Bonefish Grill

Gluten Free. It’s a trend we’re seeing a lot of now where people are finding they have a disease, allergy or intolerance to a protein found in rye, wheat, and barley called gluten. Bonefish Grill has been a leader in providing gluten-free food to their guest but has mostly gone unnoticed. I was invited to try out their gluten free foods, beverages and desserts.

Mitzi Dulan, a registered dietitian and co-author of The All-Pro Diet (Rodale, 2009), has been working with Bonefish Grill bringing awareness to this trend and providing valuable information on healthy living to her clients. She was present to talk a little bit about Bonefish Grill’s commitment and menu selection for those with the need for gluten free foods.

On a beautiful night in Dr. Phillips, an intimate gathering of people were in attendance to taste their gluten-free options and me, being the food lover, was delighted to indulge on what Bonefish Grill had to offer. We started the evening fabulously with a delicious strawberry infused martini plainly called strawberry martini that is actually far from plain. It is Square One Botanical vodka, hand-muddled strawberries + chamomile citrus tea infusion. It’s a lot more complex than the simple name implies which makes it more amazing. It is a definite taste bud pleaser and something I know to order the next time I dine there. 

We started off with steamed edamame, saucy shrimp, and mussels Josephine.  Out of the three, I personally enjoyed saucy shrimp the most. It had this amazing sauce (hence the name) that was full of flavor and was perfect with their gluten free bread to sop up the sauciness. What came next baffled me because everything I knew about beer told me that there was a pretty good chance there was gluten in it. But Bonefish Grill has gluten free beer called Redbridge. It’s an amber lager that I am told taste best when drunken from the bottle. However, I am not a beer connoisseur, so to me, it tastes like any other beer. You’ll have to go there yourself and try it out and tell me what you think. 

Before entrees came out, we dove into their signature house salad. I’m a big fan of salad so I was elated to find that their salad had the perfect balance of their citrus herb vinaigrette, kalamata olives, and tomato. I found that the pepitas gave the salad a nice crunch, a perfect replacement to the crouton. Just after the salad we were given, yet another sample of their beautifully prepared Skinny Rita-Tini. This adult beverage is only 140 calories per glass. They substitute the margarita mix with agave nectar. Being a big fan of margaritas, I would say that this was a light refreshment where the taste is sacrificed to keep calories low. It definitely wasn’t bad, but I’d prefer my calorie filled regular margarita.  When the entrees came out, my stomach was already feeling satisfied but I had to try everything as to not let our readers down. So off I went into the depths of my plate with Lily’s Chicken, Sirloin Steak, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Grilled Atlantic Salmon, and Grilled Chilean Sea Bass.

Lets go down the list. Lily’s Chicken is fire roasted topped with spinach, goat cheese and lemon basil butter. The chicken by itself was a little dry but the butter and goat cheese helped that along nicely. The goat cheese on top was a larger quantity than I would have liked, but overall it was pretty tasty. The Sirloin Steak for me was just like any other steak. There was no fan fare with this but if you like a nice piece of meat, you can’t go wrong with steak. Grilled Mahi Mahi was topped with their Chimichurri sauce, something I’m used to having with a skirt steak, but a fan of the sauce nonetheless. 

If you’ve had chimichurri prepared at a Latin restaurant, the one at Bonefish Grill is a little milder on the taste buds but paired nicely with the mahi mahi.  The Grilled Atlantic Salmon was topped with the lemon butter sauce. The fish was very nicely cooked but with this salmon, I felt it was just as I expected. The Grilled Chilean Sea Bass was topped with the mango salsa and I would say my favorite of the three fishes. Chilean Sea Bass has a different texture of all fishes in my opinion, but paired with the mango salsa was a delectable treat.

As if, all this food would be enough, they came out with an Espresso Martini that was rimmed

with sugar and chocolate, Crème Brulee and Flourless Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownie. The Espresso Martini was yummy because who could really resist sugar and chocolate. A few of these, and I would have been sent to bed early. Crème Brulee is my favorite and Bonefish Grill did not let me down here. It was fantastic. You always have room for Crème Brulee no matter where you go. As I really wanted to dive into a chocolate brownie, I couldn’t because of my allergy to macadamia nut. But as the wonderful women by my side stated, it was to die for and worth traveling to Bonefish Grill just to have that brownie. I’ll take their word for it.

Overall, the gluten free options at Bonefish Grill proved to be a fine choice for a meal dining for any occasion. If you are someone who is looking for gluten free food, I’d highly recommend going to Bonefish Grill. When you do, make sure you tell your server of your concerns and a manager should be alerted to your needs and assured that there is no cross contamination when preparing your meal; part of the promise and service that Bonefish Grill is committed to. I myself will be returning to try their sea bass with the saucy shrimp sauce as recommended.