Even students on a diet can find something to eat at Noodles & Company.
This is one post in a series of blogs on eating in college with dietary restrictions.
Going down Route 1 looking for a good place to eat can get frustrating if you have a gluten allergy or food allergies in general. But if you look closely, there are actually a lot of options. One of my personal favorites is Noodles & Company, which has gluten free options. They can use rice noodles instead of regular pasta, and the food is delicious.
The people who work there know the different food allergies and are able to help accommodate you. This way, you don’t have to only order the gluten free dishes; you can substitute the rice noodles into other ones to help add variety.
My favorite is the Pad Thai with shrimp; it is the only Asian dish that is naturally gluten free. While that one is naturally gluten free, you can order a number of different dishes from plain rice noodles with butter to Penne Rosa or Pesto Cavatappi that are also gluten free once the pasta is substituted.
Of course, if you are not hungry enough for pasta, there are always salad options. A great salad is the Chinese Chop Salad, but if you are gluten free you need to make sure there are no wonton strips.
Gluten is not the only allergy that Noodles & Company is aware of. Just a visit to their website and you can find all of the nutrition and allergen information. They display a menu that shows whether each dish contains: peanuts, tree nuts, soy, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, or wheat and gluten.
Another option would be going into Noodles and ask for the allergies menu; they have the same thing that is online printed in the restaurant for you. In addition to just the allergies menu, they have a section of dish recommendations for other things people could be looking out for. They list vegan/vegetarian meals and calorie counts.
It is hard to spice up what you eat every day, especially if you have an allergy. But with gluten allergies becoming more and more common, it is becoming so much easier to find food that actually tastes good at places where the rest of your friends also want to go. We all know what it’s like to get bored of eating the same food every day, but by finding out how many options you have both on and off campus you don’t have to anymore.
— Mara Bernstein is a sophomore journalism major and a student blogger for The Diamondback
