Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com!
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Response To Outback That I Copied From Reader's Digest

minniejack

By minniejack
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

Recommended Posts

minniejack Contributor
minniejack
Posted

After being glutened for the 2nd time in a little over 2 years at the Outback, I sent them an email detailing why I was peeved. It took the manager over 2 wks to respond to me and he basically took no blame just that the Outback gets compliments all the time regarding their gluten free menu and how the waitress had just returned to work after being off for a while getting her teaching degree.

I promptly sent him back this reply which I copied from the March 2010 Readers Digest and I think I'm going to keep it in my stock pile of what to send from now on to restaurants when I get glutened--not often, but I think this response nails it.

Servers should have the maturity to realize that when a customer tells them about a food allergy, it's not to annoy them. We are trying our best not to have to spend the weekend in the bathroom, the emergency room, or the morgue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


RideAllWays Enthusiast
RideAllWays
Posted

That is fantastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Black Sheep Apprentice
Black Sheep
Posted

*wild applause* Fabulous! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CarolinaKip Community Regular
CarolinaKip
Posted

I've yet to eat at an Outback, been too afraid! I know it depends on who is the server and cooker...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MaryJones2 Enthusiast
MaryJones2
Posted

I had the pleasure of going on a sightseeing tour in Savannah with about two dozen Outback managers and a regional manager for the southeast recently. Outback is very committed to serving the celiac community and spend quite a bit of time and money on training. Please contact Outback's corporate headquarters if you are having a problem with a particular Outback. I've eaten at a dozen or so and never had anything but positive experiences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
minniejack Contributor
minniejack
  • Author
Posted

I had the pleasure of going on a sightseeing tour in Savannah with about two dozen Outback managers and a regional manager for the southeast recently. Outback is very committed to serving the celiac community and spend quite a bit of time and money on training. Please contact Outback's corporate headquarters if you are having a problem with a particular Outback. I've eaten at a dozen or so and never had anything but positive experiences.

I, too, have had the pleasure of eating at the Savannah one and it is NOT my local Outback. So glad that you have had positive experiences, but I have not--and I complained on the corporate site with the local manager responding (St. Clairsville, Ohio store if you all want to know which restaurant).

Obviously, you are somehow in the Outback circle with the experience you just described--most of us do not have that pleasure and have to rely on ourselves or sheer luck to have positive experiences at Outback restaurants.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MaryJones2 Enthusiast
MaryJones2
Posted

Minniejack,

Please reread my reply. I was not referring to the Savannah Outback location. I am not connected to the company in any way. I just don't think it's appropriate to bash all Outbacks because you had two bad experiences in two plus years at one location. We all eat out at our own risk. Mistakes are bound to happen. I am merely suggesting that if you have an issue with Outback to call the corporate offices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


MindytheOrganist Enthusiast
MindytheOrganist
Posted

Love the note! We have eaten at several Outback restaurants with no problems at all. We've also had no problems with Famous Dave's. Still, with my DH virtually symptom-free, we probably would never know if he was glutened.

He was glutened accidentally at Biaggi's, and inadvertently ate the regular bread that is brought to the table (I wasn't with him, so I couldn't warn him). Even knowing he was glutened, he had no symptoms. I'm glad he doesn't suffer from the distressing symptoms some people have, but it's not knowing for sure that is an aggravation. The only way we know he had improved is that his iron levels are back to normal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
minniejack Contributor
minniejack
  • Author
Posted

I did reread your reply and I came back with the same impression--I was not able to eat with Outback managers and it has been more than 2 experiences in 2 years. I actually googled and came up with some Outback experiences that I had had that I I'd forgotten about. I was not bashing as you say Outbacks, I was providing a pithy response for people that was copied from a magazine. Sorry that you could not use that reply in your efforts to uphold a company that I have had BAD experiences with. I won't be checking this thread again so don't bother with a response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Janetw, I think I understand what you said. You were going on a sight- seeing tour and some people from Outback and a family from Ohio and a couple from Italy were also on it. ( or some such assortment of tourists). :). You got to chatting with the folks from Outback. Might have talked to the 8 year old from Ohio, too.

