Applebee's

[Lisa]

Jim and I has to go the beach for the day to do some business.. sooo after the business we head down the beach road.

Got hungrey and reluctantly went into Applebee's....knowing they had nothing for me o a major search.

Jim (husband) said to the waitress "Do you now anything about gluten free foods",.." I will call the manager".

So the manager comes to the table, "Please expain to me about glutten, I have never heard about it, what is it?". I knew is was in deep at this point.

So my husband decided to have some fun (perhaps at my expense). He says " She has ordered a salad with no dressing and it even has a bread crumb on it, it might kill her. ( so yeah the pecans on the salad were dusted with flour which I later resolverd - and brought my own salad dressing). They (the entire staff) were watching me during the entire time I was eating......they would check on me about every three minutes as I was eating. I should have pretented to pass out on the booth and really casue a panick

It was a funny situation, not enjoyable, as eating out is a pain in the butt. This is a fine example of educating the service businesses that we are out there.

Lisa

[utdan]

Yeah, big business and restaurant chains speak the language of money. I think that convention thread is a great idea. That could turn into the springboard for us to organize ourselves into one body with a powerful voice that will change the policies of Restaurant Franchises for their manager's/employee training.

[mouse]

Lisa, your husband has a sense of humor like mine does . We ate there once and the staff and manager could not have been nicer, but I still ended up getting gluten. My husband loves that place, but he has to go with someone else if he wants to eat there.

[angel-jd1]

A lady on my support group that I run had a bad experience with applebees yesterday. I get easily annoyed with applebee's treatment of customers so I called corporate. I told the man that I wanted to see if I got any better response calling than I did e-mailing them. He said that they normally don't put things in writing (BLAH). He said that they advise talking to the manager I said that usually I end up with a plain salad if I go and do that (which I have before). He said that there are more options than a plain salad for us........here is the list that he gave me. He said to call ahead of time to confirm that ingredients hadn't changed blah blah blah..........now on with the list:

Appetizers:

Baha Potato Boats/skins (check for dedicated fryer though)

Cheesey Bacon Tavern Chips (check for dedicated fryer)

Chips and salsa (make sure chips aren't thrown into the fryer to warm them up) they come pre-made from a vendor and are fine as long as they aren't put into the fryer to warm

Salads:

Grilled shrimp and spinach (ask for no toast and no dressing) so take your own dressing from home

Steaks:

Bourbon Street Steak (ask for no garlic butter and no toast)

Ribeye with saute'd mushrooms and onions (ask for no garlic butter and no toast)

Sides:

Baked beans

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

applesauce

BBQ Sauces both honey and signature

Others:

Ribletts (they are served with frys, substitute garlic mashed potatoes)bbq sauces are safe both kinds

Honey Grilled Salmon minus the honey glaze (ask for just grilled salmon)

Saline Chicken breast (this is the chicken breast used in the weight watchers meals, it is NOT marinated) it can be grilled and eaten with a side of mashed potatoes

Fiesta Lime Chicken (minus the mexi ranch sauce) using the saline chicken breast instead of the regular marinated one. Pico De giallo is fine.Strips of tortilla are fine as long as they aren't warmed in the fryer. The rice is fine also.

They have a few options......I would definately call ahead and speak to a manager. If you have other menu items that you are curious about I'm sure they can go over them with you on the phone to see if you can sub things in to make them safe (that is what I did with the fiesta lime chicken, it used to be my FAVORITE). The phone conversation was helpful, I "might" actually try them out again sometime. I didn't realize they actually had suggestions for us.

-Jessica

[Diane S]

  angel_jd1 said:

A lady on my support group that I run had a bad experience with applebees yesterday. I get easily annoyed with applebee's treatment of customers so I called corporate. I told the man that I wanted to see if I got any better response calling than I did e-mailing them. He said that they normally don't put things in writing (BLAH). He said that they advise talking to the manager I said that usually I end up with a plain salad if I go and do that (which I have before). He said that there are more options than a plain salad for us........here is the list that he gave me. He said to call ahead of time to confirm that ingredients hadn't changed blah blah blah..........now on with the list:

Appetizers:

Baha Potato Boats/skins (check for dedicated fryer though)

Cheesey Bacon Tavern Chips (check for dedicated fryer)

Chips and salsa (make sure chips aren't thrown into the fryer to warm them up) they come pre-made from a vendor and are fine as long as they aren't put into the fryer to warm

Salads:

Grilled shrimp and spinach (ask for no toast and no dressing) so take your own dressing from home

Steaks:

Bourbon Street Steak (ask for no garlic butter and no toast)

Ribeye with saute'd mushrooms and onions (ask for no garlic butter and no toast)

Sides:

Baked beans

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

applesauce

BBQ Sauces both honey and signature

Others:

Ribletts (they are served with frys, substitute garlic mashed potatoes)bbq sauces are safe both kinds

Honey Grilled Salmon minus the honey glaze (ask for just grilled salmon)

Saline Chicken breast (this is the chicken breast used in the weight watchers meals, it is NOT marinated) it can be grilled and eaten with a side of mashed potatoes

Fiesta Lime Chicken (minus the mexi ranch sauce) using the saline chicken breast instead of the regular marinated one. Pico De giallo is fine.Strips of tortilla are fine as long as they aren't warmed in the fryer. The rice is fine also.

They have a few options......I would definately call ahead and speak to a manager. If you have other menu items that you are curious about I'm sure they can go over them with you on the phone to see if you can sub things in to make them safe (that is what I did with the fiesta lime chicken, it used to be my FAVORITE). The phone conversation was helpful, I "might" actually try them out again sometime. I didn't realize they actually had suggestions for us.

-Jessica

Hi, enjoyed the story of scaring the applebees staff! Something my husband would do. I to had no luck in e-mailing them for a gluten free menu so haven't been there since being diagnosed. It used to be our favorite place. Thanks for the items stated to be safe from corporate office. We have had great help from our local Outback steakhouse and our local Olive garden. Although Olive Garden only had three things and wasn't worth it to me, they still knew what I was talking about. I think it just depends on the staff at each restaurant. Diane

[Lisa]

APPLEBEES NEEDS TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM. I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN...... too bad, I used to put alot of money in their pocket.

Piised, Lisa

[eKatherine]

The cheesy bacon tavern chips are very attractive, but it was one of the worst things I've ever eaten, and they were free for me.