EATING GLUTEN FREE AT RIO GRANDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT

We pride ourselves on being gluten aware and made big shifts to our menu back in 2018 to be more gluten friendly. Namely, we swapped the glutinous flours used for thickening sauces and batters for a gluten free option. This change made it easy to order most of our menu items gluten free. In most cases it’s simply a tortilla switch. 

We offer a special, gluten-free menu and all managers and servers are trained on how to cater to our Celiac and gluten-intolerant guests. While we do have shared cooking spaces with some risk of cross-contamination, we take many precautions to avoid this from happening. Flour tortillas, the basis for Tex Mex food, are made in-house, but we also make fresh corn tortillas daily. They’re cooked on the same comal (hot surface) as the flour versions, but it’s cleaned between each use and is likely safe for all except high-sensitivity guests. We use separate fryers for our gluten and non-gluten items and have color-coded tongs for each. Our tortilla chips are gluten free, but it’s good to know that they’re produced in a facility that contains flour (though the fryers are not shared). 

So, if you’re looking for a gluten-free Mexican restaurant, we’re here for you and, with substitutions, we have a lot of delicious options to choose from. Just avoid ordering anything with flour tortillas, sopapillas or churros. Almost everything else on the menu can be modified to be gluten free – just ask your server.

Feeling uncertain or know you’re extremely sensitive to potential gluten cross-contamination? We recommend talking with a manager prior to placing your order to help guide your ordering decisions.