gluten-free Pizza At Uno's Chicago Grill?!?!?!?

[Ellen A.]

My husband and I came up with an idea. If you're interested in helping to see if we can use the power of the internet to convince Uno's Chicago Grill to add gluten free pizza to their menu, read on. Feel free to email others a link to this blog post, or copy and paste the text below into a new email message and send it to your gluten-free friends and family. Please note that I've posted the same message to various listserves. We'd like to see if this can make a difference!

"I can't keep up with the demand!", said Rick Fask, owner of Good For Life foods. This is what Rick told us when we visited the Boynton Restaurant in Worcester for fantastic gluten free pizza this past week. Upon returning home, feeling sated and quite happy, the taste of the pizza still lingering on our lips, we came up with a plan.

Wouldn

[zkat]

Adding reply to bump-I would kill for a gluten-free pizza that I didn't make

I was in Phoenix this past winter and discovered Picazzo's. It was not long after I went gluten-free and it was heaven. I want to go back just for the pizza

Kat.

[UNCHeel]

Sent my request in.

[ebrbetty]

I emailed them

[blueeyedmanda]

I really hope this happens!!! I emailed them too!

[wdwmaggie]

I emailed them...I really hope it works!! Good idea Ellen A.!

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

I emailed them and sent out an email to my las vegas celiac yahoo group to do the same!

BB

[jaimek]

I emailed them and this is the response I got:

We are working on finding a great gluten free pizza. We absolutely know that their is a need for a gluten free pizza but we want to make sure that any pizza that carries the UNO name is an outstanding pizza.

Our Development Chef and his team is working on finding one and hopefully it will not be too much longer. Please know we are committed to giving all our customers the very best in food and we hope to include a gluten free pizza one day soon.

YEAH

[nobeer4me]

I sent them an email! Wonder if there is any chance of getting some gluten free beer with that pizza?

[Guhlia]

I sent them an email! Wonder if there is any chance of getting some gluten free beer with that pizza?

Probably. I got our local Outback Steakhouse to carry gluten free beer for us just by asking the ordering manager. She had it for us within a week and now they stock it regularly.

[Maureen73]

Just sent my e-mail. How fantastic would it be to have gluten-free pizza locally!! Here's to the power of the pen Great idea! Maureen

[jkmunchkin]

I had the most horrendous experience at Pizzeria Uno 2 weeks ago. It is the only time I have ever had a problem in a restaurant. Actually let me rephrase that. It wasn't 1 problem, from the moment I walked in the door it was a disaster.

I asked 3 different people for a gluten free menu, all who looked at me like I had 6 heads. Ok feeling confident now. Luckily when we sat down our waitress (who was incredibly sweet) knew exactly what I was talking about and promptly got me a gluten free menu. At this point the manager had also come over because we wanted to let him know that not one of his hostess' knew what or where a gluten free menu existed. Keep in mind my family has restaurants, we have a gluten free menu and you can ask anyone from the cashier to the hostess, to the dishwasher for a gluten free menu and they all know exactly what it is and where to grab it.

We ordered a bbq pork appetizer to share and I ordered plain grilled chicken, with roasted vegetables and smashed cauliflower for my entree. The manager assured us that he would make sure our order was ok.

When the appetizer came out it had some tortilla chips around it. I know a lot of times in restaurants they throw the chips in the fryer real quick so I waited to eat anything until the waitress came over and I could ensure they had not been fried. She informed me they were baked so I happily picked one up and took a bite. That was until the manager followed right behind and said oh no, we fry those. Fabulous! So now I spit it into my napkin and ran to the bathroom to rinse out my mouth. Luckily I had only taken a bite of the chip and had barely even chewed yet, but ofcourse I now spent the rest of the meal and night worrying if I swallowed even the tiniest bit of it.

You would think it got better from there, but it didn't. They brought our food out shortly after and what do you know... mine had a ginormous bread stick sitting on the plate! At this point I was so frustrated I told them to just take my food away and they didn't need to make me a new meal, but the manager insisted on it. Just as everyone else at my table was done eating he arrived with my order that he personally stood and supervised as they made it.

In the end I did not get sick and I did get to eat; but it was truly the most disaterous experience I have had yet. If it had been 1 or 2 mistakes I think I would give them another try, but I'm not sure I'm going back to a Pizzeria Uno. Based on this I would EXTREMELY worried if they had gluten-free pizza that they would screw up and serve someone who is gluten free Regular pizza.

