Cheeseburger In Paradise

[brigala]

I read on another site that they are considering dropping their gluten-free menu and anti-cross-contamination kitchen policies. They have chosen a location in Destin, FL to test market the change, and they no longer offer specific gluten free options though they'll try to accommodate individual requests as they come in. 

 

I don't live near a CiP but I've eaten there when I've traveled and always felt pretty good about their reputation for gluten-safe food. I wrote them a letter. I wonder whether other CiP patrons might be interested in writing letters to them as well. 

 

Apparently the chain is under new management.

[Shelsi]

I was the one Brigala heard of this from the other site. 

 

We were sooooo disappointed last night when we went to the Destin, FL location.  We asked for the gluten-free menu as the hostess was gathering menus & silverware just like we usually do and she paused and said, "uh, I think you need talk to the server about that."  That should have been our first clue but we just thought she was new or something.  Nope, we asked our server and he said they no longer had a gluten-free menu.  They no longer had the separately rolled silverware either. 

 

The manager at this location is fabulous, I guess his long-time girlfriend has celiacs so he knows a fair amount about it, and it's honestly been the safest place for us to eat other than at home.  He told us they could accommodate us still.  He said they still had the gluten-free buns and he could make the fries gluten-free.  He said to look over the menu and he could prob change most of it to make sure it was made gluten-free.  It was our anniversary and we were looking to celebrate, not to once again have to go line by line on a menu with a manager or cook, just to find out that while most of the items could be made gluten-free that also means they take off all the sauces and flavoring.  I know you all know exactly what I'm talking about.  My family (which consists of 2 celiacs, 1 gluten intolerant, and 1 "regular" eater) was looking forward to the loaded chips.  They no longer have the chips at all.  The manager thought that maybe he had enough ingredients to make some loaded fries that would be similar.  Like I said, he's a fabulous manager and I'm sure whatever he came up with would have been safe to eat.  However that's not what we were looking for.  We wanted our loaded chips.  We wanted our gluten-free menu that we could peruse and select from.  Ugh, I know I'm preaching to the choir here.

 

So we got up and left.  I wrote a complaint letter to CIP this morning & my husband is e-mailing one as I type this.  My 5 year old celiac daughter says she wants to write one too.

 

The manager explained to us before we left that CIP was bought out in December.  He said the Destin location is the test location now so the "new" menu we were given last night is not online at all.  All the other CIP still have the regular menu and the gluten-free menu at this time.  However they are trying to roll out a new menu without the gluten-free menu.  He said they'll be keeping the gluten-free bun (which I'm sorry, their gluten-free bun sucks, we told him they should get a better one) but that's about it at this point.  He promised to pass on our feedback.

 

If you love CIP please e-mail them, facebook them, call, or mail them a letter with your comments!