I lucked out this weekend in Atlanta because it was hotter in the Lou than it was in Hotlanta. I was there for a long weekend to attend a wedding so I don’t have too many tips for you but some knowledge is better than none, amirite??!! We were staying about 20 miles North of Downtown in a quaint little town called Norcross so most of this is not even in Atlanta Proper… actually the only time we saw Downtown was when ubering to the airport to leave. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Alpharetta (North of Atlanta)- We visited the Avalon, which is a commercial district with lots of high end retailers and restaurants. We chose to eat at Kona Grill and boy was it a great decision. Kona had a separate gluten free menu with a decent amount of options. The waiter was unsure if their sushi rice had malt vinegar in it so he asked for me. The kitchen staff informed me that they use a different jasmine rice with the gluten free sushi because their normal rice has a wheat vinegar. I got my usual philly roll and the spicy tuna roll.
Cumberland (Brave’s Stadium) – For all my STL readers, we went to The Battery, which is Ball Park Village on Steroids. To my non-STL readers, it is a commercial/residential district connected to the Brave’s Baseball Stadium. Lot’s of awesome retail, restaurants, and bars! We started out at a super cool bar called Punch Bowl Social. (STL location coming 2019!!!) Their menu was clearly labeled GF and Veggie. I got the French Onion Dip and LOVED IT. So much that I didn’t take a picture. ~ Note: the service was pretty slow at the bar. ~ Next, we went over to Terrapin Taproom that serves Fox Brothers BBQ. The waitstaff was super knowledgeable and the best part is that there are several Fox Bros. BBQ locations around Atlanta. I got the brisket burger – no bun – with pimento cheese and fruit as a side.
Norcross – there is an adorable little downtown area in Norcross that our hotel shuttle took us to. It had a few retail shops and a few restaurants. Nothing crazy but we did love the British shop (random). We visited a few of the eateries including the Iron Horse Tavern and The Crossing Steakhouse. The waitress at Iron Horse (who happened to be from the Lou) told me she didn’t feel safe serving me anything on the menu. I really appreciate that she treated me like a real person and not just dolla sign$. The Crossing Steakhouse, on the other hand, was INCREDIBLE. They had a huge separate gluten free menu. Pictured below is the sirloin steak with brussel sprouts and I added a lobster tail because lobster is life.
Little 5 Points (neighborhood East of Downtown) – This is one funky neighborhood. Similar vibes to Cherokee Street (again for my STL pals). They had tons of cool resale shops, crystal shops, tattoo parlors, and a vape shop on every corner (lol). We ate at the resident Soccer – Futbol restaurant, Brewhouse Cafe, that was jam packed for the World Cup. I am always skeptical of restaurants with gluten in the title but we lucked out with this one. They had a gluten free bun and a vinaigrette based slaw as a side. Fryer was not safe, FYI. I forgot to take a picture because I was starving. The burger was really good. I am not a slaw person so I cannot speak on how good that was… still hate slaw. They had a special World Cup menu so please check before eating there.
The Wedding I, unfortunately, think that I was glutened at the wedding. The wedding planner was in a straight TIZZY about me needing a gluten free meal and kept insisting that I should have marked that I was a vegetarian… She was not comprehending that I am not a vegetarian I am a celiac. As I told my best friend, “you win some – you shit some”. At least bae and I looked fly.
Check out my Instagram post requesting ATL eats for even more Gluten Free Goodies.