For anyone with dietary restrictions, eating out can be a pain. There are complicated orders, lots of questions for the waiters and frequently, not many options that are compliant with a diet that prohibits certain things (gluten-free and vegan folks, I’m looking at you).
Enter Boulder’s Fresh Thymes Eatery in the Steelyards. Open less than a year, this Boulder restaurant is 100% gluten free and offers many nutritious items that fit with a Paleo or vegan lifestyle. Additionally, the delicious entrees and side dishes are affordable and a dinner out here won’t break the bank.
So basically, it’s a Boulderite’s dream come true.
There are many reasons to love Fresh Thymes, but one of the primary ones is that the managing chef behind the restaurant, Christine Ruch, is a diagnosed Celiac. While Celiac’s Disease is never a good thing, Christine’s diagnosis means that everything she makes is designed for those who want to abide by a 100% gluten-free lifestyle. Using local ingredients, keeping the food real, and making recipes like your grandparents did are the main tenets of her philosophy behind dishes at this eatery.
From the Working Man’s lunch to the Warm Winter Veggie sandwich, there’s enough on this menu to satisfy any appetite. Small plates are easily shared by the table while the large salads and other counter items encourage team eating also. But whatever you do, don’t skip out on dessert — because they are amazing. Not like amazing for a gluten-free restaurant but amazing for any kind of restaurant. There’s pumpkin cheesecake that could be mistaken for the real thing and a raw brownie that gives the cooked variety a run for its money.
Fresh Thymes enlists the help of clean, modern decor mixed with wood to keep the mood warm and light. This restaurant is a fast casual dining experience, where you stand in line to order and then they deliver the food to your table. Even though the place can get packed, the service is friendly and no one rushes you through your meal. They have happy hour specials and serve many varieties of gluten-free beer. Wine is also available.
And if you visit Fresh Thymes and decide that you’d like to help support this restaurant, you can do just that. They are a CSR (Community Supported Restaurant) which means that you can become a member by buying one of their many packages. You get a return on your investment in food via gift cards and can feel better knowing that you’re putting your money towards backing an allergen-free Boulder restaurant that favors local organic food. They call it localvesting but I call it brilliant.
Check out Fresh Thymes, especially if you’re trying to eat gluten-free. This restaurant makes it both easy and delicious to do just that.
