Splitsville -- Gluten free Menu -- Table Service -- Downtown Disney

*This review took place in November 2013.

 Splitsville located in Downtown Disney has quickly become one of the most popular spots for families and adults to spend time. It’s a terrific spot to bowl day or night. With its retro vibe and cool atmosphere, it’s no wonder that it’s such a big hit with Downtown Disney visitors. In addition to the bowling and live entertainment, Splistville also offers an extensive and unique menu. Sushi at a bowling alley? At Splitsville that’s a must! And special diets diners can now also get a chance to enjoy some of these options, as Splitsville recently restructured their menu to include not just 1 but 16 gluten free menu offerings (see my post on the menu HERE).

 I had visited Splitsville prior to their new GF offerings on their menu when I participated in the Attractions Magazine Blogger Bowl. I had a terrific time bowling at this event, while raising funds for Give Kids the World Village. However, there were some hiccups with the food. It’s always difficult when you pre-arrange food with others and there were definitely some miscommunications. I would later learn that I was served a regular gluten filled bun, which explained why I had gotten sick. This is a risk we all take when we dine out with a special diet, unfortunately.This is why I was pleased to hear that Splitsville was working on gluten free menu offerings to guests. I was also really excited when I heard Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando’s reviews (see HERE) of the new rice bowls that had been introduced. I will say that Tony from Disney by the Numbers had received a vegan rice bowl when he was bowling with my team during the blogger bowl, and I was seriously jealous of his dish.

Tony's Vegan Rice Bowl from the Blogger Bowl

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Splitsville partner, Mark Gibson and Chef Patrick to learn more about the new menu offerings and their thoughts on gluten free dining and cross-contamination risks. In addition, I also got to sample some of their new offerings, including their sushi (which I loved).One of the things that I learned is that the team had been looking at gluten free offerings for a while. In fact, as Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had reported in her initial review of Splitsville (see HERE), they used to have a paper sheet with gluten free offerings. Both Mark and Chef Patrick really wanted to see a menu that incorporated the GF options without making them a separate menu. In addition, they also wanted to create dishes that were made gluten free to begin with and required no modifications. This is a great thing because it automatically reduces some of the risk for cross-contamination.For the rice bowls, the biggest trick for removing gluten from these dishes was the soy sauce. They are now using a gluten free soy sauce base for each of the rice dishes. The menu currently contains 4 rice bowls:

• Fiesta Chicken Bowl: Grilled chicken breast, "fiesta" veggies are stir-fried in tataki sauce and served with sushi rice. Topped with avocado and cilantro - $15
• Steak Fajita Bowl: Grilled marinated steak is served with sauteed red and green peppers, onions, then drizzled with tataki sauce. Served with sushi rice and cilantro - $18
• Asian Shrimp Bowl: Grilled shrimp, stiry-fry veggies and sushi rice topped with kimchee, tataki sauce, and green onions - $16
• Spicy Veggie Bowl: Broccoli, red and green peppers, onions, and mushrooms are stir-fried in spicy kimchee tataki sauce and topped with avocado and green onions - $13

According to Mark & Chef Patrick, these have been the runaway hits for gluten free & non-gluten free diners. I can believe it too because not only are they great portions but they are also really tasty. Perfect for dinner & bowling. I had the chance to sample the Fiesta Chicken Bowl and the Asian Shrimp Bowl.

Asian Shrimp Bowl

For me, the Asian Shrimp Bowl was my favorite of the two. It was just a little spicy and not overly sauced. I liked the mix of peppers and green onions. I definitely ate a lot of this dish.

Fiesta Chicken Bowl

I also really enjoyed the Fiesta Chicken Bowl. The flavor is much milder and more sweet tasting. It's definitely not spicy. This dish is a bit of a Latin Asian fusion.Our table also had a gluten free pizza to share. Now, of course, I didn't get to eat this one because I can't have dairy, but my brother joined the group and he got to give his taste test as a non-GF diner. Currently, the Splitsville kitchen is making their pizza dough in-house. They used to purchase it from an outside vendor but have since switched to making it themselves. They are also continuing to refine their pizza dough which is great (they mentioned possibly adding quinoa flour to the dough!). If you are a Celiac you may want to note that they do bake their pizza in the same pizza oven as the gluten filled pizza, so cross contamination is at higher risk for this as both Mark and Chef Patrick noted. My brother really liked the pizza crust. He said he liked that it had a firm texture and didn't seem to fall apart. It looked like a hearty crust from what I saw and generous portion of veggie toppings.

Veggie gluten free pizza

The last items we sampled were the sushi. This was another area in which Mark & Chef Patrick really wanted to highlight dishes that were gluten free from the start and not just altered to be gluten free. I liked this trend and appreciated that the team really took the time to develop these dishes. Mark told me a great story about one roll in particular -- the Alberto. Originally this dish had a different version and a regular who came in to order it always modified it. One day, while they were creating new GF dishes, they decided to replace the previous sushi dish with the version one the menu now and aptly named it after him! Great story, right?!Here's what's in the Alberto: No rice, just lean protein and veggies. Spicy tuna and avocado rolled in thinly sliced cucumber and served with lemon ponzu sauce - $13I really enjoyed the combination of tuna and cucumber but this dish really packs a punch! It was a wee bit spicy as it was topped with Siracha! If you like spicy dishes, this will definitely be up your alley.

The Alberto

Last but not least was the Fantasy Roll: Fresh salmon, ahi tuna, cucumber, avocado and steamed shrimp are rolled in soy paper and drizzled with spicy kimchee ponzu sauce - $18This one is another testament to the Splitsville team's commitment to creating GF dishes from the get-go. They actually modified the dish as it used to have crabstick (not gluten free) and replaced it with the steamed shrimp. And let me just say this was hands down my most favorite thing that we tried. The fish was extremely high quality. Chef Patrick says they get fresh whole fish in 3 times a week and they do break it down themselves. The spicy kimchee ponzu sauce was a creation of one of the kitchen team who made the sauce one day on the fly and Chef Patrick kept asking him to make him sushi with that sauce. Eventually, it found it's way to the Fantasy Roll. I'm fairly certain I ate the majority of this roll myself....whoops, so much for sharing! I would definitely order this again as a standalone meal.

Fantasy Roll - my favorite dish--definitely a dream come true!

There are quite a few other dishes on the menu that I didn't get to sample, but I'm looking forward to checking them out. One thing Mark did mention is that you can order some of the sandwiches that are not marked GF and get them without the bun. They do carry a tapioca bun but have encouraged guests to order with a lettuce wrap instead (and considering the confusion with my own sandwich experience, I would likely do the same - tapioca rolls aren't my favorite). So, it's nice to have a few additional options. Of course, guests should alert their server of their special dietary needs so they can have a manager or chef assist you--if you have additional special dietary needs besides gluten, they can also work to create something for you.Overall, I was very pleased to hear how Mark, Chef Patrick and the team are really committed to improving their GF accommodations and dishes and how they are constantly bringing awareness to special diets accommodation. They have several members on their team that avoid gluten or have gluten intolerance, so it's nice to see them stepping up to the plate on this! I'm sure their team members who are GF appreciate it too. I look forward to seeing how they continue to work on improving dishes and providing great food that is safe.Thank you again to the Splitsville team for letting me learn more about the new menu and sample the new offerings!

Gorgeous Christmas tree in the Splitsville lobby!