Pizza Express doing Gluten free Food

[jan44]

Just doing my searching for somewhere suitable to eat routine and found that Pizza Express are supposed to be doing GF options from Tuesday 30 April not sure whether I am brave enough to go on the first day

[HiveMind]

Great to hear this! I visit Pizza Hut & Bella Italia (great GF menu choice here) and have never had a problem.

We have a PE near us and I'm eating out on Thursday, so might try it.

If you do go to Pizza Express let us know if you give it the thumbs up or down!

[Hidden]

Cross contamination would be my big worry followed closely by training/awareness. Seen it all before.

[barny]

know some 1 whose been and they said was good and she wasnt ill so might try it

[Maryelle]

yipeeee Italian GF food to eat, this is great news, I have stayed away from

pizza hut and Pizza express for years, but now I will be there asap. Thank you all....

[sassyl]

Just read a blog about this. They have changed all their flour to GF flour, to limit cross contamination, amongst other considerations. Have a read, sounds like they have really thought about it.

thehappycoeliac.com/2013/04...

Shame there is still no garlic doughballs though!

[jan44 in reply to sassyl]

I read this blog too before posting. It seems the contamination issue has been taken really seriously especially with the change to GF flour.

[potatochip]

I wish a few more non Italian restaurants would do some gf options. I'm getting sick of pizza and pasta when I eat out.

[DartmoorGuerrilla in reply to potatochip]

That's interesting as I have the opposite experience here in rural Devon. It's really easy to get GF in pubs etc as long as you DON'T fancy pizza/pasta - I'm in a seriously "foodie" area and the better pubs concentrate on fresh cooked traditional dishes... They also don't do much in the way of "breaded stuff" straight from freezer to fryer... It's definitely different in cities. I find it really hard to eat well when I visit London without spending a fortune.

[sassyl in reply to DartmoorGuerrilla]

I'm in Devon too (but North). Have you put your locals on coeliacmap.com? Would be really helpful!

[DartmoorGuerrilla in reply to sassyl]

You're right I should do that later!

[potatochip]

I wish a few more non Italian restaurants would do some gf options. I'm getting sick of pizza and pasta when I eat out.

[sassyl]

Potatochip, have you tried Nandos? They are pretty clued up if you have to chain-store. You should have a look at coeliacmap too - recommended local eats you could try.

[swarthy]

Not been to PE but certainly useful to know.

I've had the Pizza Hut and Dominos Gluten Free offerings a couple of times now, and been fine.- after a lifetime of never being a major pizza fan as I was always so ill after even just a small piece (obviously I now know why) - the novelty of eating pizzas and not being ill hasn't quite worn off for me yet.

The one thing I would say however is, it might be worth ringing the restaurant before going - the GF Bases were so popular with customers, the company completely underestimated demand initially and local branches ran out of the bases very quickly in the early days.

I can see that cross-contamination has been raised as a potential issue, and recognise that this will have varying degrees of negative from mild to very serious (and potentially life-threatening)

Touch wood, I've never had problems with either - they don't cut the pizzas before serving and in PH, they are served on the skillets they are cooked on.

[upnabout]

After the 'bedding in' period I'll definitely give them a go. PE was always my favourite pizza place, but I had to stop going.

Haven't tried PH or BI, but did order delivery from Dominos a few weeks ago. Didn't experience any issues but it was quite expensive (£13 for a smallish pizza).

[Mango1]

It is good to know that there might be another place we are able to eat in as gf when out and about.

I have tried the Tesco frozen pizza which works really well for me. I always add some toppings of my own and my husband says that he can't tell the difference from regular pizza.

[pretender]

When eating out remember the hygiene in these kitchens is not the same as you have in your own home to avoid contamination issues. Personally I would not go near any place trying to cater for coeliacs in an area really dedicated to wheat products.

[Regalbirdy]

A friend of mine found out about Pizza Express doing GF pizza last week and has talked me into trying it on Thursday. I'm still going to ring them beforehand though to check things out. My friend reckons that the staff have just completed their GF training program (she knows someone who works for them).

I figure that is it is probably a good idea to go there while the training is still fresh in their minds and reinforce that there is a definite need for GF food.

Will try to remember to report back....

[JacquiR]

I shall be trying Pizza Express....I think if companies have gone to the trouble to make GF food available, the least we can do is give it a try! If we don't use it, we may lose it!! Unless of course you get very bad reactions

[katethebake]

i tried pizza express today and would definitely recommend it. the staff are genuinely enthusiastic and know their stuff. you still need to do a bit of homework before you go though as the menu doesn't have all the info you might need (there are links on my blog if you want to have a read is.gd/4zNQV2 ).

[jan44 in reply to katethebake]

Glad you had a good experience at pizza express just read your blog and the pizzas looked lovely and normal! Am really looking forward to going there myself.

[henblas]

I love ds pizzas stone baked they sell them in asda and tesco they are the best I have tasted. If you go onto the ds website you can print a free pizza voucher do try them they are like normal food!!!!!!

[jan44]

Just had an email from coeliac uk and it seems that ASK italian have introduced a GF menu as well.

I wish that some of the other chain type places would get a bit more clued up and offer us some desirable GF options. I had no idea that so many places would have contaminated chips, salads and baked potatoes having done this for a year I feel quite despondent about the non italian places. Don't get me wrong I'm not chip obsessed but it seems that so many places don't even have the basics to do steak, new potatoes and veg or a salad without contamination - what a pain.

[FionaGFG Administrator]

We've tried ASK, Prezzo & Pizza Express. Our findings will be blogged on tumblr.com/blog/glutenfreeg... soon. Our fave was ASK and Pizza Express, well trained staff and pizza that tasted pretty well like pizza.

[JACHOVICH]

GLUTEN-FREE BREAD PRODUCTS ARE OFTEN HELD TOGETHER BY OTHER COMMON ALLERGY FOODS LIKE EGGS, SOY OIL ETC. TOO BAD CAUSE I'D LOVE TO GO OUT FOR A PESTO PIZZA

[fbirder]

Oooh! An interesting zombie thread.

For anybody in Brighton - NuPosto do great pizzas, including GF.

nuposto.com/