I'd seen that YC's was labeled "gluten free" on Yelp. This doesn't really mean much to me because I have had issues with Yelp misrepresenting the cuisines offered at different restaurants. Sunday afternoon about a week ago the guys come over and say that we should check it out because "They have endless bowls that you can just pack full of meat!"
Internet research told me that YC's was in fact gluten free, provided you make the correct menu choices.
This place is your typical Mongolian BBQ type situation: you get a metal bowl of the size of your choosing, and go down the line and add meats and veggies to your heart's content and then over season it before a man throws it on a gazillion degree flat griddle and it cooks in minutes before your eyes.
When you arrive, you pay for your food immediately and choose between a small, large, or endless large bowl. You alert the cashier that you have a food allergy and they will give you a small placard that will alert the grill masters to your condition.
At the beginning of the line before the meats, grab a waxed paper sheet so you can press down the contents of your bowl as you go to pack more in.
- Beef
- Pork
- Chicken (white and dark meat)
- Shrimp (+$1.00)
- Alaskan Cod (after 5pm)
- Various veggies
- Wheat noodles
- Rice noodles
- Udon noodles (also made of wheat)
- White rice
- Brown rice
- A sauce bar
- Two soup options
- Frozen yogurt ($1.00 cup/cone)
While the rice noodles are gluten free, they were perilously close to the wheat and udon noodles. I also saw some loose noodles lying in each other's tubs. Cross-contamination is a big no-no for me so I nixed the noodles and opted for white rice that is served next to the brown rice, far away from any wheat contaminants that may be present.
When I got to the sauce bar, the gluten free options available are clearly marked. Gluten free soy sauce is available; look on top of the sauce bar or ask an employee. There are sauce creation suggestions (YC's Own, Mongolian, Sweet & Sour etc) that tell you how many of each scoop of sauces you'd need, but few of those suggestions are gluten free. I used garlic, ginger, gluten free soy sauce, and sweet syrup to create a teriyaki like sauce.
If you have a gluten allergy, ONLY use the sauces marked with a yellow GF sticker and the gluten free soy sauce. Regular soy sauce is the key ingredient in the other sauces, and regular soy sauce contains gluten.
Once you're through the sauces, you line up to have your meal cooked. Here you can add sesame seeds, sriracha, jalapeños, peanuts, and cilantro if you choose. The peanuts are whole nuts and appeared to have fallen into their neighboring containers, so skip those in question if you have a peanut allergy.
Food allergy guests may wait longer for their food to be cooked as the grill masters scrape, steam clean, and steam clean the grill again to ensure safety. The location nearest me has two grills operating simultaneously and I have never waited more than 6-7 minutes for my food.
Each person's meal will cost around $10, drinks and rice and soup included. To-go boxes are 50¢, and a frozen yogurt cup/cone is a $1.
YC's offers a relatively easy, wallet-friendly, gluten free experience, but only if you are already aware of the dangers of hidden gluten and cross contamination.
I have visited this location twice with no gluten attacks afterward, so I am willing to deem it a safe option. It is a great place to eat if you have a lot of people in your party who like to have a wide variety of options. My group of carnivores loves it because they can get as much meat as they want and there's frozen yogurt.
Hope you get a chance to try YC's in your area!
Love,
The GF GF