Restaurant Review and $50.00 Gift Card Giveaway: P.F. Changs China Bistro - Newly Expanded Gluten Free Menu!

P.F. CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO LAUNCHES EXPANDED GLUTEN FREE MENU!

Enhanced Offerings Includes 5 New Beef Entreés and a Total of 28 GLUTEN FREE Dishes!

I am so happy to share this exciting news with you; one of my very favorite restaurants, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, has recently announced their newly expanded Gluten Free Menu! P.F. Chang's new gluten free menu features beef entrees for the very first time.

Now, anyone following a gluten free diet can savor a broad range of menu options, such as P.F. Chang’s signature Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Mongolian Beef, and even a Flourless Chocolate Dome for dessert!

P.F. Chang's says:

“More and more of our guests are asking for gluten free options and we’re proud to offer them a greater variety of P.F. Chang’s classics,” said Gregg Piazzi, Director of Culinary Training for P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. “P.F. Chang’s is sensitive to all of the food allergies and dining requirements of our guests and we strive to serve customized cuisine that meets each diner’s individual needs.”

"P.F. Chang’s upholds a rigorous gluten free cooking process to ensure the dietary safety of guests with celiac disease. The restaurant’s staff takes all the necessary measures of precaution during the preparation and serving of gluten free dishes."

My personal P.F. Changs gluten free experience:

My family recently had the honor of being treated to a gluten free tasting at P.F. Chang's Alderwood Mall location in Lynnwood Washington. Our experience was both delicious and educational!

Our journey began with a friendly greeting from P.F. Chang's Operating Partner, Apryl Haney, who took the time to answer our questions about the dishes on the gluten free menu. I was especially impressed with how seriously Apryl took my daughter's dietary restrictions. Because my daughter is not only gluten free, but also dairy free, I needed to know which items off of their gluten free menu did not contain dairy. To ensure she provided us with accurate information, April entered my daughter's dietary restrictions into her computer and presented us with a list of every item P.F. Chang's had to offer that was both gluten and dairy free! I think it is so fabulous that P.F. Chang's does not try to "guess" if their guests can eat their menu items safely, they ensure it!

Before dinner, Apryl offered to give me a tour of the kitchen, so I could see just how seriously P.F. Chang's takes safe gluten free food preparation. Whenever a guest orders from the gluten free menu, the ticket is boldly marked as gluten free. Prior to preparing the meals on the gluten free tickets, kitchen staff automatically change into a new pair of gloves to avoid cross contamination. There is a separate area in P.F Chang's kitchen reserved only for cooking gluten free meals in specially designated gluten free woks. There is also a separate pot for boiling gluten free rice noodles. A complete set of kitchen utensils are also set aside solely for gluten free use.

When prepping the gluten free meals, the ingredients are placed on bright red plates that alert the cooks that these foods are to be prepared in the gluten free cookware, using specially prepared gluten free sauces which are stored in covered containers in the gluten free cooking area. These people have a gluten free system that works!

My P.F. Chang's kitchen tour was very reassuring (and fun!). There was not a doubt in my mind after watching the gluten free practices in P.F. Chang's kitchen that our meals would be not only delicious, but safe to eat. I was even more impressed when Justin Land, P.F Chang's Culinary Partner, came to our table to talk about how seriously P.F. Chang's takes their responsibility of cooking for the gluten free community. He explained that all kitchen staff and servers are thoroughly trained to understand the high safety standards that P.F Chang's requires when serving gluten free and other dietary restricted diners.

About the food...

YUM! Just thinking about it right now is making me hungry! We ordered five gluten free dishes (two were also dairy free) for my family to share. My young daughter with Celaic who is also dairy free is a very picky eater, and gave her dinner of GF Philip's Better Lemon Chicken "5 stars." We also enjoyed one of the new beef dishes, GF Mongolian Beef; this Asian classic lived up to it's savory reputation, with tender slices of beef in a slightly spicy sauce, and a generous amount of fresh green onions... absolutely delicious! Possibly the favorite of the entire family collectively were the phenomenally good GF Singapore Street Noodles; perfectly cooked rice noodles with a lime infused sauce are tossed together with crisp-tender veggies, chicken, and shrimp... this dish was out of this world! We also feasted on GF Chang's Lemon Scallops, which were cooked to perfection and practically melted in your mouth; this dish was one of my very favorites. The GF Shrimp with Lobster Sauce was devoured instantly by all of us, with it's mild sauce proving especially pleasing to the children. My family is looking forward to trying more of P.F. Chang's gluten free menu items.

