Gluten Free Portland

Your go-to resource for all things gluten-free PDX.

Gluten-Free Travel: Two Gluten-Free Restaurants on the Road

It’s been quite a while since our trip to Los Angeles, but we still have some information that we haven’t posted. To tell the truth I don’t think I posted anything yet because we didn’t exactly gather enough information to be able to put together a full review. So today I decided to just put up what we had in a quick post.

Gluten-Free Travel Item 1: Cafe Yumm in Springfield, Oregon

Although we’re both Yumm Sauce fans, we were underwhelmed with Cafe Yumm. For those of you outside of Oregon, Yumm Sauce is a yellow curry sauce which is kind of garlicky and tastes good on just about anything. For a while Trader Joe’s was carrying it. It also happens to be gluten-free and vegan.

Gluten Free Lunch at Cafe Yum

A stop in their Springfield, Oregon branch made us feel like we were in a fast food franchise like Chipotle (evil) or Noodles & Company (maybe not so evil but still a fast food chain). That and the lackluster fare left us flat. Sorry Cafe Yumm, we used to like you better.

Times we have visited: 1 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same

Cafe Yumm
www.cafeyumm.com
Multiple Locations

Gluten-Free Travel Item 2: GreenGo’s in Redding, California

Editor’s Note – April 2011 – GreenGo’s in Redding has Closed. This (was) is a great option for anybody traveling between Portland and the Bay Area, because Redding is about halfway between the two. GreenGo’s “Natural & Organic Food to Go!” is something of a health food stop and also has gluten-free items. They have gluten-free bread for sandwiches, gluten-free pasta, and also vegan options. It’s kind of a friendly little place. We both had salads. All the ingredients were fresh and the food was delicious. There were a lot of people coming in and out while we were there, so it’s obviously popular with the locals. We’re definitely going to stop there again the next time we go through.

Times we have visited: 1 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same

GreenGo’s
Now Closed

Mariposa – A Gluten-Free Bakery in Oakland California

Regular readers of this blog will know that Sienna, our glamorous and amazing Head of Research went to visit her family in the San Francisco Bay Area recently. Luckily for us, she did some pre-trip research on gluten-free options in the Bay Area and came up with a bakery, Mariposa.

Mariposa bills itself as a gluten-free artisan bakery. They bake everything in a dedicated gluten-free facility. Among other things, they make biscotti, brownies, coffeecake, bagels, and pizza crusts. Their products are available nationwide in specialty food stores and can also be purchased online at their website. Lucky for me, Sienna brought home some of their products.

The interior of the Mariposa Bakeshop

We sampled their chocolate-chip cookies, brownies, and a sesame seed bagel.

Mariposa Chocolate Chip Cookie

Other than a little bit of a fruity flavor and being a little sweet, the chocolate chip cookie was almost indistinguishable from a real, genuinely homemade chocolate chip cookie. The chewy gooey kind. Wow.

Mariposa Brownie

Have I ever mentioned here that I love the Trader Joe’s gluten-free brownie mix brownies? They are the best. I’m not really sure if there is a better brownie, honestly. So Mariposa had some stiff competition to stand up to. Luckily for them, both Sienna and I thought their brownie was about as good. They have a no-nonsense brownie. No nuts, no funny business, just chocolatey goodness. I was left wishing for the top crust to be more… what’s the word for how the top of a brownie is kind of hard and crackly and chewy? Like that. It wasn’t that, but the flavor was awesome.

Mariposa Sesame Seed Bagel

I guess you can’t win them all. We both found the gluten-free bagel from Mariposa disappointing. I think part of the problem may be that we are serious bagel snobs. We turn our noses up at Noah’s Bagels, and when we moved to Portland four years ago, were unable to find a bagel we liked. The Mariposa bagel was very cakey, and resembled a bagel in shape and flavor only, and even the flavor left us wanting more.

Two out of three isn’t bad. The products we sampled were good enough that if we lived in the Bay Area, we would definitely frequent the Mariposa. Among other things, they also have food-allergy information on their products, and also donate 2% of their profits to community and world organizations.

Times we have visited: 1 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Around twice as expensive.

Mariposa Bakery
5427 Telegraph Ave, Unit D3
Oakland, California 94609
http://www.mariposabaking.com/