Olive Garden...and for some unknowable reason, in my town, there's a line out the door every night of the week. Actually, now that I think on it, that explains a lot.

Panera is pretty impossible.

The one time I was there since going lacto paleo I got a Greek salad, no dressing. No way for me to tell if gluten was involved in the proteins (chicken, beef, etc.) that they offer. There are also fresh apples available as a choice, but of course in a place like that going completely gluten free is not really going to happen - the title of the chain alludes to bread, for cryin' out loud.

Unfortunately, Thai restaurants -- at least in the U.S. -- might as well be called "meat candy stores". I love all the dishes, but so many of them are spiked with so much sugar that I just get hungrier and hungrier as I eat. Pad thai, with those lovely rice noodles, makes things even worse.

Pancake pantry.......I just got there after church and stand in line and give talks for those who will listen. Every Sunday I get several out of the line. Needless to say the owner does not dig me coming on Sunday. I tell him it is my PSA for the week.

My coworkers like this awful Chinese place and since we have office lunch together every Friday, I have to sometimes endure it, though now me and another girl are protesting and refusing it. Everything is cooked with crap!oil and drenched in corn starch sugar goo. Last time I went I tried to hack my meal, so I ordered just beef and veggies steamed. Uuuugggh, the beef was a horrible grey color and totally flavorless. I guess they get away with it normally because they cover it with sauce.

I hate Chinese. I can usually find something to eat when I go somewhere, but not at a Chinese restaurant. Everything is stirfried in low cholesterol soybean oil (they advertise this) and they won't do anything steamed even on request. I ended up just having some white rice because the shrimp I ordered was oily and covered in sauce.

I did have a really good experience at a pizza place last night though. I was going in pretty pessimistic and fully expecting to not be able to eat anything, but they had gluten free crusts made only with safe starches and everything was organic. I got bacon, pepperoni, and peppers and it was delicious. My first pizza in probably a year and a half. I also may have had a gluten free brownie :)

Honestly, Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, Oregon. Popular beyond its due, more of a drug house than a doughnut shop, with long lines of eager dupes snaking around the block before it even opens. I don't care if a doughnut is shaped like a penis or a boob, it's still a doughnut. And why do our out-of-town guests always insist on going there? For me, nothing to "eat" but a glass of water.

In my opinion, most restaurant are bad. It would be an interesting exercise to collect a list of "best" restaurants. I don't have one - I wish I did so I wouldn't have to cook so much for this insatiable brood I live with.

A place here in Auckland called "bikanerwala" - Indian vegetarian cuisine. Everything is either a grain or a legume, hardly any vegetables in sight. Loads of sugar in the drinks and tons of gooey sweets. Literally, the only thing I could have was a glass of water. Yay for being able to skip meals easily.

If you did dairy, you will be able to get away with the grilled tikka paneer (a type of firm Indian cheese)

I kid you not, every Indian over the age of 30 in that restaurant was overweight or obese. Diabetes explosion, anyone?

As I sit on the pot saying my final words, my vote right now for Applebee's.

As I sit on the pot saying my final words, my vote right now for Applebee's.

Pretty much all of them...

The so-called "heatlh food" store out here. I decided to meet some friends for lunch, and the hot bar was all tofu, chickpeas, and soybean-oil coated pasta salads. Ick.

I wound up grabbing some chèvre and soppressata from a cold case. Not my ideal lunch, but it was literally the only thing they sold in the store that wouldn't make me sick, and I was ravenous.

ETA: I just got back from a microbrewery. Delicious pub food, no doubt, but gluten heaven. I wound up eating a side salad, filched a few of the fella's garlic-parmesan fries (<3 fries!), and ate the guts out of a roast beast and bacon sandwich. Every. single. thing. was either bread (sandwich, pizza) or breaded (battered fish, fried chicken). Even the drinks were gluten-laden. o.o

Even navigating it as carefully as I did, I'm sure I'll have a tummyache tomorrow.

Yeah, there's an all-you-can-eat buffet near my house that advertises as being vegetarian friendly. Seriously the only straight-up protein I could find was the bacon bits and crumbled hard boiled eggs at the salad bar. The next best option was new england clam chowder. :(

Pei Wei (or PF Changs) Their 'gluten free' menu items are drowning in sugar and potato starch, which is usually offered with a side of rice, or a garnish of rice noodles. I understand that some foods can be gluten free without being paleo, but putting soy on top of your rice with your gluten free spicy shrimp defeats the purpose no? Also, I live in San Antonio where Mexican food is king and you can see it on the bellies of most of our population. Its a nightmare down here for office lunches....I hide in my cube with my sack lunch of last night's leftovers.