If you’re gluten-free, you know the thrill of learning that a restaurant has a dedicated fryer that eliminates the possibility of cross-contamination on their crispy french fries. Or that they have Orange Bike gluten-free beer on draft (draft!) They’re little details that make a person with dietary restrictions feel like they’re a regular consumer and not a difficult person creating more work for a restaurant’s staff.

More and more — and especially in Maine — restaurants are offering gluten-free options, not just with the bare minimum alternatives, but delicious, exciting options. The Alna Store serves a newsworthy olive oil/orange/almond flour morning cake, Lil Chippy will bread their fish & chips in GF flour and fry it in a dedicated fryer, and Foundation Brewing makes a GF Detroit-style pizza that’s in the top of the list for pizzas in Maine. Facebook groups with thousands of users post daily about the best finds they’ve discovered throughout the state, and there’s more options every year.

It’s a common story now that restaurant owners either have celiac disease themselves or have a loved one who can’t eat gluten, and they want their establishment to cater to the needs of those who are traditionally underserved. And they see that failing to offer GF options doesn’t just mean they’re missing out on one person’s business, but actually the $$ of all the people that GF person likes to go out to eat with. The gluten-free family member or friend in the group is the single limiting factor (not the greatest term, but technically accurate); essentially, they have the final say about where a group eats.

With such great gluten-free foods and beverages in Maine — but many that are so under the radar that most GF folks don’t know about them — it’s time we make the search process easier. Pallergen provides menu-sourced data about restaurant offerings with gluten-free labels to bring more attention and business to the restaurants who are catering to people with dietary restrictions. Find something exciting you didn’t know existed? Let us know! We’d love to hear from you.