(no subject)

[the_rck]

A restaurant we really like is closing-- Cafe Marie will close its doors on Sunday and not re-open again. Their official statement (Scott's on their mailing list) is that it's just gotten too expensive to keep operating.

That doesn't leave us much on this side of town. I think Applebee's and Olga's are our best options. There are a couple of nice places that are just a little too expensive and a bunch of places that haven't impressed us or that aren't safe for me or for Scott for one reason or another.

Pretty much, if we want breakfast on our side of town, we'll have a choice between the Northside Grill which always has a huge line for such a tiny place, out the door even in bitterly cold weather, and has no parking and Big Boy which... well. The bagel place does do breakfast sandwiches, but they're exclusively egg which I can't have. The last I knew, Wendy's didn't do breakfast, and I don't see us heading to the McDonald's by Kroger to eat (Wendy's is at least nearby. Scott and Cordelia can walk there).

When we're eating with Scott's parents, it'll pretty much have to be Applebee's. I don't think there are any other options that can accommodate Scott's mother's need to be gluten free that are also safely American in cuisine.

We don't eat out dreadfully often, but we prefer not to cross town (or to go downtown) to do it if we're going to. This is especially true when Scott and I have a narrow window in which to eat. There are a lot of times we drop Cordelia off for something that lasts an hour and a half or two hours and then we go get a meal. Cafe Marie was perfect for that.

Comments

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

Cafe Marie was aradiva's favorite breakfast place in town. We've probably been going there since they opened in 1993. We are very sad; we are going with anderyn and the Grex lunch group on Saturday for One Last Time. I hope they'll tell me where the sausage links come from.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Anne and Ken - I am curious how you two know each other. I've known you both for a zillion years, but from different places. Maybe Twila connected you?

[the_rck]

Twila introduced us here on LJ. Up until lunch time today, we'd never met in person.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Oh cool -- glad you've met!

How did you recognize each other?

[the_rck]

The Grex lunch group was there, so Twila and Bruce were there, too.

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

There were comments about tea and music. :-)

[the_rck]

Did you find out about the sausage links? I hope you did.

I was sorry that they were out of sweet potato fries. We've always loved those there. At least I got the the cherry cheddar chicken sandwich one last time.

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately the only answer I could get on the sausage links was, "They're from a food supplier. You can't get them in stores."

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Hm. Is Ayse's an option? It's not American food, but they have great control over their ingredients, can do gluten-free, and it's not generally hot-and-spicy.

Also Cardamom is on the north side and can do gluten-free, but that's not American either.

Hm.

[the_rck]

I've never eaten at Ayse's. I had the impression that it was horrifically expensive. Am I wrong? What sort of food is it?

Scott thinks his father might like Cardamom but that his mother would not be willing to try it (and Cordelia has said that she's not willing to try it which surprised me). We can get Scott's mother as far as heavily Americanized Chinese food (assuming we can find any that's safe), but that's it.

I really do think we're going to end up at Applebee's all the time.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

I don't love Cardamom, but other people do. And I've had really good soup there.

Ayse's is Turkish food. It is inexpensive. Ayse, the owner, is usually there and totally knows what's in everything. Lots of beans and sauces and salads. It is a neat place.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Oh! Would Zoup work? They're American, northsided, and have clearly marked gluten-free soups -- though I don't know if gluten-free soups are available every day or just at random times.

[the_rck]

If they regularly have gluten free options, that might work. I think we'd want to find out in advance if the GF soup(s) available was something Scott's mother actually liked, however. A GF option isn't useful if she wouldn't enjoy it.

Applebee's at least always has decent salad options that Scott's parents both like and is willing to serve a burger without a bun if she wants to go that direction. I don't recall if their fries are GF or not, though. They may not be.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

If I remember right, Zoup always has their current soup options posted on their website, so you can check ahead of time to see if there are gluten-free options and soups that everybody would like.

I think this is the link:
http://www.zoup.com/menu.html?location=ZOU00107

Today I see only one gluten-free soup on the menu, but if it's a good one I guess one is all it takes. :)

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

I need to script a tool to send me an e-mail when Zoup puts a "crab" soup on their menu. :-)