We recently took a little trip to Chicago between Christmas and New Years. It was a quick adventure to the Windy City before the winter weather gets too crazy and a nice change of scenery before the new year, new routine, (and wedding festivities) begin!

Here’s a little round up of where we ate and what we think you should know about each place regarding our food allergies/intolerance, along with some fun places we visited!

Brunch at Willow Room

This quaint little restaurant in Lincoln Park was mentioned by a Chicago blogger I follow and I was drawn in by the decor and lunch menu on their website. We made reservations a few weeks in advance and I didn’t give it much thought until we arrived and realized that it’s the weekend and they were serving their brunch menu, not the lunch menu. So unfortunately there was nothing to really write home about on the gluten free front… I had my “IHOP meal” as Darrell likes to call it… Eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit… because that’s about all I found on the menu that interested me. He calls this my “IHOP meal” because at places like IHOP where its mainly breakfast food served or we go somewhere specifically for brunch and they’re severely limited in yummy GF options, this is what I end up ordering.

Darrell, on the other hand, LOVED his meal at Willow Room. He ordered the Lobster Mac and Cheese.

Pizza at Lou Malnati’s

This pizza place was highly recommended to us by some friends. We had gone on a holiday lights tour that evening and our trolley somehow left us or we lost it, I’m not really sure what happened, at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Darrell ordered a deep dish pizza per our friend’s instructions, and I deviated from the suggested crustless pizza (apparently made with a base of lean sausage) and went for the gluten free thin crust instead. While we had initially intended on dining at the restaurant, we ended up exhausted from all the travel, walking and figuring-out-a-new-city that we made a spur of the moment decision to have it delivered instead. I think, had it been fresh and not delivered, it would have been amazing. The flavor was awesome and the ingredients tasted fresh. The crust was just tough by the time I ate it. Definitely want to try the the crustless pizza next time though!

Side note: Lincoln Park Zoo has an incredible light display you should totally check out if visiting Chicago around the holidays. The holiday lights tour was disappointing from a logistical stand point. We spent too much time at a location that was pretty quick to take in, while we were extremely limited on time at the Lincoln Park Zoo where we could have easily spent the entire tour time allotment.

Brunch at The Hampton Social

Okay, I know, this is such an Instagram blogger place to go but it looked so cute and I really wanted to check it out! Maybe it was another case of poor ordering or maybe it just wasn’t the best place for gluten free. I ended up ordering a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. The interesting part: the salad has Brussels sprouts?! The sad part: I didn’t finish it. Mediocre Caesar salad with grilled chicken, what more can I say?

Darrell struck gold again with Parmesan Fries and the Crab and Avocado Toast. (He’s a major fan of avocado toast!) The fries were coated with Parmesan cheese (as the name implies) and herbs. They were served with a white truffle aioli which he was also pretty excited about!

Please note the fries could not be guaranteed gluten-free at risk of cross-contamination due to other menu items using the same oil. The toast was also NOT gluten free.

For checking in on Yelp, Darrell got the Parmesan Fries for free!

Another side note: Did you know Darrell is an Elite Yelper? He’s been a Yelper for years but the last three years he’s made it to Elite Yelper status! Woot woot! You can follow him on Yelp HERE.

Donuts at Do-Rite Donuts

Because I didn’t eat much at Hampton Social but was still hungry, Darrell turned to Yelp and I threw in the towel on restaurant picking for the remainder of the trip!! When he realized I wasn’t eating much, he quickly found a cute donut shop with gluten free offerings! We popped in and selected a Holiday Sprinkle donut for D and a Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar donut for me. It was then time for a McD’s coke, so we hopped across the street and wouldn’t you know our song started playing right as we walked in?! Too cool. Not sharing said song yet, you can wait until the wedding to find out!! ;)

Dinner at Quartino Ristorante

Of course going to a big city meant scoping out a place for risotto!! Darrell found this restaurant on Yelp and called ahead to ask about broth. (Risotto recipes vary and sometimes [often] calls for chicken broth.) Luckily, Quartino uses vegetable broth for the risotto we ordered so this worked out great!!

