Bartaco Restaurant Offers Gluten Free Menu
Maizy Boosin
Good news for people with Celiacs Disease or those going gluten free. Turns out...bartaco Restaurant is almost completely gluten free! We sent our roving reporter, 9 year old Maizy Boosin, who suffers from Celiac, to test out the menu. See what she found out below...
When bartaco opened its first location in Pt. Chester, NY last year, the goal was to serve simple, tasty food in a stylish yet relaxed environment. After having expanded to locations in Stamford, CT and West Hartford, CT, bartaco continues to fulfill its original goal with a considerable bonus: the vast majority of its menu happens to be gluten free.
bartaco offers a diverse menu for guests with gluten sensitivity and minimizes instances of cross-contamination for those with Celiac’s Disease. Almost none of the menu is off limits to these dietary restrictions. Popular dishes such as the tamales, ceviche and guacamole contain no wheat-based ingredients; corn tortillas are the foundation for the tacos and even the baja fish taco is battered in rice flour, instead of wheat. Even heartier favorites such as the grilled corn with cotija cheese or the tender stewed pork and beans are all cooked without a trace of wheat gluten.
“We aim to create exciting flavor profiles using fresh ingredients, herbs and spices," says Adam Halberg, Culinary Director of bartaco. "It just so happens that the recipes and culinary traditions we pulled from for this menu gave us an almost exclusively gluten-free line up."
My name is Maizy and I have celiac disease which means I can’t eat gluten. There is gluten in wheat, rye, oats, malt, and barley. It is a challenge eating out for me because I cannot even have traces of gluten. Restaurants can usually grill me a piece of grilled chicken but they have to do it on tinfoil if the bread is grilled on the same grill and I can’t usually pick off the menu. I was so super excited when I could pick any thing off the menu at bartaco but three things the churro, the quesadilla and the gazpacho that bartaco only offers in the summer. Here are a few of my favorite things I tried:
Baja fish taco
White fish cooked in rice batter has never tasted so amazing. The rice batter gives the fish a great crunch and texture, it’s delicious. The shredded cabbage has a sauce on it, sort of like coleslaw without carrots it gives the taco a fresh flavor. I think the fish is light, flakey and very enjoyable. If you like seafood you will probably enjoy the Baja fish taco.
Chicken tamale
I absolutely loved the chicken tamale, filled with very tender shredded chicken with spices that are out of this world. The onions are sweet and soft and mixed with the chicken it tastes so delicious. The best part of the tamale is that it is not dense the tamale is light, fluffy, and airy. I think the chicken tamale is sweet and amazing.
Chicken Taco
The chicken taco is both sweet and spicy. The chicken taco is loaded with sauce which makes it super flavorful. After trying the chicken taco I realized it is sweet at first then spicy I enjoy this feature and love the tenderness of the chicken.
Reader Comments (9)
Thank you so much for letting us know about bartaco. This is great news for those of who have limited choices when we dine out.
Most Mexican style restaurants serve gluten-free items. Especially when they use corn tortillas>
Well done! I look forward to more updates from your newest "roving reporter" as she navigates the GF road!
FANTASTIC article by an amazing girl! Great job, Maizy!!
Gluten free options are at every taco restaurant I have ever been to. One notable restaurant is Bodega in Fairfield. My gluten free friends LOVE it!
Maizy...welcome and I love reading reviews by our youngest contributors...GREAT JOB!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS GLUTEN FREE EDITION!!!
Mike- be careful- most Mexican restaurants use a corn tortilla- most of them are not TRUE corn tortillas and have flour in them. Make sure to ask... and have the server ask the chef, I had to ask three times at a local establishment after the server said they were corn (and they were a blend)
GREAT JOB Maize!! I can't wait for more Gluten Free Editions!
While it is true that many mexican restaurants offer food that is naturally gluten free, the cross-contamination can be a real issue. Bartaco was a real stand out because they went out of their way to make sure the gluten free food was completely gluten free and not contaminated during preparation. The best example of this, is the separate friers...on for the churros (which sadly are not gluten free) and one for the fish and tortialla chips that is completely gluten free.
Love Bartaco! I wrote about them on my GF blog http://misterbelly.com. I cover a lot of GF stuff in the Fairfield County area if anyone is interested. :)