MAFIA0Za’s

Gluten free pizza

"The Teamster" gluten free pizza with gluten free beer

Located at 2400 12th Avenue South, MAFIA0Za’s is a Pizzeria and Neighborhood Pub. The thing I like about MAFIA0Za’s of course is that they offer all of their pizzas with the option of using a great gluten free pizza crust. The crust is better then most, but ask them to cook it just a little longer if you want it on the crunchier side.

Another thing I like is they also offer Estrella Damm, Daura gluten free beer, a Spanish style Pilsener at the bar. Estrella is a barley based beer, yes, barley based. They use a technique to remove gluten during the brewing process. Two hints when you go, Sunday and Tuesday are 2-4-1 beers and if you buy wine next door at Vinea (which is one of the best wine shops in Nashville) just show the receipt and MAFIAOZa’s only charges $1 corking fee.

Visit MAFIA0Za’s online.

Watanabe Sushi

Watanabe in East Nashville on McGavock is most favorite sushi restaurant around. The staff will help make any roll gluten free and are great to work with. One of my favorite reasons for going is that all of their rolls that contain crab use real crab meat instead of fake crab meat that can contain gluten elements. Plus it just tastes so much better than the fake stuff! The green goddess roll is my favorite, without the tempura flakes of course ;-) Also just ask, they normally have a gluten free soy sauce available.

Tell Evan I said hello!

Visit Watanabe online.

Amerigo’s

Recently my wife bought a Groupon for Amerigo’s on West End. She had been trying to use it for weeks with me and I kept pushing her to go with a friend instead since the last place I wanted to go is yet another Italian restaurant where I couldn’t eat anything. Well… At least not anything that I wanted to. We were out running errands a few Saturdays ago and she cornered me into going. Thinking that I was just going to have a nice wine lunch, I was pleasantly surprised when our waitress brought out Amerigo’s own gluten free menu when I asked about options. The menu had multiple items on it, not the normal 5 items. I enjoyed mussels, which were not on the gluten free menu but they worked wihth me since they were slow at the time and some great salmon. The staff was more than accommodating and knowledgable about gluten issues. Check them out next time you’re on West End in Nashville or in Brentwood, Memphis or Jackson, MS!

Sole Mio, gluten free Italian options in Nashville

While most Italian good is normally off limits, Sole Mio is there to help. While they do not carry rice noodles, they do offer to help make most of the items gluten free and are very friendly. I highly recommend the Insalata Di Mare and the Prosciutto e Melone for apps and Pesce del Giornio for dinner. The staff was very helpful, after wine it is a little pricy though.

Visit the Sole Mio site.

Fulin’s – Good sushi but watch for hidden gluten!

Once a month my wife and I have to go to Lebanon, TN and stop in Mt. Juliet to eat at Fulin’s. The sushi there is always good and fresh. Because of the language barrier, I seem to have an issue every other time I go though. Being in the South, people love to fry everything, including sushi. Talk to your waiter before you order, they love to hide little crunchies in everything they fix.

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The Old Spaghetti Factory

So for the food that is most likely the hardest to do out gluten free I find myself recently eating at a lot of Italian restaurants that end up having a gluten free menu. A great place to take the family is the Old Spaghetti Factory down on 2nd avenue. It’s been there for years, I think one of the only restaurants that is still on 2nd sine I moved to Nashville in 1989. They can substitute any pasta dish with a gluten free corn pasta that is cooked separately to avoid cross contamination. It’s a great, low expense nice meal for the fam except for the fact that most of the time you will have to pay for parking downtown to enjoy.

Gluten free at the Old Spaghetti Factory

Had dinner the other night at the Old Spaghetti Factory on 2nd Avenue in Nashville. We use to go there all the time when family was in town, the nephews always loved sitting in the caboose. Anyway, I heard they had a gluten free menu, but was still a little scared as I always am trying some place that is mainly gluten heavy. The staff was very helpful and I have to say it was some of the best damn gluten free pasta I have had. I highly recommend it.

See the Old Speghetti Factory gluten free menu