Jose Peppers, no thanks.

It's looks pretty good, but...

Another day and another gluten free menu…This time I was alerted by one of my readers.  Thanks so much.  Keep ‘em coming!

Jose Peppers is a Mexican restaurant in Wichita that I’ve never tried before.  There are two reasons: 1) I am never really much interested in Tex Mex.  2) No gluten free menu. 

Well since I’ve heard they’ve gone gluten free I’ve been excited to try them.  My standards have changed for sure. 

The chips are super thin and hot.  I didn’t find out if they are made in a dedicated fryer, though.  The salsa was quite good as well.   Okay that’s where my joy stops.

Still not really sure if that corn stuff was GF

The staff was pretty clueless about what was gluten free or not.  I was directed to the confusing menu.  I ordered enchiladas since they were on the menu.  Good thing I checked on the sauce since they are supposed to substitute the sauce.  That was close.   When my enchilada came it was too spicy and really just not that great.  The chicken was fair.  My wife had rolled tacos and they were a little too oily. 

The fact is the menu is not very helpful and the staff isn’t much help either.  I will try the tacos another time but really I would suggest going to Carlos O’Kelly’s if you are in the mood for this kind of fare.  Carlo’s is about the same price and has a much more knowledgeable staff and comprehensive menu.    

On the bright side, if everyone is headed to Jose Pepper's I can join them.  Even if it's not great, I probably won't get sick if I am careful.

Gluten free Vacation: San Diego California

Back from an exhausting trip and I am ready for a vacation from my vacation.  Cliche or not, we are tired.  We also have a 7 week old boy and a rambunctious 2 year old.  We were in Wesely hospital for a week.  I made several trips to Chipotle, Jimmy John's and had several friends bring us food including Chipotle, Wichita Pizza Co and PF Changs.  Yum Yum.   Once home we ordered a lot of Wichita Pizza company and had many friends from our Church bring us creative gluten free meals.  In the last seven weeks we've also had my wife in the hospital for her heart and my son in the ER for a few hernia's.  Both of our children have had some rough tummy issues as infants.  It really should be no surprise.  D'oh.  Also, Wesely really needs to do the gluten free thing better but they are learning!  In retrospect the vacation's timing may have been a bit stupid but we took it when we could.  We are very happy to be back in Wichita and it's fun watching our new Church blossom into something incredible.  

  Sorry for not posting as much but I think you now understand.  

Also, before I get to it, a sad update,  Dolci and Joe's is no more.  I loved that place but it wasn't really crowded lately. 


The last few weeks, I've enjoyed Waldo Pizza in Kansas City and enjoyed many places in San Diego.  Here are a few of my faves: 

One of my favorite new places in San Diego is called Long Island Mike's and they have a nice large pizza with great tasting sauce.  Yum.   There isn't much else on the menu but what they have is impressive.  There is something to be said about having a pizza that is similar sized to the rest that makes you feel a bit more normal.

 Continuing on the pizza theme, also the Mike theme, the wife and I enjoyed Mountain Mike's Pizza.  The pizza was good but not my favorite.  The Spaghetti was meh.  However, the sandwich was impressive.  Whatever bread they used was slightly chewy, soft, firm and not crumbly.  It almost reminded me of a pretzel.  

Winner!  Pairing it with a gluten free beer made it even more fun. (Although I didn't actually care much for that beer.) 

One of my very favorite gluten free places to eat on the planet is Borelli's in Encinitas, California.  The pizza, breadsticks and other gluten free fanfare is something I dream about on the plane ride to San Diego.  They offer meatballs, salad with GF crutons, breadsticks and a ton of other things.  I would put this place very close with Waldo Pizza in Kansas City.  The pizza is a little dense but still feels fairly normal.  They also have a large size.  Encinitas is a gluten free mecca.  Nearby there are a couple GF bakeries and many other places to eat.  Sadly, I never go since Borelli's is where I end up every time.

I didn't take any pictures since...well...I gorged and thought very little of anything else but how much more food I could cram down my pie hole without getting sick.  

Finally to make it confusing, here is a picture of the bread sticks from Waldo Pizza in Kansas City.