Stella's

Honestly if you have a gluten free diet....look elsewhere; you will likely be disappointed. A number of appetizers are essentially fancy dips served with pita. Those are listed as gluten free without the pita, but the alternative to pita (which isn't listed but was verbally shared upon request) is raw cucumbers. Not sure why a gluten free pita cracker isn't an option but oh well, that's minor bc there are many GF options for apps. My real gripe is that out of the 17 options listed there is exactly ONE gluten free main dish listed on the menu, and it's brined and baked chicken with potatoes. There happened to be a special that evening that our server mentioned was gluten free so there were technically two options, but I went with the option on the menu. The chicken was moist and tasty but it wasn't anything super special. The potatoes were not bad, but were rather inconsequential. Also, for dessert, my partner ordered the hazelnut chocolate baklava to go and we took it home. When we got home, she tried a bit of the (circular??) baklava. It was the driest serving of baklava that she has ever had. I couldnt eat it due to the gluten, but it did look extremely dry through the container lid. I have been in Richmond for 7 years now and I'm familiar with most of the big restaurants but my partner and I hadn't been to Stella's yet (though I've been to Stella's grocery many times in different locations, great shops btw). I didn't love the apps and mains and dessert that we got, but the people at the tables next to us got food that looked and smelled PHENOMENAL. I'm not saying don't go there, I do love Stella's as a whole, including the neighborhood grocery branches. Just sharing my experiences: limited gluten free options, and the baklava was dry af.

Love. So much love. Our server Kameron was amazing. She went above and beyond to accomodate my celiac disease (i cannot have gluten), and specialy baked my chicken so it wouldnt be grilled in the same area as the pita is usually grilled. I will copy and paste my 5 star review wherever i can. People with celiac understand how hard it is to eat out and Stella's made it easy. Highly recommend. :)