Thursday, February 8, 2018

GF at Airports

Traveling can be stressful, especially when it comes to finding something that is absolutely gluten free. Being stuck on an airplane is not a good time to find out that you've been glutened.

For those and other turbulence-related reasons, I typically don't like to have a big meal before flying. I usually eat a small snack and carry something light in my carryon bag, like an Rx bar or Snyder's GF pretzels and peanut butter.

But, sometimes you gotta eat, even if it's overpriced airport food. So I've started compiling a rough guide based on my experiences. I usually fly United, so I'm not sure about other terminals but I assume they're all pretty similar within a specific airport.

A brief roundup of GF options at airports I've been to lately:

- IAH (2018) is the airport I visit the most. Terminal C has just been remodeled and is really nice. A lot of pre-packaged gluten free options at the little stores. I've seen little snack boxes, salads, bars, snacks, and I've even found GF sandwiches and cookies.
Some of the restaurants have GF menu options, but I have not tried anything. (I trust the pre-packaged stuff more than the restaurant dishes because of the potential for cross-contamination.)

- ORD (2018) pickings are pretty slim, so I usually try to have something with me. I like to grab an apple + a little thing of peanut butter from the hotel breakfast.

-DFW (2018) has a few stores with pre-packaged items like cheese sticks and chips, but not much else.

- RDU (2017) has a few restaurants that typically have GF options, like 5 Guys, but again I usually stick with a safe snack from one of the stores, or if time permits I'll eat before heading to the airport. Lots of GF stuff in the area.

- MSP (2017) has a French Meadow Bakery which has a really good GF selection. I've eaten there several times with no issues. At the very least I always grab a GF lemon bar for a special treat.

- LAX (2017)... I've only eaten at one place, but it was a really good hummus plate at a restaurant that was right next to my gate. They were happy to sub extra veggies in place of the crackers.

-SAN (2013)- The last time I was there, years ago, I found some of those GoPicnic boxes at a food court kiosk (some are GF, NOT ALL) and was happily satisfied with the assortment of snacks. Hopefully I get to travel to San Diego and update this soon.

1 comment:

Suzy :) said...

Dude, let's go to San Diego