Gluten Free Atlanta - Day Three - R Thomas Deluxe Grill & Chipotle!

Several years ago I read The Body Ecology book by Donna Gates.  It was there Donna discussed the unique  R Thomas Deluxe Grill in Atlanta.  It sounded like such a fun and healthy place to visit.  Getting to finally visit was a kick.  Joe and I walked there from the hotel yesterday and it was pretty easy to spot.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day in Atlanta and Mr. Thomas was out front working in the garden and was mulching and tinkering a few feet from us as we ate. That's him in the white shirt and jeans.

Love the crazy garden decor!

The restaurant is small and eclectic.  As you walk around the garden to the entrance there are cages of beautiful birds and shelves full of flowers and herbs.  

The enclosed patio is colorful and has a definite hippie vibe.  The staff is relaxed and attentive and also very knowledgeable regarding gluten free needs and other allergies. 

You can tell what type of place it is the moment you sit down.  The Celtic Sea Salt and Organic Pepper Grinder are a dead give away.  The sugar container had only raw sugar and natural stevia.  I got a bit excited about that.  Not one artificial sweetener to be found.  

The menu is varied and while there is something for everyone it is a very “healthy” restaurant.  I personally love that and they cook like I cook so it was a treat.  They happened to be out of a couple of our first choices but it wasn’t hard to find something else.  That said we ended up with some odd choices but it was really a yummy lunch. Joe enjoyed a big plate of hot wings and a huge mango smoothie.   

I had flax chips and guacamole and a salad.  Flax chips and crackers are so good and really easy to make but for some reason I haven’t done that in ages so I jumped at that one.  The salad and dressing were amazing – curls of daikon radish, cucumber and carrots were so crisp and fresh.  The southwestern style dressing was flavorful but not too spicy.

This is the kind of place you can go to several times and never have the same type of meal twice.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

After lunch we walked back to the hotel, grabbed the car and took off for the Georgia Aquarium which was just astounding.  

Then we cut through Olympic Centennial Park to take the CNN Tour which was a fun and fast behind the scenes look at how they produce 24 hour news.

We scooted successfully back to the hotel – no small feat for me and the Atlanta traffic and once Chris got home we went to meet the cousins at Chipotle.

Chipotle

Chipotle is our favorite local fast food – healthy and natural and easy, easy gluten free meals.  Pretty much everything on the menu is gluten free except for the flour tortillas used for the burritos.  Like our local Chipotle, the one we visited near Atlanta had a staff well aware of gluten free diners.  They switched out their gloves and communicated the need to keep our meals separate.  Joe’s crunchy tacos and my burrito bowl (all the burrito fillings but no tortilla) were the usual Chipotle deliciousness but I didn’t take a picture.  We were having too much fun catching up with family we don’t get to see nearly often enough.