Where Not To Eat

[floridanative]

We had a lovely visit with in-laws there over Thanksgiving but Friday night we went out to dinner at The Blue Plate which is about the worst place in town to go if you can't eat gluten. Have no idea why SIL picked such a place as she knows how hard it is for me to eat out but it was my fault for not contacting the place until Friday afternoon to inquire if they could feed me (SIL said she would do but never did). I called and was told they thought they could accomodate me but I should check out their menu online before coming in. By the time my BIL booted up the computer(password) for me to peruse the menu we were walking out the door for dinner. Every dish contained gluten seemingly except some salads and probably a burger without the bun. It was so busy and we were a party of 8 so we ended up sitting at two tables (6/2) and so DH and I sat alone. No problem as I was highly aggitated at this point about having to have salad for dinner so I wasn't the best company by the time we sat down. If we'd known that we'd split up beforehand we would have gone around the corner to a place that is much better for me. Lesson learned: never trust your non Celiac relatives to pick a place for you to eat.

Luckily my salad was fine and I was able to mix some of my own vinegarette packet with their olive oil for a safe dressing. The dressing I wanted was not gluten free. I actually felt sorry for our waiter because he was astonished by my dining restrictions and he looked at me like 'why would you choose to come here, a down home Southern cooking place with a metropolitan twist'? Good question indeed and I'll certainly never go back!

[2Boys4Me]

Luckily my salad was fine and I was able to mix some of my own vinegarette packet with their olive oil for a safe dressing. The dressing I wanted was not gluten free. I actually felt sorry for our waiter because he was astonished by my dining restrictions and he looked at me like 'why would you choose to come here, a down home Southern cooking place with a metropolitan twist'? Good question indeed and I'll certainly never go back!

That's terrible...and you DIDN'T choose to go there your "family" chose for you. Didn't we have a conversation a few months ago about how you were going to put your foot down and insist that if you had to have salad so did everyone else?

Sorry you had a rotten time. Did the rest of them at least get food poisoning?

[Guest nini]

oh that's terrible... yeah, never trust the non-celiac relatives to pick the restaurant. My family knows better. Either I get to pick the restaurant or I don't go.

[floridanative]

Yes I'm the one who said everyone would have a salad if I had to. But as we didn't even sit anywhere near the others and my SIL thought I could just have salmon plain (no thanks since no sides were okay) I didn't complain. And my meal was very filling (turkey, cheese, egg) and good. I couldn't even finish all of it so the meal wasn't bad, it was just not great and I would never go such a place on my own.

In all fariness, I see many less trips up there as it's been more stressful than fun since the second child was born which seemed to overwhelm the parents quite a bit. When the time comes to go back, I'll be certain to ask if they plan on us eating out. If they say yes I'll let them know that I'll be picking the place or we won't be able to go - period. I picked the place last time and it was outstanding. This time I dropped the ball by trusting someone else to pick a place. That person seems to believe that I can always get plain salmon (not always the case) and at this place, none of the sides that came with salmon were okay.......why would I pay $16 for one pc. of plain fish? Mmmmmm.......I wouldn't of course.

The only reason we were there Friday night was for the Grand Illumination on the river which was wonderful with fireworks at the end. It was quite spectacular and we viewed from a waterfront condo of friends of in-laws who were out of town. That event made the meal situation acceptable in the end.

[mamaw]

That is horrible. Did any family member actually feel bad about going there after they seen how hard it was for you?I'm with Nini , if we go out I pick the place ....

When my mother-in-law passed away I chose a place where I could eat a meal like the other forty people. A couple of relatives who were not even around much to help during her illness complained a bit about what I had picked. Not that I was wanting or even cared to eat but since my hubby was footing the bill , he said go where you can feel comfortable... I really wanted to give the few an earful but I kept my mouth shut...

Since then, they now know we mean business when we are footing the bill for family gatherings.Our choice or don't come!!!!!

sorry it was a bad experience.. I just hope they become understanding of your situation when dining out.

blessings

mamaw

[floridanative]

Well as I stated, we didn't sit with the others just me and DH alone due to long wait for a table for 8. So in fact, we didn't tell anyone except the FIL/MIL who rode home with us. They were not impressed with their own meal and could eat whatever they wanted. I didn't tell my SIL yet because she would forget it by the time we came back for another visit. The time to tell her is when we are planning to go back. Then I'll tell how bad that place was for someone with Celiac and if we are going out again with them, we'll pick the place or not be able to go. She will be fine with that. Like I said, I am the one who didn't do my job in this case. No one should ever be picking a place for me to eat out unless the place has a gluten free menu and I told them I eat there comfortably. I'm over it now but was frustrated at the time for my own stupidity. If I'd checked the place out beforehand, we could have gone elsewhere and met the others for the show/fireworks after dinner.

mamaw - sorry about you MIL. I know how hard that must have been and then the snide remarks about where you ate.....people can be so catty and at the worst times.