This is the quintessential cozy date night out on the town. The beautiful and almost homey feel of the trendy yet classic Italian restaurant charmed our socks off! If you like Italian food and you’re in Chicago - this is THE place to go. Everything we ordered was phenomenal.

Our server was top notch and a great help with my gluten intolerance and Darrell’s food allergies. He went above and beyond to fully understand our concerns and to assure us that our needs would be taken seriously. To make things even better, they have a separate gluten free menu.

Portions were “shareable” and we chose to share our selections. For our appetizer, we went with two charcuterie options: Prosciutto San Daniele and Grana Padano Stravecchio. This came with a grape salad (not a fan, too vinegary) and an apricot puree (LOVE) for accompaniments. The Prosciutto San Daniele was a light, somewhat sweeter prosciutto than I’ve ever had and I loved that it didn’t have an overpowering saltiness like so many seem to have at the grocery store. This was my first time trying Grana Padano Stravecchio and wow - it is a definite new favorite. Darrell also loved it. We tried to find it in stores and settled for a Grana Padano Parmesan at Trader Joe’s which is quite tasty, just not quite the fresh deliciousness of Quartino’s offerings!

For our entree, we went with the Shrimp Risotto without the sun dried tomatoes because I just can’t do tomatoes, haha! It included zucchini which we really liked and might try to incorporate when we make risotto in the future. It was a perfect portion for the two of us to share. We were interested to compare it to our memories of the risotto restaurant we visited in New York City and to the recipes we’ve tried. It wasn’t as cheesy as we would likely prefer but man was it goooood!

For dessert, I ordered the Coppa alla Banana without the biscotti so that it would be gluten free. It consisted of caramelized banana, vanilla gelato, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and shavings. It was just as heavenly as it sounds!!

John Coletta is the Executive Chef and Co-Founder of Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar. Quartino Ristorante is part of Gibsons Restaurant Group.

Brunch at Beatrix

Another Yelp find, Darrell chose this restaurant because of it’s gluten free options for me and stellar reviews. I branched out and tried something new I had been curious about for a while, chia seeds, in the form of the Chia Cereal Bowl. We had to wait for a little while since we didn’t make reservations and Darrell showed me some Yelp reviews for menu items I was considering and everyone had left glowing remarks for the cereal bowl so I felt like it was time to try chia seeds!! I was not disappointed! It was so delicious, light, fluffy, fresh and “clean” tasting! I loved the combination of textures and how well the flavors of the banana, toasted coconut and peach compote played off one another! I also ordered a side of hashbrowns because it’s not everyday I can order them out and know they’re gluten free! Beatrix also had a gluten free menu which made it super easy to order.

Darrell ordered the Cauliflower Grits. He lovesss him so grits and he’s been really into cauliflower dishes as of late. This entree included grits, cauliflower, Parmesan, Brussels sprouts, and fried eggs which he chose to swap out for scrambled eggs. He was raving about this meal all day and has already been researching how to recreate it at home. He said he’d never had grits so tasty!

Oh! And I almost forgot, we ordered dessert with our brunch! Bahaha! Because, why not? Darrell loves cake and I love finding gluten free dessert options when dining out! The Tall, Dark & Handsome Chocolate Cake was kind of like a chocolate mousse but it was heavy and tall. It had “crust” that we’re convinced was brownie. Regardless, it was a great treat!

Some of our other adventures in Chicago included visiting the windy city’s Tiffany’s store, checking out “the bean” aka Cloud Gate at Millennium Park and Harold Washington Library. We loved making use of the public transit aka the train to get around the city. I’m proud to report I did not lose my transit card in Chicago like I did TWICE on our adventure in NYC. (This is only because as soon as I used, it I handed it back to Darrell for safe-keeping this time!!!)

You can find more photos from our Chicago trip below!

Have you visited any of these restaurants? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or medical professional and while I share what ingredients work for me or what I choose to eat (at my own risk) while dining out, I advise you do your homework when choosing ingredients and places to eat. I highly encourage everyone to do their own research when it comes to the products they cook with or restaurant’s procedures. I do not have celiac disease but rather a gluten-intolerance and I’m not an expert on gluten or other food intolerances, autoimmune diseases, or food allergies. I simply share the ingredients I have found work for me, the places where I’ve dined and my personal experiences.