By Mia Hanuska
In my family, California is infamous for having surprisingly few allergen-friendly options. It seems that everywhere we travel has better options than the very state where the original “gluten-free fad” began. Thus, each time we leave the state is a wonderful opportunity to try new local restaurants or chains we don’t have in California. Harnessing the power of Find Me Gluten Free, our favorite app for finding gluten-free restaurants, we’ve eaten meals we never would’ve guessed were allergen-friendly! Here are my top spots from my recent trip to the East Coast:
Webster’s Bookstore & Cafe – Pennsylvania
Nestled in the downtown of State College, Pennsylvania, Webster’s was an immediate “must-walk-to” spot after my mom read they had gluten-free cookies. And oh boy. Webster’s serves gluten-free brunch every Sunday, with warm baked goods the rest of the days. I had an incredible oatmeal craisin cookie: life-changing, and exactly what I needed in the cold snowy weather.
BetterWorld – Pennsylvania
In the literal middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, this cafe greatly surprised me and my mom. Venturing off the highway into the tiniest little town, BetterWorld, a bookstore x cafe x reusable refill store, had the most delicious pastries. Not sure how a town with a population of 1000 manages to have better options than the Bay Area, but here we are. I had a quiche for the first time here, and my mom and I shared a golden maple, white chocolate, and hazelnut Swiss roll and a strawberry cheesecake. Everything was absolutely delectable, and they even warmed the quiches, the flaky crust making every minute we added to our trip worth it.
Crazy Noodies – Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts had very few options in terms of culinary variance for gluten-free restaurants. Finally landing on Crazy Noodle’s Chinese cousine, we parked close enough to avoid too much time in the 27F weather and, once inside, were overwhelmed with the amount of options. Nearly everything on the menu could be made gluten-free since the kitchen had gluten-free soy sauce, and that made it super difficult to pick just two dishes to share. We eventually landed on pad see ew and beef and basil fried rice, since we figured those were two that could be difficult to make gluten-free at other establishments near us.
And oh my god. The noodles of the pad see ew were so perfectly chewy, and the sauce was flavored impeccably. The basil in the fried rice added a nice herbal note, and being able to have both dishes with real (gf) soy sauce I think truly changed the game.
Tandem Bagel Co. – Massachusetts
Honestly, this restaurant was so good I would drive to Hadley, MA again just for the bagels here. With three different options of gluten-free bagels to choose from, we eventually (after lots of deliberation) landed on a blue cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich on an everything bagel and honey walnut cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel. Eating these, I think I genuinely ascended into heaven from how delicious they were. The blue cheese complemented the rest of the sandwich’s ingredients perfectly, and I think the everything bagel was definitely the play with it. Then, with the still-warm cinnamon-raisin bagel, the cream cheese was dripping off the sides so much we were (well, I was) scraping the extras off the paper just to ensure we got all of it. Truly worth the trip, especially if you’re even remotely in the area.
Life Alive Organic Cafe – Massachusetts
A chain throughout Boston, Life Alive focuses on healthy, primarily vegan/vegetarian foods, making it the perfect lunch to grab before a travel day. This one was recommended to us by my queen, Westmont alumn Jocelyn Hwang, so of course it was yum! While I enjoyed my teriyaki tofu bowl, I do still wish I tried the chili garlic mushroom bibimbap, simply because it sounds so yummy. The tofu in the bowl I did get was quite scrumptious, with a nice textured exterior that I hadn’t had on tofu before and pleasantly surprised me. We ate in the car, but the vibes of the restaurant were so good that I hope next time I’m in Boston I’m able to stop by again.
Scout’s Doughnuts – South Carolina
If you ever find yourself in need of a donut in Greenville, look no further than Scout’s. The first “real,” yeast and fried donuts I’ve had in years, the quality of these donuts blew me away. They’re not dedicated gluten-free, but by the time we arrived, the owner was about to close and gave us an extra gf donut for free! We tried the chocolate, cinnamon sugar, and lemon-blueberry flavors, and can confirm they taste as good as they look. (And apologies for the photo missing the chocolate donuts, I realized I needed a photo after we already ate 1 7/8ths of the 2 chocolate donuts!)
