Gluten Free @ Uno’s Chicago Grill, Melbourne, FL & Starbucks

A few weeks ago, we drove across the state to my old hometown because I was feeling a little homesick. While there we stopped to try Uno’s new gluten free pizza, as there isn’t an Uno’s in the Tampa area. The service was really amazing.

I ordered the chocolate-banana shake to start with because I was starved and the husband was eating a giant plate of appetizer nachos without me (there are no GF appetizers on the menu). I hadn’t had it before, and didn’t really like it, so I didn’t drink it. The waiter took it off the check – even after we protested. I ordered my pizza, and apparently the first crust broke, so they also took that off the check, too, made me a new one, and offered a salad while I waited. Wow! The wait by Melbourne standards might have been long, but we were in and out of the restaurant in about an hour, which is not an unusual wait time to get seated and order in these parts, so the whole thing was way above and beyond.

The pizza itself is good. Not great, but good. The crust is very thin, and the sauce and cheese are awesome enough to cover up the crust’s faults. If you don’t have a non-chain pizza place nearby with a gluten free menu, it’s a great substitute for gluten chain pizzas. A friend suggested I order the rosemary chicken shredded and cooked on top. It might be worth a try.

On the way home we stopped at Starbucks and I tried the Orange Valencia cake. It tasted like an orange pound cake, really, IMO. It was very good. Moist, not crumbly, and sweet. The almonds are not really necessary, they could’ve left those off for the tree-nut/almond allergic crowd and it still would’ve been great.

It’s really nice to see more restaurants offering gluten free foods, even if they aren’t particularly healthy ones (though Uno’s did have some healthy options). A treat now and again, and being able to travel without worrying about having zero food choices, is really awesome.