Gluten-Free in Washington, DC | Brynne, Hungry Girl

Article courtesy of Brynne Cramer, Gluten Free Hungry Girl

This past weekend my parents, husband and I took a trip to Washington, DC, to visit my brother. He’s lived there a few years now so it was about time I saw his stomping ground.

I came away from the fun weekend thinking gluten-free people who live in Washington, DC, have it better than me.

No doubt about it.

There are gluten-free options around every corner.

After acting like tourists and visiting all the monuments, you better believe I worked up an appetite.

There were three restaurants from our trip that stood out.

Carmine’s

Carmine’s is located in downtown DC. It’s an Italian restaurant that started in New York City.

The dining experience at Carmine’s was very unique. They served everything family-style, which meant that everyone had to eat gluten-free.

I liked that.

We decided to get a house salad and corn pasta topped with marinara sauce and sausage. The waiter thought it wouldn’t be enough food for my family of five, so he tried to convince us to order more.

After a long (somewhat confusing) discussion with our waiter, we ended up sticking with our original order. It was plenty of food.

We couldn’t even finish it all, and that’s saying something considering I have a family with big appetites.

The pasta was well-flavored but a little al dente.

Our waiter was able to talk us into a chocolate flourless cake for dessert. I’m glad he did because it was incredible.

Pete’s Apizza

Pete’s Apizza is restaurant in Clarendon that my brother frequents. Since he is a gluten-eater, I was excited to test out the gluten-free side of things.

We must have similar taste in restaurants, because it was my favorite meal of the trip. I got the gluten-free margarita pizza. It was unlike any other gluten-free pizza I’ve tried (in a good way). I highly, highly recommend it.

As a bonus, I got a gluten-free chocolate cake for dessert. The cake was kind of crumbly, but it satisfied my sweet tooth. Did I mention we did a lot of walking?

I didn’t feel guilty.

Crepe-n-Cream

Crepe-n-Cream is located between Georgetown and downtown DC. My mom spotted a street-sign advertising gluten-free crepes, so you know we had to stop.

I spoke with the person making the crepes about cross-contamination, and he assured me that he would clean the equipment before he made my crepe. Since I could see him making the food I felt pretty good about it.

I ordered the Elvis crepe. It had peanut butter, Nutella and bananas. It was my first gluten-free crepe, and I loved every minute of it.

It was the perfect end to a wonderful trip.