ended up at 24th and Glisan, where there is a neat food pod of micro-restaurants in a brick and mortar setting.

We first ventured into The Pie Spot, and I really wanted pie, but their GF pies still had butter in the crust, so that was a no go. Dave got pie, and I wandered around to see what other restaurants were on the block. 

That's when I discovered The Sudra, and ordered their vegan payasam (kind of like an apple crisp) with coconut bliss ice cream.

This food pod has community seating shared by all the restaurants, under a neat covered wagon tent made out or red vinyl.

Nice desserts, nice atmosphere, (nice prices), and a very nice evening.

Pretty cool.

The Slide Inn

Hands down, the most tasty burger (patty) I've ever had.
The bun, however, disintegrated. It was dry and dense and crumbly and had no flavor.

I scraped the bun crumbles off my burger and ate the rest with a fork. Our waitress said the buns are hit or miss. Some batches are good, others not so good. This one was definitely not so good.

The Slide Inn menu is well-marked to make it easy to order GF, but takes some conversation and back and forth from the kitchen to make sure the bun and other things are dairy free.

We spent $37 including tip for two burgers, a coke, and a hard cider.

Service was really really slow on the evening we were there. On the other hand, we were there to hear a Dave's friend Jardima sing, and the place was completely packed and the staff was running like crazy.

Overall, the burger (patty) was excellent, and I'd like to go back there again to see if I can get a bun from a good batch.

White Owl Social Club

Very tasty bacon (cheeseless) burger with the GF bun, fries, and a Smith & Forge hard cider.

Warning! The ketchup has sriracha mixed in, and it's a bit spicy.

Been there thrice, loved the burger all three times, didn't get sick.

We spent $34 including tip for two burgers, a coke, and a hard cider. 

Here's the White Owl Social Club menu. I'm not sure if there's dairy in the GF bun. I didn't ask, even though I know I should have. I'm also not sure about a dedicated fryer. 

Ordering is not always easy here. Each time I have been there, I've ordered the same thing: a bacon cheese burger, hold the cheese, on a GF bun. One time I had to send it back because there was cheese on it, and my replacement had no cheese but also no bacon. No matter where I am, if I have to send back food to have it remade correctly, I get very nervous about increased risk of getting gluten or dairy in my remake. 

Bottom line, I like this place. The food is good and I don't get sick afterwards.

That's kind of a sad endorsement, isn't it? "The food didn't make me sick, so I'll be back."

Welcome to the life of someone who has food sensitivities.

MOD Pizza

Their GF crust is tasty and chewy. Sounds odd for a pizza, but it's delicious.

I like to substitute artichoke hearts for the cheese - it's a nice sub for the tangy and kind of adds a similar texture.

I don't trust any of the processed meats so usually get chicken.

When the mood hits, I'll get my pizza toppings on a salad instead. The viniagrette is GFDF and not too vinegary for my taste.

Plus, it's budget dining - $7 for a single pie with unlimited toppings.

Here's the MOD Pizza menu.

When I told Dave I don't have any pictures from our visits here, he winked and said, "Oh gee, darn. We'll have to go back and get some pizza so you can take pictures."

What a guy, volunteering to help like that.
(Tee hee)