This place came highly recommended by Mike’s Friend, and future Best Man because of it’s gluten free buns and unique meat (Ostrich, Boar, Bison, Elk, etc.). Although busy, the place is large and can accommodate both sit down and take out meals with little difficulty. The kitchen is wide open for you to see, and the staff are incredibly knowledgeable about gluten free needs. Barenaked Burger is also entirely organic and environmentally friendly from the meat to the bathroom! The only down side, is that one of the walls is a garage door so it is freezing in the winter!

The gluten free buns, tapioca rice buns, are made on site, and can be added to any burger for 35 cents. Not too shabby! There were only a few things not gluten free on the menu, mostly sauces, and although I do not remember them off hand they are easily accessible by staff so they can point you in the right direction. In addition to their menu items, they had two gluten free hard ciders available by the bottle. Mike and I opted for the Big Blue Bacon Burger with Ostrich meat, and the Pesto Red Pepper Burger. We also got a big heaping basket of FRIES, Gluten free fries, with curry ketchup, and chipotle ketchup! To drink, a Samuel Smith organic hard Cider. Here’s the scoop:

The Big Blue Bacon Burger with Ostrich meat had a fine combinations of flavors that we both enjoyed down to the last bite. The sauteed mushrooms, smoked onions and blue cheese worked GREAT together. The Ostrich meat was something neither of us had had before, and the best way we can describe it was more rare than we had expected it to be. Although Mike always gets his meat rare, this seemed VERY rare… Overall though, a good burger of a different taste! 

The Pesto Red Pepper Burger was equally delicious, especially since mozarella, peppers, spinach and pesto, are all favorites of mine. When you put them together you get magic! The Elk was a very gamy meat, that was tough to chew although earthy tasting. All in all I thought it was a great burger, although Mike commented that to him it tasted like “Corn Dogs”. 

The Tapioca rice buns were a good twist to the typical gluten free buns, although I found that they became quite soggy and absorbed the liquids from the meat far to quickly. And the fries, well they were a well deserved treat. You rarely come upon gluten free fries in restaurants, and I love dipping sauces of all kinds! 

The only down side to this place? PRICE. ‘Gourmet’ meats, especially organic, have to come with a price and the burgers range in price from 11 to 16 or so dollars. Unfortunately, this is to be expected of such products… I would highly recommend this joint only if you are craving a unique quality burger on occasion, or if you have the money to spend. 

Food Quality: 1

           

Celtic Celiac @ http://celtic-celiac.blogspot.com/