It can be hard to make ourselves understood in this format. I will be happy to translate as needed. :)

Did I get this right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jestgar Rising Star
Jestgar
Posted

I rarely find that being rude gets me what I want in the end. If I really want a place to eat out I'll work with them to get them to understand my specifications rather than send off a sniping message.

It comes down to what do you want? To feel righteous or to have dinner?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CeliacAndCfsCrusader Apprentice
CeliacAndCfsCrusader
Posted

Seems pretty simple to me.

I patronize those restaurants that "get it", whether their Corporate HQ is interested in serving gluten-free patrons or not.

For example, I gave Ted's Montana Grill 3 chances (2 different locations), I got cc'd twice. No need to write to Corporate, I just gave up giving them my business.

If they were the only restaurant in town, maybe I'd make the effort, but they are not.

It's pretty apparent when all 3 of their servers had no clue about gluten-free dining, even though they have a separate menu.

On the other hand, if I DO find a restaurant that is a favorite and something suddenly changes for the worse...then I'm absolutely going to mention it.

Everyone is different, but life is too short to fight each and every battle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mbrookes Community Regular
mbrookes
Posted

I find that using humor, tinged with sincerity, works for me.

Server: My name is Ted and I'll be taking care of you tonight.

Me: My name is Marilyn and I am the customer from hell (laugh)

No, really, I have a special problem that I need your help with.

Then I explain what I need and ask the server for reccommendations. Just about always works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
momo2cuties Newbie
momo2cuties
Posted

I got sick there just last night!!! Thank you for the note!

quote name='minniejack' date='02 October 2010 - 09:12 PM' timestamp='1286075555' post='643638']

After being glutened for the 2nd time in a little over 2 years at the Outback, I sent them an email detailing why I was peeved. It took the manager over 2 wks to respond to me and he basically took no blame just that the Outback gets compliments all the time regarding their gluten free menu and how the waitress had just returned to work after being off for a while getting her teaching degree.

I promptly sent him back this reply which I copied from the March 2010 Readers Digest and I think I'm going to keep it in my stock pile of what to send from now on to restaurants when I get glutened--not often, but I think this response nails it.

Servers should have the maturity to realize that when a customer tells them about a food allergy, it's not to annoy them. We are trying our best not to have to spend the weekend in the bathroom, the emergency room, or the morgue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      121,088
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Aventine
    Newest Member
    Aventine
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Recently Diagnosed Celiac- Need advice

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the community forum, @Anmol! There are a number of blood antibody tests that can be administered when diagnosing celiac disease and it is normal that not all of them will be positive. Three out of four that were run for you were positive. It looks pretty conclusive that you have celiac disease. Many physicians will only run the tTG-IGA test so I applaud your doctor for being so thorough. Note, the Immunoglobulin A is not a test for celiac disease per se but a measure of total IGA antibody levels in your blood. If this number is low it can cause false negatives in the individual IGA-based celiac antibody tests. There are many celiacs who are asymptomatic when consuming gluten, at least until damage to the villous lining of the small bowel progresses to a certain critical point. I was one of them. We call them "silent" celiacs".  Unfortunately, being asymptomatic does not equate to no damage being done to the villous lining of the small bowel. No, the fact that your wife is asymptomatic should not be viewed as a license to not practice strict gluten free eating. She is damaging her health by doing so and the continuing high antibody test scores are proof of that. The antibodies are produced by inflammation in the small bowel lining and over time this inflammation destroys the villous lining. Continuing to disregard this will catch up to her. While it may be true that a little gluten does less harm to the villous lining than a lot, why would you even want to tolerate any harm at all to it? Being a "silent" celiac is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in the sense of being able to endure some cross contamination in social settings without embarrassing repercussions. It's a curse in that it slows down the learning curve of avoiding foods where gluten is not an obvious ingredient, yet still may be doing damage to the villous lining of the small bowel. GliadinX is helpful to many celiacs in avoiding illness from cross contamination when eating out but it is not effective when consuming larger amounts of gluten. It was never intended for that purpose. Eating out is the number one sabotager of gluten free eating. You have no control of how food is prepared and handled in restaurant kitchens.  
    • knitty kitty
      14 year old with Celiac & EOE still suffering...

