Tomato Bistro Video Review

The Philadelphia Gluten-Free Potluck Meetup Group joined with the Greater Berks County Gluten Free Social and Support group (and unofficially the Gluten-free in Delaware County Meetup group, since we have three crossover members!) for lunch  at Tomato Bistro at 102 Rector Street Philadelphia's Manyunk neighborhood (19127) for pizza and fun yesterday. We had a good time as always, laughing, sharing and talking about FOOD! Thanks to Jessie and Cathy for organizing, and thanks to Cathy for always remembering to take pics (and I'm sorry I didn't remember to offer to take one with her in it again this time.)

Corley came along (he LOVES pizza), and even though he got his very own whole gluteny pie, I did ask him on camera what he thought of the gf white pizza. Short and sweet, here it is.

I enjoyed the pizza, and it was fun being with a group of gf folks so we could order a bunch of different kinds and all get to try them. The pies are decidedly gourmet. The one that I didn't try had duck on it, and we had a fig and bacon sans the bacon, a margarita pizza, a veggie pie that we made up (asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, onions and some other stuff) and a fancy white pizza. It was all very good, but I especially appeciated the care they took in preparing and serving it to avoid cross-contamination with glutenous pies. They even brought out never-been-used-before disposable pizza cutters for us to us (I brought one home, so maybe not so disposable.)  Oh, and the salad was delish!

One challenge my family has is deciding where to eat out as a family. The boys' favorite place is Olive Garden because of the endless breadsticks and salad in addition to a big serving of cheesy pasta. Olive Garden does have a gf menu, but frankly their gf vegetarian pasta options are nothing I want to spend $10 on, and so when we go there I eat copious salad with dressing on the side and wish I had better gf options. Corley allowed that Tomato Bistro would definitely be a place he would be open to going out to eat at with the family (Jules Thin Crust Pizza most definitely DID NOT get that vote -- the pizzas were too skimpy and fancy for my voracious and basic pizza eating kids), so that is truly a ringing endorsement.

A final word is that I actually like the crust at Seasons and Uno's Chicago Grill better, but family experiences at both weren't that great and they didn't get the "Best Place to Take a Mixed Gluten Requirement Family Award." I'm not sure Tomato Bistro will get that award either (eating with a family in Manyunk has challenges that are not related to Tomato Bistro at all, like crowds and parking), but it's definitely still in the running. All in all, a nice and delicious outing at a place that really knows how to take care of its celiac and gluten intolerant customers. [Oh, and Sunday Nights are Gluten Free Nights at TB -- I'll have to check it out sometime!]

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