CA allergy-friendly restaurants

[kjbrown92]

I'm going to Morgan Hill, CA (a little southeast of San Jose from what I can tell) this weekend for my brother's wedding. There may or may not be safe food for me at his wedding. There will be safe food for me at the family dinner the night before (I already contacted the restaurant). But I'll need lunch on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Anyone know anything about the restaurants in that area? I cross-posted in the CA tribe area. My brother's fiance is getting me quaker rice cakes and natural peanut butter so I can have a backup plan. But since I'll have no DH and no kids (just my mother and aunt, who don't get along, that'll be fun!!) it would be nice to be able to go out to eat!

[Theloose]

that's near my neck of the woods! I don't know about morgan hill specifically, I'm a bit further north. There are a bunch of chain restaurants at the gilroy outlets. Not sure about the corn details, but In N Out (fast food/drive thru) can make you a safe burger on lettuce with tomato. What sort of radius are you looking for? How far are you willing to travel for food?

[kjbrown92]

the wedding on Sunday is at 5pm, so I have all day on Sunday to find lunch (and breakfast). On Saturday, we get into SFO around noon, then down to the hotel in Morgan Hill. If I can find a place in between for lunch, that would be great too. I haven't been out to CA since my brother's last wedding in 1993 so I want to look around anyway and be a tourist. So any advice would be great!

[Theloose]

What sort of tourist are you? shopping? museums? nature?

And what sort of food? There are tons of foodie places, but they might get pricey. There's also a lot of raw foods stuff which is generally safe and fun for the novelty factor. Then there's ethnic places like mexican or thai, or GFCF pizza (with the daiya cheese), or one of the many many farmer's markets.

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by whoMe

What sort of tourist are you? shopping? museums? nature?

Anything non-educational (my mother OD'd me on it when I was a kid, now I'm in for pure entertainment). I like window shopping. Funky kind of stuff. I like nature. I don't have that much time... I'd just like to see... something.

And what sort of food? There are tons of foodie places, but they might get pricey. There's also a lot of raw foods stuff which is generally safe and fun for the novelty factor. Then there's ethnic places like mexican or thai, or GFCF pizza (with the daiya cheese), or one of the many many farmer's markets.

raw foods would be neat. we don't have any of that out here. GFCF food would be great (if it was soy/corn free too). And I love Mexican but they usually rely on corn too. I haven't had thai in a while. I like sushi, but without pickled ginger and "soy" sauce, it's kind of boring (I have that stuff here but I'm not bringing it with me!). It's just two lunches, but it would be fun to have real food where I didn't have to bring food with me. I looooove farmer's markets though I'd have to eat everything I bought!

[Theloose]

before I forget, here's the gluten free bay area map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...8545bdf78b2ce3

If you're up for a trip into the city (maybe right after you land?) the Ferry Building has some good stuff, including a bakery and salumeria and fancy vietnamese fusion restaurant and funky shopping

[waluso]

Calafia in Palo Alto might be a good option: http://calafiapaloalto.com/. They have gfdf options and are very aware of allergies. It would be on your way south.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by waluso

Calafia in Palo Alto might be a good option: http://calafiapaloalto.com/. They have gfdf options and are very aware of allergies. It would be on your way south.

Yum! How long have they been around?

[Theloose]

Do you have enough ideas yet?

For raw, http://www.queserawseraw.com/ in burlingame has take out stuff, and http://www.cafegratitude.com/ in san fran - the one on Harrison would likely be the most convenient.

For stuff to do, any of the state/county parks will be nice for nature. Stuff in the hills is mostly redwoods, stuff east of 101 is mostly exposed. Most cities have a decent shopping downtown area. There are wineries for wine tasting, too, and the beach isn't all that far away.

If you're searching out grocery stores, most helpful will likely be the higher end stores - whole foods, andronicos, piazzas, etc. County Sun in palo alto has a bit. Sprouts in sunnyvale is new and has a bunch of GF stuff but I haven't been there.

Do you want to try and meet up? Or do you think you'll be too busy?

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by whoMe

Do you have enough ideas yet?

For raw, http://www.queserawseraw.com/ in burlingame has take out stuff, and http://www.cafegratitude.com/ in san fran - the one on Harrison would likely be the most convenient.

For stuff to do, any of the state/county parks will be nice for nature. Stuff in the hills is mostly redwoods, stuff east of 101 is mostly exposed. Most cities have a decent shopping downtown area. There are wineries for wine tasting, too, and the beach isn't all that far away.

If you're searching out grocery stores, most helpful will likely be the higher end stores - whole foods, andronicos, piazzas, etc. County Sun in palo alto has a bit. Sprouts in sunnyvale is new and has a bunch of GF stuff but I haven't been there.

Do you want to try and meet up? Or do you think you'll be too busy?

More ideas are always good.
I get into San Francisco airport just after noon on Saturday. Have to get a rental car then head down to Morgan Hill, which my brother says will take a couple of hours. Family dinner at 6pm (my brother's family + his fiance's family). Sunday I have free until 4pm (not technically free since my aunt will be with me, and possibly my mother, and my niece and nephew). And I have to get niece ready to be flower girl and to reception place by 4, so I guess I don't have as much time that day as I thought. And then flight out is 6am on Monday morning. My mother and aunt (who can't stand each other) are traveling with me, and my aunt takes about 2-3 hours to get ready to go anywhere (I'm a 5-minute wash-and-wear person). So this will be fun.... or not. So unfortunately I don't have much time. How far are you from Morgan Hill?

[Theloose]

I'm a good 30 min from morgan hill, with a ds that doesn't happily/reliably travel more than 20 min. You'll pass right by on your drive down from the airport, though. Will you have your mom and aunt then?

We could do the farmers market sunday morning? It goes 9-1 in mountain view, and it's a good one. There're restaurants nearby (that we eat at, but i can't guarantee they're safe), and parks. The market has a couple GF cookie/nut cake vendors. Maybe waluso could come down too?

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by whoMe

I'm a good 30 min from morgan hill, with a ds that doesn't happily/reliably travel more than 20 min. You'll pass right by on your drive down from the airport, though. Will you have your mom and aunt then?

We could do the farmers market sunday morning? It goes 9-1 in mountain view, and it's a good one. There're restaurants nearby (that we eat at, but i can't guarantee they're safe), and parks. The market has a couple GF cookie/nut cake vendors. Maybe waluso could come down too?

I'm going to have my mother and aunt with me the ENTIREEEEE time. Can you tell how thrilled I am with that? My aunt might be up for going to the farmer's market. Is Mountain View the town? How do I figure out how to get there from Morgan Hill?

[Theloose]

Ah, fun fun. You can't pawn them off on other siblings they haven't seen in a long time?

Yeah, mountain view is the city, the market is in the castro st caltrain station parking lot. It gets busy and so parking can be tough, though. I'd google for directions.

[kjbrown92]

My older brother isn't coming to the wedding. So it's just the brother who's getting married on Sunday, and me. And my aunt and mother don't get along at all, and they both wanted to go with me on the trip, so we're all going together and it's going to be major stress the whole time, and they'll only talk THROUGH me. I sooooo don't want to go. I just got directions to that market. It said it was 37 minute drive for me. I can do that on Sunday morning. Hope I don't have much jet lag!

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by waluso

Calafia in Palo Alto might be a good option: http://calafiapaloalto.com/. They have gfdf options and are very aware of allergies. It would be on your way south.

Okay, totally OT, but .
Miss you so much!!

Hope you have a great trip, Kathy!