Gluten Free Spokane

When I review a restaurant, I usually go in stealth mode. I might make a phone call, to check gluten free awareness, or quiz the host or hostess about menu items, but I don’t announce this site from the top of my lungs on approach. So, when I was called by the Spokane Tomato Street, on the corner of Francis and North Division, to stop in and chat about their gluten free options, I was a little caught off guard.

I knew they had gluten free pasta, but the last time I had heard about it (several years ago) it was not the best. Think Asian rice noodles. They have changed the pasta to a standard gluten free kind, and re-worked the menu to include 24 options.

Here is another difference: instead of spending 10 minutes quizzing the server, they have done the job for us. They have implemented a mandatory three-hour test for servers, covering the entire operation, but including what is gluten free and what is not. Servers, chefs, and anyone in contact with food knows ingredients, preparation and presentation.

Sinage near the Salad Station

Order Entry Button

As the conversation continued, the excitement for gluten free was bursting out of them. Tomato Street is almost overly cautious, as if there were such a thing. Their shift to include gluten free options occurred after a manager had a major heart attack in his 30’s. He started taking his diet very seriously and learned about food allergies. After a nutritionist dissected the menu, they adjusted it to include items that lend themselves to easy gluten free preparation such as Seafood Fettuccini, Niccolo Pasta and Steak Myzithra. They educated themselves and trained the staff on proper cross contamination elimination. I hardly had a chance to ask questions; they were so proud of what they have done in this place, each of my five stars were mentioned without asking.

Menu: All options are easy to find on the menu with a “gluten friendly” tag for specific items.

Staff: Every employee takes a three-hour written test after extensive training. They must score above an 80% before they are allowed to see a customer.

Cross Contamination Aware: Signs all over the restaurant, multiple methods for entering it into the computer system, but my favorite is the special frilly toothpick stabbed into gluten free items as they come out of the kitchen.

Value: If it’s a dish that includes pasta, they charge $2 extra. I’m okay with the increase; they make the effort, and buy quality ingredients (they leave the Asian noodles for Pad Thai).

Good Food: keep reading.

It’s abundantly obvious that they have the gluten free thing down, but what good is that if the food isn’t worth eating? Well, no worries here. I had the Raspberry Poppy Salad and the gluten free pasta with Tomato Mushroom Herb sauce. The strawberries were red and sweet, dark green romaine lettuce, tangy chunks of feta and candied walnuts for crunch. The pasta was good too: the sauce was tangy and the pasta was, well, pasta. Without the toothpick I might have questioned if it was really gluten free.

Sweet Raspberry Poppy Salad

Gluten Free Pasta

I can give you two more reasons to frequent this place:

1. Tomato Street is a local company, so your money stays in Spokane.
2. Tomato Street has not purchased advertising; they spend those dollars supporting our community.