The day was excruciatingly hot. As in, searing the rubber off the soles of my Sperry’s and turning us into a melted mess within two minutes of walking out the hotel lobby door. And as we trounced up and down the rolling hills throughout Clayton, MO, we knew of only one thing that could abate this insufferable blistering oven of a day: Margaritas. (Yes, I literally just heard you cheer.)

Allow me a backtrack for a moment – We travel a lot for our kid’s sports. I know plenty of families that do. We have swimmers and even though I plan, prep and/or pack most of our [at least, MY] meals, we do end up eating out often while we’re away. So, in our travels, I’ve become quite adept at seeking out restaurants that cater to allllll of our people: elite athletes with specific nutrition requirements, gluten-free specifications for me, something delicious for everyone and usually, some sort of drinks for the adults because, for real, we’ve just spent five hours sweating under a pop-up tent waiting to watch three, one-minute swims in, on this occasion, the literal oven of hell – it’s required. So… Clink! Margaritas it is!

Ok, back to our meandering through the outdoor sauna that was Missouri that July weekend…

You’ll find this over in City Coffeehouse and Creperie as well but In St. Louis, we stayed in the Clayton-Shaw area. I love it there and here’s why:

• So. Many. Restaurants.
• Easy walking distance from hotels to all of those options
• Public art and sculpture everywhere
• A stunning public park right downtown with paved trails, manicured gardens, water features and plenty of shaded areas to cool off in the St. Louis summer heat (yeah, it’s also where the competition pool is so that works well for us)
• Plentiful adventures for my favorite pastime: house gawking at gorgeous million dollar abodes that I will never be able to afford but love to dream of
• If you’re a shopping type, the Galleria Mall is a 5 min drive just down the street
• The [free!] St. Louis Zoo is within a 15 min drive

Back to the important stuff: the food. If you search the Clayton-Shaw area, you’ll see about a million eateries pop up. And if you’re on this blog, then you’re probably searching for gluten-free options so that’s what I focus on. If that’s not a necessity for you and you’re just here for kicks, cool. Many of the places I find with gluten-free things also cater to dairy-free, vegan or at least vegetarian but all of them are delicious. And that’s good for everyone involved.

As we spent a few days here, you’ll see additional posts from this journey, but we’re taco-ing about tacos now. Importante, si?

Taco Buddha popped up in my search for dinner and realizing it was within a 15 minute walk (5 minute drive) from our hotel AND that it showcased a 100% gluten-free menu (yes yes, minus the key word optional flour tortillas) it was like, destiny. We’re an active family so walking was the perfect option and by the time dinner rolled around, the heat had settled enough to make it tolerable for human existence.

Despite being smack in the middle of a neighborhood, we a rolled up to a flood of standing patrons, waiting to get their own morsels of gluten free taco-ness. Clearly, either the mass of people waiting for tables and the never ending line of curbside pickups were ALL gluten-free necessity driven foodies or, more likely, people were just digging the tacos.

Taco Buddha fits right in with the neighborhood, a brick house of a building transformed into a cozy eatery. We plopped down at a small waiting table and were offered water glasses to self fill from a gigantic chilled water tank and the option to grab an app. Rehydrating and declining the appetizer, we looked over the menu until a table was available. Which was, truly, not long at all considering the amount of people. Seated outside at rustic wooden slabs under the gentle swoosh of overhead fans hanging from a roof bedecked with strand lights, a soft and welcome breeze cooled down the area.

After our server explained that ordering was all done right from your phone we ordered up a rocks pitcher of their Famous Margaritas – two glasses salted, one not [not me, I’m Team Salted Margarita]. The husband ordered a Cuba Libre which was amazingly tart and dripping with lime. Scanning the QR code posted on the tabletop, I was beyond excited to see that everything was customizable right on the app, down to every ingredient on every taco. As well, the menu boasts nuggets of info on how to make your taco GF/DF/V if needed.

Side note: I’m in the unfortunate fun select few group of GF peeps that also cannot eat corn kernels. So, in general it’s just easier for me to avoid most corn chips and shells. Yeah, that’s fun. Even though I knew the entire menu was GF, I had that great nervous feeling wash over me of “ok, how to I explain that I can’t do [insert wheat/corn/gluten] and how do I make sure that message gets relayed from the server to the kitchen without sounding like a whiny a-hole who is making dinner complicated?” If you’re a GF person for any length of time, you’ll understand that feeling. Or maybe it’s just me.

Luckily as I clicked through my order, I could easily check a box “no tortilla, lettuce base” and all was right in the world. After that was settled, I knew instantly that the Fried Avocados were up first. (P.S. – they’re not actually an appetizer, they’re a side.) In a few moments and while we all sipped our drinks, they slid onto our table in a paper cup, thick slices of fresh avocado, piping hot and lightly coated with a crispy GF breading. Served alongside for dunking lavishly was a tangy New Mex red chili aioli, a light heat that complimented the creaminess of the fresh avocado.

I inhaled the avocados – I *may* have shared one with my husband and friends, I may not, it was a blur of delicious crispy deep-fried goodness. My (tortilla free) tacos arrived then, The Baja and The Thailand. The Baja (I chose shrimp over Alaskan Pollock) was a simple tried and true take on fish tacos. Lightly battered shrimp were topped with a creamy Baja sauce (similar to the red chili aioli), bright cabbage slaw, fresh cilantro and salty dry cojita crumbles. I could probably eat fish tacos every day and these were no exception. Actually, they were the best restaurant fish tacos I’ve ever eaten simply because 99% of fish tacos near me are wheat battered and fried. So, I mean, I could eat these fish tacos every day…

The Thailand was a Thai spice braised beef, seared on the griddle with pickled red onions and cilantro and served with the New Mex sauce and more cojita. The warm sweetness of the Thai spiced beef paired with the smokey grilled onions and the milky cojita were elevated with the cool crunch of the lettuce base. Honestly, a tortilla is maybe not even needed with that taco; the extra sweetness of the lettuce brought out all the flavors and tamed the spice of the New Mex sauce.

Cooling each bite were sips of the limey, salty margarita, which was balanced and refreshing. No syrupy sweetness, no heartburn inducing fake lime, just a good straight-forward marg. Famous? Not sure about that, but definitely good.

The one loss we suffered at Taco Buddha was that the Texas Sheet cake was sold out by the time we finished up. It’s so rare to find desserts (especially baked ones!) that are GF at a restaurant that even though we were all stuffed, that would have been order anyway. Oh well, just gives me a reason to gallivant back, right?

Are you from this area? Do you have a GF fave that I need to check out? Comment below and let me know! Like what you see? Share it on your favorite social!