We went here because…
The US is the home of fast food, in fact my analyst (an unnamed search engine) gave me estimates of 213,155 and 216,110 fast food restaurants in 2024, one thing that both results agreed on; the number is increasing. So surely New York is the place to put it to the test, This is one man’s journey to hunt down the best gluten free fast food that New York has to offer – Farce & Furious XI! The NYC Fast Food GF Test.

Not all fast food outlets are created equal and not all treat food intolerances equally either. In fact the really big guys have clearly done the numbers and decided that it’s just not worth the hassle of risking cross contamination and the consequences and of those who do make an attempt, it’s more of an honorable mention, than a award for outstanding performance in a lead role.

Burgers
I started off easy on my first attempt: takeaway burgers. First up, the Shake Shack, they said that they did GF, had GF buns etc and I have to say it was a mighty fine bun. I had the SmokeShack and while it did not look anything like the promotional photo, it tasted pretty good. They did put the GF in the same bag as the regular, so I’m not saying it was perfect, but a pretty good start.

Unfortunately my second attempt at burgers was not as successful, in fact it was like an episode of Faulty Towers (and that might actually be a little harsh on Basil and Manuel). When we arrived at Smash Burger, pandemonium had already set in as the drinks dispenser downstairs wasn’t working, so everybody was sent upstairs to fill their sodas, then upstairs stopped working, so the one individual working the counter called a halt to all drinks orders (no you may not wash down your food!).

After waiting for a good 10-15 minutes the poor sole front of house human took our order, then we waited longer, while we thought they were cooking our meal. After a while he called out to us and said that they were out of gluten free buns, but could just make it without a bun (without describing how it would be held together or whether they were just going to get me to hold out my hands they built it). I kind of wanted a bun, so I asked for a refund and that’s when the real problems started. All available employees (three) were involved in the process and nobody could figure out how to refund my credit card, so after what seemed like 17 attempts, they phoned a friend (or boss or HQ, it wasn’t really clear what was going on). Eventually they refunded me in cash and took my number and said that somebody from head office would call the next day to discuss the situation, the call never came…,

The total time spent in Smash Burger actually exceeded 25 mins and we left with no food, but a lot more hungry. As the wife said, they looked really good, but by this stage we were starving, so we went back to Shake Shack, who once again delivered.

Pizza
Then it was pizza time, to be fair I had not done any research on the best GF Pizzas in New York, we just walked past a place that called Pronto Pizza, the words “Gluten Free” were so prominent on their signage, I thought they were completely GF and as I gazed through the window at the beautiful looking slices, I thought I need this! Unfortunately the sign just meant that they can do GF if you want.

The good news is that the GF base was individually wrapped, sat on it’s own foil tray and came with it’s own individually wrapped pizza cutter, so it was a serious attempt. When it arrived the Pizza looked good and tasted good (without setting the world on fire), but I would still have rather had something else than trying something that wasn’t meant to be (if that makes sense). Meanwhile The Wife and The Daughter chowed down on some “normal” pizza delight and seemed very happy.

We ventured to a couple more Pizza establishments over the two weeks, but nothing said “pick me”, so I didn’t. On our last night we asked the concierge for the best pizza in town and he sent us to Angelo’s Italian Restaurant for true New York Pizza.

Angelo’s didn’t do GF Pizza and in fact I’m not sure what they did GF as the waiter really couldn’t be bothered with that or actually anything that we asked him. He took the order (under duress) and returned with a stunning looking pizza for The Daughter and enormous slice of lasagna for The Wife and I opted for the grilled octopus as it appeared to be one of the few things that they couldn’t possibly add gluten to.

The octopus was good, the lasagna was still fridge cold, so The Wife told the waiter and without an apology (or any dialogue whatsoever) he took the plate away and returned with a piping hot satisfactory lasagna, although she did say that it wasn’t as good as mine (which is why I love her). The non-GF pizza was everything The Daughter craved, the service hit a new low that we thought couldn’t be beaten, that was until we went to Virgil’s BBQ the very next day.