Sorry for the long post.

[loraleena]

I agree, I would be worried. I ordered the same chicken entree. My meal arrived with a huge breadstick laying on top of the chicken. The waitress said Oh, is that gluten?!!

[SunnyDyRain]

I agree, I would be worried. I ordered the same chicken entree. My meal arrived with a huge breadstick laying on top of the chicken. The waitress said Oh, is that gluten?!!

Friday night, at uno, ordered bbq'd Shrimp (off the gluten free menu that the hostess didn't have a clue about when asked, but got the manager to find out about it) I was treated with a nice gluteny breadstick right on top of my broccoli

I did get sick, but not 100% sure from that. This was second attempt at eating out that day. First time, they didn't understand what "no crutons" meant.

[jkmunchkin]

Y'know I was hoping that is was maybe just the location I went to that was so uneducated about their gluten free menu, but it looks like it's not.

It's nice that corporate wanted to jump on the gluten free bandwagon, but then they really need to educate their staff otherwise it does more harm than good (atleast for our intestines).

I originally didn't want to post my review on here because I didn't want to give them bad press when it seemed like they were trying to help; but I did call corporate and let them know about my experience. Hopefully they will train their staff better.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Not to sound critical here, but this happens. It happens a lot. In those situations, you have two options - pout and be mad or you can educate calmly.

I used to do option 1 all the time, it does no good and it does not educate the people making the error.

Take the time to explain to them what they did wrong. Next time you know to order it without a breadstick.

I have the same problem with Outback all the time - they always want to give me their Aussie fries. Rather than getting upset, I talk to them and the manager and explain that they almost wrecked my weekend.

They usually get the picture. just explain it nicely and without anger. As much as you take it personally, they didn't mean it as such. Afterall, most of them are just college kids trying to make beer money.

JMHO

[jkmunchkin]

Not to sound critical here, but this happens. It happens a lot. In those situations, you have two options - pout and be mad or you can educate calmly.

I used to do option 1 all the time, it does no good and it does not educate the people making the error.

Take the time to explain to them what they did wrong. Next time you know to order it without a breadstick.

JMHO

I completely agree. And I actually was very nice the entire time, as well as to the customer service person I talked to on the phone. In fact I didn't want to tell her the location I went to because I'm not looking to get anyone fired, just let them know the problem. And I spent a good 20 mins. or so talking to the manager and answering any and all questions he had. Being rude gets you know where. It was much more effective to help educate the manager; who was very interested in making sure this doesn't happen again. I truly didn't and don't feel it is his or the waitresses fault. It is corporate's responsibility to train them and from the sounds of it they clearly are not being trained.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Good for you Jillian!

In that situation we all want to jab the waitresses' eye out with the breadstick, but in the end that gets us nowhere.

We have a responsibility for all Celiacs to help the "lost" find their way with regard to gluten - LOL

Every person we educate increases the chance for our Celiac brothers and sisters to have good meal the next time.

[JoeBlow]

I just went out for lunch for the second time since going gluten-free August 6. Both times I got glutened, so I'm pretty discouraged. I went to Uno's in Schaumburg. Illinois. I researched online, and ordered the BBQ Grilled Shrimp. I got nasty sick two hours later. Obvoiusly, as I was afraid of, I suspect they are just throwing the shrimp directly on the grill that they grill all of the gluten-slathered food on. The waitress Christine was very good. I sent a note back, she asked to take it to the kitchen, and she showed a lot of care. I need to talk to corporate, I know, to suggest a device that holds the skewers above the grill, and to confirm my suspicions. For right now, that dish is not safe for sensitive celiacs.

Hours after this post, I realized that this was more than a cross-contamination issue. The rice was cooked in a stock that is full of gluten.

I took Uno's online survey to let them know.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

In that situation we all want to jab the waitresses' eye out with the breadstick,

:lol:

I actually had a great experience at Uno's in Deep Creek Lane, Maryland. I asked if the y could make me a gluten-free "pizza" using unbreaded eggplant as the crust. The manager totally understood (I hadn't even asked for a gluten-free menu), and even made sure that it would be cooked in its own little casserole dish.

It was delicious, and my tummy was extremely happy.

As Jillian said, though, it all comes down to training.