Famous Toastery offers GF pancakes and French toast

When Famous Toastery revealed plans to open its first Jacksonville area location, I Googled, didn't see anything about gluten-free options, and basically wrote it off as another place I would never visit.

So I was quite surprised to read a review of the new Jacksonville Beach restaurant in the Times-Union last weekend and see it had gluten-free pancakes and French toast available. I was surprised because I never expect to get any useful information out of the TU.

No, seriously, I was surprised to find Famous Toastery is gluten-free friendly. I looked it up again on the Internet and found the gluten-free items on the menu, so of course I had to check it out.

They seem to be taking gluten-free dining seriously. The menu does have a disclaimer that the kitchen is not 100 percent gluten free but they are aware of the issues and take what precautions they can. The staff did seem knowledgeable during my visit.

I ordered French toast -- it's harder to find gluten-free French toast than gluten-free pancakes -- and it was delicious!

The menu doesn't say anything about gluten-free sandwiches but of course I had to ask -- if they have gluten-free bread available for French toast, they must also have it available for sandwiches, right? They told me yes. A man who appeared to be a manager said he plans to actually put together a separate gluten-free menu that will list all the options.

The regular menu, in addition to the pancakes and French toast, also lists a gluten-free flourless chocolate cake.

Famous Toastery is a bit pricey but I really enjoyed my meal, so I would definitely recommend checking it out.