I love the famous P.F. Chang's "Special Sauce," which is mixed table side by your waiter. This sauce is so balanced in it's flavors that it tastes wonderful on any of the dishes you order. I especially love it on the rice. P.F. Chang's "Special Sauce"consists of the following gluten free ingredients: Tamari soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sweet chili sauce, pot sticker sauce, and hot mustard. It was a beautiful thing to watch the waiter remove the gluten filled soy sauce and pot sticker sauce from the mixing area, and replace them with gluten free versions prior to mixing our sauce; we did not have to ask him to do this... it is done automatically for P.F. Chang's gluten free diners.

To cap off our spectacular gluten free meal, we were offered a fabulous sounding gluten free Flourless Chocolate Dome for dessert; it wasn't dairy free, so we opted to pass in respect of my daughter's dairy intolerance. However, noting my children's disappointment, Apryl (the manager) promptly offered my children bowls of fresh berries, which they eagerly accepted and enjoyed. Honestly, I think my girls would rather eat fresh berries than cake any way! If you order the gluten free Flourless Chocolate Dome when you visit P.F. Chang's, please leave a comment on this post and let me know how it was!

P.F. Chang's has won my families patronage indefinitely... we cannot wait to go back! If you are on a gluten free diet and there is a P.F. Chang's near you, do yourself a favor and order from their newly enhanced gluten free menu; it could quite possibly be the tastiest decision you have ever made!

P.F. Chang's newly expanded Gluten Free Menu:

Starter: GF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps - $7.95

Sides: GF Spinach Stir-Fried with Garlic, GF Garlic Snap Peas, GF Shanghai Cucumbers

Soup: GF Egg Drop Soup Cup

Noodles: GF Singapore Street Noodles

Entreés: GF Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, GF Moo Goo Gai Pan, GF Ginger Chicken With Broccoli, GF Philip’s Better Lemon Chicken, Chang’s Spicy Chicken, Chang’s Lemon Scallops, GF Salmon Steamed With Ginger, GF Cantonese Shrimp or Scallops, GF Mongolian Beef, GF Beef, GF Beef a La Sichuan, GF Pepper Steak, GF Hong Kong Beef with Snow Peas, GF Dali Chicken

Rice: GF P.F. Chang’s Fried Rice

Vegetarian: GF Buddha’s Feast

Desserts: GF Flourless Chocolate Dome

Lunch Bowls: GF Buddha’s Feast, GF Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, GF Moo Goo Gai Pan, GF Beef with Broccoli, GF Pepper Steak

Click here to find the P.F. Chang's location nearest you.

WIN $50.00 worth of P.F. Chang's China Bistro Gift Cards:

I am GIVING (1) Gluten Free Taste of Home follower $50.00 worth of P.F. Chang's China Bistro Gift Cards!

TO ENTER GIVEAWAY (mandatory):

1) Become a Gluten Free Taste of Home follower (must follow PUBLICLY via Google Friend Connect in the side bar of this website; LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me that you are now following Gluten Free Taste of Home PUBLICLY via Google Friend Connect, AND also tell me the name of a dish you would like to try from the gluten free menu at P.F. Chang's China Bistro. (1 entry)

BONUS ENTRIES: (each entry comment must be entered separately to be a valid entry):

2) Follow P.F Chang's China Bistro on Twitter. (1 entry)

3) Blog about this giveaway linking it back to my Gluten Free Taste of Home website AND to the Gluten free menu page on the P.F. Chang's website. Please LEAVE ME A COMMENT with THE LINK TO YOUR POST or it will not count. (3 entries)

4) Sign up or the P.F. Chang's China Bistro e-mail list. (1 entry)

5) Grab my Freebie Fairy button and display it on your website/blog (copy the html code for my button from the sidebar of The Freebie Fairy website and paste the code into your website), and LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me you did it. (1 entry)

6) Follow me on Twitter AND tweet the giveaway; LEAVE ME A COMMENT with the link. MAXIMUM 1 tweet/RT per hour please! (1 entry PER tweet/RT)

7) Follow my Freebie Fairy giveaway & product review website PUBLICLY via Google Friend Connect (in the right hand sidebar of The Freebie Fairy website) and LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me you did it. (1 entry)

8) Grab my Gluten Free Taste of Home button and display it on your website/blog (copy the html code in the side bar of my Gluten Free Taste of Home website and paste the code into your website), and LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me you did it. (1 entry)

*GIVEAWAY OPEN TO US ONLY*

Giveaway ends on Friday, April 23, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. PST (late entries will not be posted). Winners will be selected by random.org. Winners will be notified by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond before new winners are selected.

*REMEMBER... please leave your e-mail address with EACH entry so I can contact you if you win.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was not compensated for this review; I received a complimentary gluten free menu sampling for review purposes courtesy of P.F. Chang's China Bistro. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best of luck!