Enjoy really good Gluten-Free Fried Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, Waffles, and more!
By Lindsay-Jean Hard
Here at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, we want every single one of our guests to feel right at home and enjoy a great meal. No matter your reason for eating a gluten-free diet, we’re here to help you find a delicious dish that works for you. And with a couple dozen tasty gluten-free options on the menu, you won’t feel like you’re sacrificing flavor or missing out on the good stuff.
We recognize that for guests with severe allergies, dining out comfortably isn’t just about swapping out ingredients—safe food preparation is important, too! We have a dedicated gluten-free fryer and know that in order to avoid cross-contamination, we may need to use different utensils and cookware, like preparing dishes in a pan instead of on our grill or flattop. (So if you would like a burger patty or a steak, let us know so we can pan-sear these items for you!) We are very committed to food safety and are happy to make any accommodations that we can to prepare your food so that it is safe from allergens. At the same time, we also want folks to be aware that we handle and prepare products with potential allergens in the food production areas of our kitchens, so please talk to your server about any concerns you may have about a severe food allergy.
When looking at our menus, you’ll always find gluten-free dishes designated with a “GF.” Even when you don’t see the gluten-free mark on the menu, often we can make substitutions—like using rice flour for our Fried Chicken or gluten-free fusilli rice noodles in our Macaroni & Cheese. In the meantime, let us walk you through our numerous gluten-free offerings from starters to desserts:
Soups, Salads & Starters
Southwestern Vegetable Soup
This belly-warming soup features corn and roasted red peppers in a rich sweet potato broth. It’s served with a side garnish of tortilla strips, avocado salad, and cilantro.
Kale & Pinenut Salad
We combine shredded kale with dried cherries, pinenuts, garlic, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, and SarVecchio parmesan cheese. It has the power to convert kale skeptics!
Roadhouse Garden Salad
Local mixed greens with cucumbers and carrots, served with your choice of dressing. It normally comes with our house-made salt-and-pepper croutons—just ask us to leave them off.
Warm Spinach & Mushroom Salad
A decadent dish of lightly sautéed spinach with Leclare aged goat cheddar cheese, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, leeks, and fennel in a brown butter vinaigrette.
Ari’s Pimento Cheese
This crowd-pleasing creamy spread is made with Cabot cheddar, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, and roasted red peppers and is served with celery. It’s a classic starter all over the South and has quite the following here in Tree Town, too.
Cajun Fries or Tellicherry Black Pepper Fries
Hand-cut French fries tossed in Cajun spice blend or our Tellicherry black pepper from Epices de Cru. Just let us know and we’ll fry them in our gluten-free fryer. (These are also available as a side.)
Sea Islands’ Sweet Potato Fries
Hand-cut, twice-cooked sweet potato fries served with spicy mayonnaise. Again, just say the word and we’ll fry them in our gluten-free fryer. (They’re also available as a side… but get ready to share, these puppies are hard to resist!)
Entrées
Smothered Grits
A hearty vegetarian dish of fresh corn, roasted red peppers, and caramelized onions sautéed in our cider vinaigrette on a bed of Anson Mills’ grits, topped with Cabot cheddar cheese, and garnished with scallions.
Creole Pot Likker Fish Stew
Creole-seasoned fresh fish and mussels sautéed with pot likker (made with lots of bacon). Served atop Anson Mills’ stone ground organic grits and bacon-braised greens.
Macaroni & Cheese
Ask to make any of our Macaroni & Cheese dishes gluten-free and we’ll happily make them with gluten-free fusilli rice noodles and gluten-free béchamel. Everyone deserves a mac & cheese moment.
Fried Chicken
Farm-raised Amish chicken, marinated in buttermilk and breaded in a Tellicherry black pepper seasoned flour, then deep-fried to golden brown. Ask for it to be gluten-free, and we’ll use Anson Mills’ rice flour for the breading and fry it in our gluten-free fryer.
Pit-Smoked Spare Ribs
We smoke our Niman Ranch St. Louis ribs over oak for nine hours and serve them with BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes, and a garnish of yellow mustard coleslaw. Ask for them to be gluten-free, and we can serve them with Eastern North Carolina Vinegar BBQ sauce or South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce instead of Red Rage BBQ sauce.
Pit-Smoked BBQ Pork
Traditional whole-hog barbecue made with hogs delivered directly from a local farm. It’s pit-roasted for 14 hours, hand-pulled, and chopped. It is seasoned with our Eastern North Carolina vinegar sauce, topped with your choice of barbecue sauce, and served with mashed potatoes and bacon-braised collard greens. Choose either Eastern North Carolina Vinegar BBQ sauce or South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce for it to be gluten-free.
