Here's What Gluten-Free Diners Should Know About Texas Roadhouse

For people who can't have gluten, dining out can be a challenging experience. From hesitating to try out a new restaurant to having endless conversations with the servers about the ingredients, enjoying a simple dinner can come with a side of homework. If you're a gluten-free fan of Texas Roadhouse, a popular steakhouse known for its hand-cut steaks, iconic bread rolls, and a joyful country atmosphere, you can copy some of the homework from us. The restaurant offers several gluten-friendly options to its customers, but it doesn't have actual gluten-free menu items. This means that you can modify some of its regular dishes and order them without glutenous ingredients.

Despite the two terms sounding similar, gluten-free and gluten-friendly are not the same thing. The gluten-free label is FDA-regulated, which means the food is safe for people with celiac disease. Gluten-friendly, on the other hand, means the food itself doesn't contain any glutenous ingredients but may still be subject to cross-contamination and is therefore not considered 100% safe for those with celiac disease. In its official gluten-friendly menu, Texas Roadhouse openly warns its customers that cross-contamination is possible because the food is made from scratch. The restaurant also encourages people to alert the servers if they have a gluten allergy.

Diners can enjoy several popular menu items at Texas Roadhouse in a gluten-friendly way with a few simple menu hacks. They can enjoy the hand-cut steaks — except for the Prime Rib due to its marinade. Other steaks should be ordered without rice, fries, bread, or peppercorn sauce. For the sides, baked potato, sweet potato, green beans, and fresh vegetables are all good options, as well as applesauce for some sweetness. Texas Roadhouse also offers gluten-friendly burgers and sandwiches, such as the BBQ Chicken Sandwich or the All-American Cheeseburger, that essentially come without the buns and the fries.

Customers who avoid gluten can choose from a variety of salads too, as long as they are ordered with oil and vinegar and without croutons — that said, some customers have unfortunately found crouton pieces in their "gluten-friendly" salads. The croutons were moist and deep inside the salad, making it clear the dish was prepared ahead of time and the croutons were simply picked off the top.

One of the sides that non-gluten fans of the steakhouse seem to enjoy above all else, though, is mashed potatoes. When you order them without gravy, they're a fantastic gluten-friendly complement to any of the steaks, but avid Roadhouse-goers especially highlight them in combination with the Herb Crusted Chicken.