Auriana81

Today I broke down and went to RED ROBIN. I normally avoid them because I don’t trust their food to be gluten-free without massive Cross Contamination. So it’s been years since I have been. But today, well dangit I really wanted a hamburger.

I live in Plymouth, MN right outside of the twin cities.

I printed out their Allergen list and we went to the closest one to us. The Plymouth Location:
2669 Campus Drive
Plymouth, MN 55441
(763)559-7576

All I can say is WOW!!!!

Our waitress came up and took our order and when I told her I needed my Hamburger Gluten free. She nodded, wrote it all down. I requested the fries that came with my meal be put on a different plate. Since I was told previously they use the same fryer. She seemed very helpful and even told me they have a gluten-free bun and offered it to me.

I hate making them go through trouble cause I need to know every ingredient as I have several other food allergies as well. So told her not to worry about the bun.
Shortly after we ordered, a man walked up to me and said, “Hello, I am the manager here and I heard you will be eating gluten free today?” I smiled and said yes and he asked me if I would list off all my allergies to him, and he said he’d make sure he’d go talk to the chef and let them know to make my food with extra caution.

So I thought wow how cool. They seem to really care!

We got our food shortly after. They placed each individual item on its own plate so I ended up with 3 or 4 plates in front of me.
I looked at the gluten-free bun they provided and it had that rich brown toasted color. Which made me very weary since, 1. Most gluten-free breads I find don’t toast like that. And 2 it didn’t look gluten-free.

So I pushed it aside and also moved my fries away as well. As I didn’t want to risk eating them either.

Shortly after we were almost finished with our meal a 3rd man comes up to me and says, Hello I am the OWNER of this Red Robin. I hear you are eating gluten-free with us today. How was everything?

So I smiled,(I am not use to so much attention from a restaurant!) I told him it was very good and everyone was very nice and helpful. But then he asked me, did you not like our gluten-free bun? I expressed my concerns and he told me Oh no, We have a dedicated cooker we place the buns in and cook them in that, he also told me he went back there and made the people cooking my food put on fresh gloves, and use fresh silverware for cooking. And that the special dish they use to cook the bun is what helps get its color. He told me I hope you will return and try it with the bun next time.

He then asked, Do you not like our fries? I told him I know they have fried chicken and so many places use the same oil for frying, so I was being overly cautious. He says to me again, OH NO! We have a dedicated fryer for our French fries just for our gluten-free people! He told me You can eat those!
And he said him and the manager went back to the kitchen watching to make sure they did my food safe and correctly.

So I told him wow! I am really impressed! I told him he should really put all that info on the Red Robin website. As I normally hear negative experiences about Red Robin. And it was never on my list of safe places to eat. I tended to stay away from them in the past. Where had I known they try so hard I would have come back in much sooner!

I thanked him for caring so much, and told him I would sing their praises on our Celiac website!
He then gave me the e-mail to his corporate office and explained to me that not all Red Robins are up to the standards we all need yet.
But that he as the owner is making strides to make HIS Red Robin somewhere safe to eat! He provided me with a e-mail to their corporate office and a gift card for a free hamburger my next visit!

So I told him I would tell Corporate about the great job he is doing. And in time that might help to make it so Red robin is officially a safe place to eat!

If you’re in the area check this place out! The service and Management was amazing!


RED ROBIN
2669 Campus Drive
Plymouth, MN 55441
(763)559-7576

My husbands 30th Birthday is coming up and he really wanted to go back to this restaurant he went to with his work. http://www.masa-restaurant.com/ I called asking about their gluten-free options and was told they would get the info and someone would call me back.

I was never called, HOWEVER The Head executive chef there e-mailed me directly from his home e-mail to answer my questions a couple days later.

In my e-mail to them I explained that I have a HIGH allergy to wheat and am Gluten Intolerant. Along with that I have allergies to seafood, seed, and nuts.

The following was our conversation and the great assistance he was able to provide

.........


From: Jerusa Ricke
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 3:45 PM
Subject: Dinner at Masa


Sorry for the delay in my response regarding your gluten free and specific allergy menu options for your future dinner at Masa. We have many options that are gluten free and can do just about anything on the menu without seeds or nuts except the Mole and a few of the desserts. There are trace amounts of flour in the tortillas so if it is an extreme reaction I suggests avoiding any of the corn based dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, quesadilla, and unfortunately the chips; however as I mentioned they have very small traces of flour. We do have some seafood items but the kitchen staff is very cautious about cross contamination and dealing with seafood allergies. There are no hidden seafood options on the menu such as shellfish stocks or bases. There is beer in the queso fundito, quesadilla, and the beef enchilada so I would avoid those options with the wheat allergy.
Our service staff is very knowledgeable on ingredients and together we would be very happy to accommodate you and your husband for dinner!!

Let me know if you have any other questions and we look forward to having you.

I am off work today so this is my personal email, feel free to email me back here otherwise I will be back in the restaurant tomorrow.

Jerusa Ricke
Executive Chef
Masa

------------

MYSELF

On Mar 1, 2012, at 4:33 PM, wrote:

Thank you so much for the reply and the time it took to provide it. I see 2 items on the menu I’d be interested in and was hoping you can confirm that they would both be okay and if I need to order them any special way to achieve that?

1. Filete al Chipotle con Queso Chihuahua y Cebollitas Verdes Grilled beef tenderloin marinated
with chipotle salsa and finished with melted Chihuahua cheese and grilled green onions

and

2. Pollito al Campestre Grilled all-natural chicken breast marinated in salsa verde with roasted poblanos, mushrooms and onion; served with poblano crema and cilantro rice

Would either of these options be safe for me? Thank you again so much for your time, and I greatly appreciate your help in this so I can enjoy the night!

----------------

From: Jerusa Ricke
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012
Subject: Dinner at Masa

Both of those options are fine for you; we do serve a sweer corn tamale with the steak as well but we can switch that out with some beans or another vegetable for you. Also if you are unable to eat the tortilla chips we could substitute some fresh vegetables or potato chips for you with the salsas.