So today for lunch we went to Pei Wei to give their Gluten Free Menu a try. I was initially a little disappointed with the number of items to choose from (there are currently only five menu items) but all of them seemed to be dairy free too. I ordered the Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls without Thai peanut sauce (they are in the regular menu under the Salad section). When ordering, I told them about being allergic to dairy and being gluten free. The girl behind the counter was a little confused about the whole “gluten free menu” thing and deferred to a more experienced employee. She, fortunately, knew all about the gluten free menu button on the computer, so she showed her “go here to the Gluten Free Menu, then just push the item and that’s it.”
When our order was delivered, the server made a point of saying “Gluten Free Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls” when he announced the order to see who had what. That was very encouraging. And then when I ate the first bite… YUM!!! They we absolutely delicious!!! Fresh and tasty, the chicken, veggies and mint came wrapped in a nice soft rice paper. It was nice and cool and light, but with three full rolls to an order, very filling and satisfying. And instead of coming with the gluten-y peanut sauce, the three rolls came instead with a sweet & spicy sauce that was very tasty. (I must admit that I used to love that peanut sauce and, honestly, still missed it a little. But that’s a small price to pay for a GFCF reaction-free meal out with my husband!)
Now it’s been almost 4 hours since eating, so I think it’s safe to say that I had a totally positive, gluten free, casein free dining experience at Pei Wei. Yeay! I’ll be going back again, that’s for sure.