Tacos
There were many taco establishments claiming that they could do GF and that makes sense, a corn tortilla and non glutenous filling sounds easy. There was a taco place on the same street as our hotel (43rd St., just off Times Square) called Los Tacos No. 1, apparently there are eight locations around NYC with a ninth on the way, Anyway Los Tacos No. 1 was so busy every day/night that the queue snaked out of the place and down the road.

Call me old fashioned, but I can’t queue for that long to get any food, let alone a taco that I’m not sure about, so many times we walked passed and went somewhere else. Then on the last night I declared that I was going to do it and marched down to this heaving centre of all things tortilla. The queue was the shortest that I had seen, so I went in. Wow, what a well oiled machine, the line was moving fast and once they took your order, you were assigned a taco assembler (there’s probably a proper name for that role). They offered to change gloves for GF and assembled these morsels of meat and salsa in seconds and (after filling up some pottles with some fiery sauce) I was on my way back to RKD NYC HQ in a matter of minutes.

Were they tasty? YES! Were they spicy? YES! Were they just what I was looking for? YES! Were they value for money? Most Definitely”). I now know why they are so busy!

An honorable mention must also go to California Tortilla, which despite the name or what this blog is about, I actually visited in DC. While it wasn’t in the same amazingness of Los Tacos Nos 1, it was a very good tasty attempt, once again offering to change gloves for GFers. Although I couldn’t help thinking that I wish I had said “no please” to liquid cheese.

Hot Dog
You can’t go to New York without having a Hot Dog and although I didn’t go all Poirot on it, a good GF one can be hard to come by. One of the biggest challenges is to get good GF food at a game, so it put Madison Square Garden to the challenge. This was my third US sporting event in eight years; a few years back at Yankee Stadium a few I was told that I might find GF if I went for a long walk (I never did), however my first attempt was at AT&T Park in San Francisco in 2017 where I found “GF Dog Heaven”, so I had experienced highs and lows.

I was determined to find one at “The Garden” where I was attending my first Ice Hockey (or as it’s know there simply “Hockey”) game. I asked around and there were rumours of a GF Hot Dog provider on another floor, but some wondered if it was just a thing of legend, an urban myth created to make GF types get more exercise. I didn’t care I had time before kick off (or whatever it’s called), so I set off on my expedition to search out the holy grail and after what seems like months trekking through the Amazon (really about 15 minutes meandering through the crowds, asking “Are you the GF Dog Dealer?”), I found it!

I have to say it didn’t really look like what I had imagined and there weren’t all of those amazing toppings offered, it actually almost looked like it was in quarantine. I took some ketchup and mustard sachets, assembled it and ate it. It seemed like a momentous occasion, it tasked better than it looked, but it wasn’t my best memory of MSG (that was the bucket of G&T they poured me at the bar, man it was expensive, but I think it had about half a bottle of Tanqueray in it, so I got what I paid for).

BBQ
Now I know it’s a bit of a stretch to call BBQ “fast food”, especially considering it’s tagline of “low and slow” but for the purpose of my NYC report it is also because the experience so bad, I can’t give the establishment it’s own review.

Virgil’s BBQ in Times Square would have to be the place I would stay the furthest from if you want good service, good bbq and definitely if you want GF. The server asked if we had any allergies and even identified himself as GF and assured us that we ere safe in his hands.

Not only did the server forget all of that as soon as he left the table (and go AWOL for long periods of time), but the meat came served on top of a piece of regular bread, with a regular cornbread and when he questioned him about he said “oh yeah I forgot”. It was a bad way to end, what had been an excellent culinary trip to the city that never sleeps. The daughter smashed her nachos though and was very satisfied (there’s a pattern forming here).

Actually that wasn’t the end, I have to make a special mention for the last meal I had in USA that trip, which was a GF burger at The Luxury Collection Hotel, Manhattan Midtown just before we jumped in the cab to the airport. It saved the day!

Overall
New York has a lot of fast food outlets and as I said not all are created equal, but if you do your research first you might avoid the pitfalls I found and actually have some outstanding meals. Special shoutout to Los Tacos Nos 1, a slick operation with the right mixture of flavour and care and one that probably deserves it’s own review (pity that I was so hungry I ate them, before I remembered to take photos!).

#RaumatiKitchenDiaries #Shakeshack #LosTacosNo1 #SmashBurgers #VirgilsBBQ

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