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Forgot one... https://www.hormonesmatter.com/eosinophilic-esophagitis-sugar-thiamine-sensitive/
    • trents
      50 YO Male Recently Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum community, @ekelsay! Yes, your tTG-IGA score is strongly positive for celiac disease. There are other antibody tests that can be run when diagnosing celiac disease but the tTG-IGA is the most popular with physicians because it combines good sensitivity with good specificity, and it is a relatively inexpensive test to perform. The onset of celiac disease can happen at any stage of life and the size of the score is not necessarily an indicator of the progress of the disease. It is likely that you you experienced onset well before you became aware of symptoms. It often takes 10 years or more to get a diagnosis of celiac disease after the first appearance of symptoms. In my case, the first indicator was mildly elevated liver enzymes that resulted in a rejection of my blood donation by the Red Cross at age 37. There was no GI discomfort at that point, at least none that I noticed. Over time, other lab values began to get out of norm, including decreased iron levels. My PCP was at a complete loss to explain any of this. I finally scheduled an appointment with a GI doc because the liver enzymes concerned me and he tested me right away for celiac disease. I was positive and within three months of gluten free eating my liver enzymes were back to normal. That took 13 years since the rejection of my blood donation by the Red Cross. And my story is typical. Toward the end of that period I had developed some occasional diarrhea and oily stool but no major GI distress. Many celiacs do not have classic GI symptoms and are "silent" celiacs. There are around 200 symptoms that have been associated with celiac disease and many or most of them do not involve conscious GI distress. Via an autoimmune process, gluten ingestion triggers inflammation in the villous lining of the small bowel which damages it over time and inhibits the ability of this organ to absorb the vitamins and minerals in the food we ingest. So, that explains why those with celiac disease often suffer iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis and a host of other vitamin and mineral deficiency related medical issues. The villous lining of the small bowel is where essentially all of our nutrition is absorbed. So, yes, anemia is one of the classic symptoms of celiac disease. One very important thing you need to be aware of is that your PCP may refer you to a GI doc for an endoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel lining to confirm the results of the blood antibody testing. So, you must not begin gluten free eating until that is done or at least you know they are going to diagnose you with celiac disease without it. If you start gluten free eating now there will be healing in the villous lining that will begin to take place which may compromise the results of the biopsy.
    • Anmol
      Recently Diagnosed Celiac- Need advice

      By Anmol · Posted

      Hello all- my wife was recently diagnosed with Celiac below are her blood results. We are still absorbing this.  I wanted to seek clarity on few things:  1. Her symptoms aren't extreme. She was asked to go on gluten free diet a couple years ago but she did not completely cut off gluten. Partly because she wasn't seeing extreme symptoms. Only bloating and mild diarrhea after a meal full of gluten.  Does this mean that she is asymptomatic but enormous harm is done with every gram of gluten.? in other words is amount gluten directly correlated with harm on the intestines? or few mg of gluten can be really harmful to the villi  2. Why is she asymptomatic?  3. Is Gliadin X safe to take and effective for Cross -contamination or while going out to eat?  4. Since she is asymptomatic, can we sometimes indulge in a gluten diet? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deamidated Gliadin, IgG - 64 (0-19) units tTG IgA -  >100 (0-3) U/ml tTG IgG - 4   (0-5) Why is this in normal range? Endomysial Antibody - Positive  Immunoglobulin A - 352 (87-352) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for help in advance, really appreciate! 
    • Tanner L
      Bad Reaction To Regular Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream

      By Tanner L · Posted

      Constantly! I don't want everything to cost as much as a KIND bar, as great as they are.  Happy most of the info is available to us to make smart decisions for our health, just need to do a little more research. 
×
×
  • Create New...