California Bound!

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:01 pm

I live in PA and we will be going to CA for the Rose Bowl (go Penn State!) We'll be staying at the Marriott Live in L.A. Does anyone know of any MC friendly restaurants in that area? I have no idea if there will be any stores close by to purchase food for breakfast & lunch but I'm not going to stress around it. It will be about a 5 hour flight but I'll be okay with that, too. A pre-game buffet is included in our package but I'm not going to chance that and we'll have a boxed breakfast before the parade, but I doubt that I'll be able to eat that, either. I'm hoping L.A. will be much more MC friendly than my small hometown.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm

for travelers, sometimes the celiac forums can have good restaurant / stores with safe ingredient information

one thing I have done when travelling, is to send safe ingredients ahead to the motel so it is there when I check in. (less weight that I have to take in my luggage) if the package is clearly marked with your name and the date you are checking in there will be no issues.

Have fun planning the trip!

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:29 am

Here's a list of GF menus for chain restaurants.
http://glutenfreeguidehq.com/chain-restaurants/

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 7:31 pm

Thanks, Gabes. That's a very good idea. When I took almond milk in my luggage when we flew to Florida I was afraid that it would leak even though I had the individual cartons in a plastic container wrapped with duct tape. I've seen enough luggage drop-kicked to know that it's not handled with care.

Thanks, Deb. I'll check out the link.

I'm not going to stress about what I am going to eat. I'm going to look forward to the trip and spending time with my family.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:04 pm

Hi Marcia,

My experience is that restaurants in L.A. are the most GF friendly in the U.S.

I believe if you go to google maps, and put in the name of your hotel and put in grocery stores it will populate the locations of grocery stores that around your hotel. Sometimes they are in walking distance. You will have to play around with google maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 65761&z=17

Ok, it looks like there is a RAlphs grocery store on 9th street to the right of your hotel. Your hotel is the blue tear drop.

There is also a way to populate the restaurants that are around your hotel. Usually I look at the ones that are closest. You can get online menus for some of them.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 00002&z=18

If this opens ok the blue raindrop is the marriott LIve and it looks like there are a lot of restaurants to the right.

Have fun. Brandy

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:17 pm

Mom and Dad went to a Rose Bowl Penn State game years ago and Mom is celiac. She had a lot of fun and didn't seem to have any problems. They put all of the souvenirs of the game in a framed shadowbox, ticket stubs etc.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:28 pm

You can move the google maps around so you can look around the Marriott LIve for restaurants and groceries. Hopefully this makes sense.

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:35 pm

Thank you so much, Brandy! I will definitely use the google maps. I wonder if your parents went to the Rose Bowl when I was pregnant with my son in 1995. Now I'll be taking him as a Penn State senior. The shadowbox is a great idea, thank you for sharing that. This will definitely be a trip to remember.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 8:44 pm

Hi Marcia,

Yes, I think 1995 would be right.

Anyways....I found this for you.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-in ... s-la-live/

I think the first 6 or so restaurants are in the Marriott live but if you scroll down further the website lists nearby restaurants. If you click on one then click on right link it will take you to a place that you can look at menus.

Your hotel looks nice by the way. I find that at hotels of this caliber you can generally get a burger in the lobby area where the bar is from 11:00 am until 11:00 pm.

crervin · Post by **crervin** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 3:23 pm

Marcia,

Hope you have a great time! If I have to eat out, the outback and 5 guys burgers and fries doesn't bother me. I get a plain steak and a plain sweet potato at the outback. They are really good about not cross contaminating. At 5 guys, they literally yell gluten allergy so the cooks know to cook the hamburger away from the buns. The fries are cooked in peanut oil, but no gluten contamination.

Have a great trip and let us know how it goes.

Janie · Post by **Janie** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:11 pm

Have a look at a Macaroni Grill menu.They are a chain. They have salmon and lamb chops out by me which is an hour north of the Rose bowl. They use olive oil and cater to your wishes. Don't know if there is one near where you are staying?