6/27/07 The Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program lists celiac friendly restaurants across the nation.

The good news about this list is that it is carefully supervised by The Gluten Intolerance Group which manages the list itself sets specific criteria for including restaurants. The list gives very specific information: addresses, phone numbers, web addresses, and even maps.

The bad news is that many superb restaurants are not listed. You'll find more complete lists on many websites, including this one. Why would a restaurant go to the effort of providing gluten free meals and then not take the extra steps necessary to be included on what is arguably the most-trusted list in the nation? If you know any restaurant managers whose establishments should be included on this list, please ask them that question.

My strategy when traveling is to copy the list for the state(s) that I will be visiting. It's OK to include only the state name when you are requesting information. This will give you a basic list of "safe" restaurants and plenty of room to write notes about other eateries that interest you.