Hmm... Not sure where to lead you since we don't eat out much, though I do have 2 recommendations that would meet your interest in something local and family-owned. I can say that if you like really wonderful gyros and middle eastern food, I recommend Briarmart. They're a small cafe/store, absolutely casual, family-owned and PHENOMENAL. Wonderful hummus, gyros, stuffed grape leaves, etc. Their sister restaurant, which is a bit more upscale, is Caspian Cafe. Lots of goodies from all over the mediterranean, which tends to be low on dairy overall w/ lots of rice and savory meats, and if I recall a couple of good vegetarian selections, so should be good for the GF as well so long as you skip the pitas. They're super super nice there, too (at both places), and I'm sure they would be happy to sub some veggies in for pitas if you got hummus or baba ghanouj or the like. DH and I absolutely love their food. We take DD there without a problem, too. She especially gets a kick out of the belly dancer they have on Thur, Fri and Sat evenings.
Here is a link to Caspian, which not only includes their menu, but a link to a description of Briarmart if you look down on the left side:
http://www.caspiancafe.com/
One note - not sure how young your kiddos are, but Briarmart does *not* have high chairs or booster seats. DD always just sits on one of our laps.
Oh - wait! One more for Denver, if you like Brazilian BBQ - Rodizio Grill... fantastic food. Buffet with wandering meats (they explain it better online!) -
http://www.rodiziogrill.com/
All three are places we always like to take people when they visit. Yummy stuff!
Hope this helps!
