Brio Tuscan Grille has been on my list of places to check out and on a recent visit to see my cousin (who loves great food as much as I do), we decided to stop in.

We happened to be in Las Vegas and went to the Tivoli Village location. The patio had a fabulous view of the main entry fountain and ideal people/activity watching.

Brio’s gluten free menu consisted of 3 salads, 3 pasta dishes and 3 meat / fish entrees. I asked a few questions about the possibility of adjusting a meat entree from the main menu to be gluten friendly, but our server advised against it indicating that all of the gluten free items were handled seperately, cooked in different pots with different utensils, etc to avoid cross contamination.  Fair enough.

I selected the Chopped Brio Salad with black olives, cucumber, feta and tomatoes. The salad size was perfect for sharing assuming you’re also getting an entree. The gluten free version comes with an Italian dressing rather than the standard red wine vinaigrette dressing on the main menu.

For the main dish, I chose the Filetto Di Manzo Tuscano – a filet of beef with roasted vegetables and a side of gluten free penne pomodoro. This was an obvious choice for me since it would allow me to try both a meat dish as well as the pasta.

The main dish arrived and was a beautiful display of a large, perfectly cooked to order filet with intensely flavorful roasted vegetables including onion, sweet potato and zucchini. I appreciate this as so often a side of veggies entails carrots and broccoli so it was refreshing to have something a little unique. The vegetables were also cooked to perfection.  The pasta was a large portion of gluten free pasta in what tasted like home made pomodoro sauce. The flavors were very robust and fresh.

I had taken a couple bites of the pasta when I saw a penne noodle that had grooves, which was in contrast to the smooth gluten free penne. I searched around and found 2 more pieces. I inquired with the server who took the 3 pieces to show the chef trying to confirm whether it was possibly two different versions of gluten free pasta, or if it was regular pasta. He returned and apologetically announced it was regular pasta, they didn’t know how that could have happened and the kitchen was preparing me a fresh side of gluten free pasta. The wait for the new pasta was short and I enjoyed the superb steak and vegetables in the mean time.

I was about 3 bites into the new dish of pasta (with equally delicious sauce and a larger portion than as the first), when I again spotted a grooved penne. I was unable to find any others, put the offending noodle on the side of the plate and ate a few more bites of pasta from the opposite side of the dish. We were finished anyway by now and I had no interest in waiting for a 3rd round of pasta.

The only gluten free dessert option available is the cream brulee, but it’s nicely made and a fulfilling end to the meal.

I did not have any symptoms of ingesting gluten, but I’m concerned about Brio’s kitchen practices if they can’t keep regular pasta out of the gluten free pasta. If they are using separate pots and utensils like the server suggested, this shouldn’t be happening. One random piece of pasta accidentally finding its way onto the dish might not be so bad, but if it’s being cooked in a pot of water with the rest of the pasta, the whole batch is contaminated.

My recommendation here is to order Brio’s gluten free pasta dishes with caution and inspect carefully for pasta that shouldn’t be there prior to eating. For the safe route, enjoy one of their absolutely amazing meat entree dishes and request extra vegetables or salad in place of the pasta.