Discussions about Coquette Creperie, which has gluten-free crepes, led to an interesting discussion of where are the best places in the Pikes Peak region to eat GF.

My wife is GF, so I know what a big deal this is for people with allergies, aversions of celiac. Some of my favorite local restaurants have poisoned her. (One of my wife’s favorite New Yorker cartoons shows Lois and Clark at a restaurant and Louis says, “Come on, it only has a trace amount of Kryptonite.” to which he responds, “Which part of ‘It will kill me’ do you not understand, Lois!’”

Certainly, the more upscale chains do well. PF Changs as an entire gluten-free menu. Some others do, too.

But what about the independent restaurants?

The new Sunflower Cafe behind the Poet Lofts off South Nevada has a lot of GF sandwiches and baked goods, and they’re probably as good as you’ll find.

Italian may be the most troublesome cuisine, because so much is built around dough and pasta.

We have had good wheat-free pasta at Fratelli’s. And the new Rasta Pasta on Tejon and Boulder has wheat-free pasta.

Borriello Brothers on 8th street now serves pizzas from Deby’s in Denver. It’s prepared extremely carefully in a separate room, and if you’re sensitive enough to react to airborne wheat, you can eat in that room and be OK.

Mexican places are usually safe if you avoid the flour tortillas. But places that get too fancy with the Southwestern sauces can be problematic. My wife has had problems at Sonterra a year ago, but, since then, the chef has gone to extreme lengths to alert everyone in the staff about gluten issues. (Beware their chips and any chips that might be fried with breaded things.)

Some Asian places also can be difficult because they use soy sauces with wheat. Why they don’t all just go to a wheat-free soy or tamari, I have no idea. Of the Asian cuisines, we found Vietnamese noodle bowls among the safest entrees.

The more upscale independent restaurants generally have chefs trained well enough to advise you on what’s safe and what’s not.

The Pikes Peak Celiacs group has hosted some special GF dinners at the Warehouse, and I know they’re always looking for other places. Please send me ideas.

And you can keep up with the Celiacs group by clicking here.