Gluten Free Options in Florence, Oregon
Florence is a nice coastal community on the North end of the Sand Dunes. Gluten free traveling is always somewhat stressful. Traveling to Florence you can find the two chain restaurants with gluten free options in Eugene. Eugene has a P.F. Changs China Bistro and an Outback Steakhouse. It would be nice if a gluten free restaurant chain were in Florence as it would make it less stressful going there blind.
What we found when we got to Florence was a nice gluten free selection in the local Fred Meyer.
I have given up on Safeway corporation. (They once had GF in one section. Then they decided to intermingle it with the rest of the store with no regards to customer allergy safety. They have not returned calls on my suggestions returning GF to one section away from bags of wheat flour. I knew Safeway was going to be trouble when I went in for a Doan’s pill and found them on the bottom shelf four years ago where the staff thought it funny when I pointed it out.) This may just be the city Safeways. I don’t know. There may be options at this store but I am tired of pointing out how much is done wrong so I usually avoid that chain when looking for gluten free options. That said we often shop Safeway for meat because a meat person at Fred Meyer admitted that Fred Meyers injects their meats.
We found an organic themed Nature’s Corner Cafe and Market. They had a nice gluten free goods area as well as a gluten free pancake breakfast for me. This place is worth a try because the owner seems well versed in the gluten issue. You never know how much education sticks when talking with a standard restaurant worker.
Don’t forget about Mo’s. Many seafood options can be made gluten free. Due diligence, read the labels. The cabbage salad with shrimp is good.
Running the Florence strip several times did not reveal any other restaurants advertising gluten free options. There may be more to find still but none were actively advertising.
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Filed under: Dining Out, Gluten Free
WHAT? Fred Meyer injects their meats? Do you know exactly what ingredients are injected in them? It’s funny that you buy most of the Safeway meats…I typically avoid them because they look unnaturally bright red (as in they use food coloring to keep them looking unnaturally “fesh”.) I’ve never asked to get an official word on what they do to it but when you are avoiding chemical food coloring…if it looks that bright its usually got something added to it. What do you know about costco’s meat?
Ugh. Good info about Fred Meyer’s. Thanks!
Nature’s Corner Cafe and Market is brilliant. The owner really is so helpful. It’s nice to have one gluten free option here in Florence, but it certainly would be nice to have more.
I came across your post while trying to find out if there are any other options for dining out here in Florence. Supposedly there are gluten free options at one of the other restaurants in Old Town, but I’m not sure how reliable that is since it’s a pizza joint… I can see all too many opportunities for cross contamination in such a setting.
Papa’s Pizza in Eugene also has gluten free options. One of my friends from Eugene sent me over to glutenfreeeugene.org for some good information on which restaurants have the ability to cater to those on a gluten free diet in Eugene.