14559 Westlake Dr.
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
503-620-7723
open daily at 11am
It was the people at Corbett Fish House who told me that Talarico’s Mercato serves GF pizza. I had officially experienced a GF domino effect! The crazy thing is Lake Oswego is my childhood stomping ground. When I was a nanny in the West Lake neighborhood I used to walk the kiddies to Talarico’s Italian style market to get a soy latte!
Of course, I got over there as soon as possible. Talking with the owners son, Rudy, I found out that the pizza side of the "mercato" opened in July 03′. It’s officially named Rico Bella Flatboyzzz Oldstyle Pizza. It’s really a cute place … with an Italian flair complete with frescos painted on the walls.
Rudy explained how they had been selling Gluten-free Mixes by a woman named Laurel who offered to make GF pizza dough, and they took her up on it. You’ll be happy to know that a mystery GF diet expert (they forgot her name) came in to teach them about the perils of gluten and how not to cross-contaminate … so they know what they’re doing in the kitchen.
There is a little milk in the dough but it is the 7th ingredient so I didn’t let that stop me! Also, they dust the bottom of the pizza with cornmeal so if you are sensitive to corn be sure to let them know to omit that. My whole family was there for the taste testing and thought it tasted great. My one Food Network-ish sister-in-law said she couldn’t taste the difference between the regular crust and the GF. My other sister-in-law who is more of a Bon Appetit foodie snob said that she could taste a difference but thought it still tasted great. I’ll be the final judge of that … it tasted AMAZING! Even without cheese! I was really impressed at how thick the crust was … most GF crusts I’ve sampled on the east coast have been fairly thin … but maybe that is a NY style pizza influence.
GF pizza sales have been such a success that within a month they told me they are coming out with GF pasta salads!
Just think … all within Portland you can dine on amazing fish or pizza and then top it off with a Piece Of Cake! Maybe I should visit home more often!
written by Kelly
Thank you for sharing… That sounds awesome! Maybe we could get a place like that in Chicago!!!
There is HOPE for better Gluten Free options when we eat out! Yippee!!
tanya
I just came to your site to find the Corbett link since I’m going up to Portland, now I see there is a new GF restaurant to try! Thanks so much for posthing these!
-Layna in Eugene
I work just down the street from Talarico’s Mercato and I’m so excited to read this, because I’ve recently gone GF! TM has great food, now I can have their pizza too! They also have a Flourless Chocolate Brownie that is heavenly!
This pizza is the best! What a treat for us gluten-free dieters. I drove over 100 miles to try this and it was well worth the drive. Pizza is the one thing I really miss. I can’t thank them enough!!
I sure haven’t found GF pizza in the DC area. For those of us who were brought up on NY pizza and have picky families to feed from our GF table, try using Chebe bread mix for crust, readily available on line from GF sources as well as in some stores. It has the right pizza crust texture. The bag suggests individual rolls with cheddar mixed in, then brushed with garlic butter…quite yummy. But for pizza I throw in parmesan and a bit of oregano instead, bake the crust, then add all my favorite toppings for the final baking. (Drain the excess liquid from the toppings or it will get soggy.) Works as a white or red pizza. I have to claim my portion before the rest of the family gets it. Closest I’ve come to the real stuff in 10 years. !
My roommate/best friend is a celiac and we often try out new restaurants trying to find all those foods that are much harder to eat gluten-free. We tried Talarico’s three times and she was sick afterwards each time. Be careful with this.
We also been to Corbett Fish House (they just opened a new location in SE Portland), Grolla and Assaggio. They’re all fabulous and she’s never had any problems at any of them. I eat gf most of the time at home and can hardly tell any difference between the food at any of those three restaurants.
Carrie- thanks for the info on your friend getting sick at Talarico’s. I eat there every time I go home to Portland, so I’ll look into it further. Did she speak with the management and try to figure out how the contamination is occuring? They need to know.
Thanks for sharing your pdx gf restaurants of choice.
I’m definitely hitting Assagio and Grolla when I come out in August!
FYI….Talarico’s Mercato sold last year and the new owners took over on April 4, 2006 and renamed the place Pasto Rico’s. I’m not sure when Carrie’s friend got sick, but I know Talarico’s was very careful regarding cross contamination.
I haven’t eaten pizza since I’ve gone gluten free, but the silly thing is, I work 5 minutes from talaricos… I’m swinging by there tonight to pick up a GF pizza (or 3!) for dinner. Thank you soooo much for these notes!