Pit-smoked BBQ Pork Sandwich
Like above, this is a traditional whole-hog barbecue made with hogs delivered directly from a local farm that’s pit-roasted for 14 hours, hand-pulled, and chopped. It is seasoned with our Eastern North Carolina vinegar sauce and topped with your choice of barbecue sauce. To make it gluten-free, ask us to use gluten-free bread and choose either Eastern North Carolina Vinegar BBQ sauce or South Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce.
Fresh Fish
Our relationship with great fresh fish stretches back over 30 years to Zingerman’s co-founder Paul Saginaw’s days as a partner of the local Monahan’s Fish Market. Continuing with trusted purveyors on all three coasts, the Roadhouse focuses on serving full-flavored and sustainable fish. All our fish dishes are served with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach unless otherwise noted. All of our fresh fish is gluten-free, but for severe allergies, we recommend asking for any preparation other than grilled.
Sides
Sautéed Spinach
We sauté fresh spinach with garlic, shallots, salt, and pepper.
Carolina Gold Rice
Anson Mills’ long grain rice, topped with farm butter. Treat your inner kid to a grown-up version of butter rice.
Grits & Cheese
Anson Mills’ stone ground grits and Cabot cheddar cheese. (They’re also available for breakfast!)
Roadhouse Mashed Potatoes
We make ours with lots of farm butter and local cream.
Bacon-Braised Collard Greens
Just like the name suggests, these are collard greens braised with bacon. Tender and tasty. Ask for some peppered vinegar.
Breakfast & Brunch
Huevos Rancheros
Scrambled eggs with salsa ranchero, topped with Ig Vella’s Monterey Jack cheese and served over refried Camellia pinto beans and a crispy tortilla, with a garnish of cilantro. A tasty kick of flavor to get your day started off right.
Carolina Gold Rice Waffle
Made with Anson Mills’ gluten-free rice flour and served with real Michigan maple syrup and Michigan farm butter.
Carolina Gold Rice Grits & Bits Waffle
A Carolina version of the Dutch classic waffles made with gluten-free rice flour and filled with bits of Anson Mills’ grits, Cabot cheddar cheese, and Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon. Served with real Michigan maple syrup and Michigan farm butter.
Farm Fresh Eggs
Any way you like ‘em! From Sunrise Acre Farm in Hudsonville, Michigan.
Roadhouse Breakfast Sausage
House-made sage and chile breakfast sausage patties made with locally raised pork from Homer, Michigan. For severe allergies, please ask for this to be prepared in a pan.
Broadbent Breakfast Sausage
Smoked pork country sausage from Kentucky. For severe allergies, please ask for this to be prepared in a pan.
Ham Steak
Thick-cut Nueske’s applewood smoked ham. For severe allergies, please ask for this to be prepared in a pan.
Fruit Plate
Chef’s selection of assorted fresh fruits.
Gluten-Free Toast
Two slices of delicious gluten-free bread from Zingerman’s Bakehouse made from a tasty blend of flours like organic brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and buckwheat flour, toasted in a toaster dedicated to gluten-free bread. (It can be swapped into sandwiches at other times of the day, too!)
Dessert
Butterscotch Puddin’
Made with muscovado brown sugar and cream and milk from Calder Dairy. It’s topped with fleur de sel–a French-harvested sea salt, and served with brown sugar whipped cream on the side.
Brownie Sundae
A Bakehouse brownie with Askinosie chocolate sauce, vanilla gelato, with toasted pecans, freshly whipped cream, and a Traverse City cherry. Ask us to make it gluten-free and we’ll use a wheat-free Townie Brownie from Zingerman’s Bakehouse, made with amaranth and quinoa flours.
Townie Brownie Cake
Just like the Bakehouse Townie Brownie, this cake has none of the wheat, but all of the chocolate! The layers are paired with a rich vanilla Swiss buttercream.
Gelato & Sorbets
Creamy, traditionally made gelati and sorbetti from Zingerman’s Creamery. Ask us about our seasonal flavors and let us know to leave off the sweet biscuit crumble.
As you can see, we have a lot of gluten-free options for you to try! If you’re not sure where to start, author of MI Gluten Free Gal and a longtime supporter of ours, Margaret Clegg’s favorites are our Fried Chicken and our Rice Grits & Bits Waffle.
We hope these ideas steer you to a delicious gluten-free experience with us at the Roadhouse! Swing on by soon to see us: If you have any questions about gluten-free dishes or preparations, or any other dietary restrictions for that matter, please let us know, we’re always more than happy to assist. So, who’s hungry?!