Gluten Free and Me...in Las Vegas!

Any place where tourism is big, most of the restaurants have to have some type of gluten free meals.  Here are a few places I ate at while in Las Vegas this past week:

Cat Cora – Actually, this wasn’t in Vegas, this was in the airport at San Francisco, where I had my connection to Vegas.  I got a plain burger, with some mushrooms.  The burger was cooked medium, with lots of good char from the grill marks, perfectly cooked, seasoned well, and full of flavor.

Mon Ami Gabi – If you read any blogs at all about being gluten free in Las Vegas, they all talk about Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Hotel.  I will be no different.  First of all, they have gluten free bread, which they bring out separately from the regular bread to ensure no contamination.  They also brought out separate butter, along with olives.  For my entrée, I chose the chicken breast paillard.  It was well seasoned and juicy, which I imagine must be a bit hard to do considering how thin it was.  FYI, they also have a gluten free breakfast, which is quite good.

Border Grill – I first went to the Border Grill at Mandalay Bay many years ago, just after we got the Food Network on our cable system.  The restaurant is owned the “Two Hot Tamales,” otherwise known as Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.  I remember not liking it when I went.  Then, as I saw both of them cook on Top Chef Masters, and saw how the judges raved about their food, I thought I must have been wrong; perhaps my pallet wasn’t as sophisticated back then.  So it was with great excitement that I went back.  You know what?  I still didn’t like it.  I ordered the Yucatan Pork.  One of the ingredients is cinnamon, which I like, but I think it completely overpowered the dish.  It was all I could taste.  My dinner partner is also gluten free, and she got the Kobe Beef Tacos, which she said were quite good.  That being said, the guacamole and the corn tortilla chips we got were also very good.

BurGR – BurGR is - yes, you guessed right – a burger place by Gordon Ramsey in the Planet Hollywood Hotel.  No gluten free buns, but they did offer to wrap up the burger in a lettuce wrap which I thought was pretty cool.  I got the Hells Kitchen burger (what else?)  Needless to say, it was quite hot.  As for the burger itself, it was fine, but I didn’t think it was any better than many of the burgers I have gotten in Las Vegas, and the others were cheaper. 

Nine Fine Irishmen - The next dinner was at a restaurant called Nine Fine Irishmen in the New York, New York Hotel.  As the name indicates, it is an Irish Pub.  Unfortunately, no gluten free beers, which surprised me a little, but they did have apple cider.  I got the gluten free lamb stew.  The lamb was very juicy, the potatoes still had some tooth to them, and the broth was nice and salty.  Half way through my meal, my gluten free dinner partner and I switched meals, so I also got to have the gluten free shepards pie.  The beef tips were cooked quite nicely, the mashed potatoes were nice and creamy with the top having a nice crust to it.  These two meals were great comfort food. 

Scarpetta – Scarpetta is a restaurant that is owned by Scott Conant.  You most often see him as a judge on Chopped.  He not only has a gluten free menu, but a vegetarian menu as well.  I started off with the white asparagus soup with blue crab.  It was good, with the texture coming from small pieces of whole asparagus.  I do wish it had been a little hotter.  For my entrée I got the spaghetti tomato basil.  This was homemade gluten free pasta, so extra props to Scarpetta for that.  I thought the spaghetti was very good, and the sauce – though simple- was really delicious.

I will also say that all of the places we ate had very good service, which always makes the meal more enjoyable.

So don't be nervous about gluten free eating in Las Vegas.  There are plenty of places to choose from.