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South Orange County, Ca Restaurants

Cynbd

By Cynbd
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

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Cynbd Contributor
Cynbd
Posted

I generally stay away from restaurants and other peoples kitchens. But -- I like to have the option of eating out. I live in South OC and was wondering of there are others who have had successful meals out at specific locations with some of these local chains.

I have eaten at Pei Wei's in Lake Forest and have never gotten sick. (YAY). I have eaten at PF Changs at the Mission Viejo mall twice and got very sick both times.

The very first time I ever ate out after going gluten-free was to Pei Wei's in Irvine (this was months after going gluten-free too), and the guy that brought me my food couldn't speak English, so when I asked him (to confirm) if my dish was gluten-free free he gave the obligatory "yes" -- then I found out I had the wrong salad, it was my husbands gluten salad which I had started to eat. I started crying -- they gave me gift cards worth 40 bucks, but I won't go back to that location.

I have not tried Outback yet -- After my experience with PF Changs, I am a little skiddish to try another big chain restaurant.

I suspect some of these chains do better than others.

I have also eaten at the Fish Market at the Irvine Spectrum twice, and did not get sick.

I tend to go during off-peak times to try to limit mistakes.

Anyone from this area have some success stories from any of the chains around here?

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tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

When I lived in HB, I had no problem with the PF Changs in Irvine, or the Outback in Long Beach (not OC, I know). I also ate at Open Original Shared Link in Fountain Valley successfully (vegan Vietnamese food), and the Buca Di Beppo in Irvine (if you can have dairy, there's lots of options).

JustMe75 Enthusiast
JustMe75
Posted

I am in Riverside and have tried several places so far.

I love Outback. I had never been there pre gluten free and its now my favorite place to eat. I get the Alice Springs chicken with garlic mashed potatoes.... YUM! Never had a problem there (yet) I tried PF Changs 2 times and got sick once. Chipotle made me sick. I ate at Macaroni Grill and did fine. They have a gluten-free list online. I think I had something called the skinny chicken and a salad. Oh, and I just tried On the Border. I had the southwest chicken salad, very good. It did bother my stomach a little but I think it was because it was spicy (it didn't feel like glutening). They also have a list online of gluten-free items. Good luck!

Another place I want to try but haven't is Carinos Italian Restaurant, they have an online menu.

  • 2 weeks later...
kylesmom1112 Newbie
kylesmom1112
Posted

In-N-Out:

#3 protein style, animal style, no sauce, no seasoning. If you can do dairy (I can't) you can get the #2, same way. Their fryers are dedicated and one of the workers told me they are expereinced with dealing with food allergies & intolerances and they get asked questions relating to ingredients all the time.

Royal Hawaiian in HB:

seared scallops. chef said they sear in a pan w/ butter. I requested olive oil instead. Did not get the salad as it is tossed in a house dressing made with blue cheese, but if you can do dairy it is gluten-free if you get no croutons. They also serve a french onion soup, but I did not eat that since it comes with a crostini on top

HTH

babinsky Apprentice
babinsky
Posted

Mimi's does not have a gluten-free menu but the mgr keeps a gluten-free list in the back office...they have been very accomodating...also Red Robin will work with you, the one near me has a dedicated fryer and they put the cheeseburger andall the "fixins" on the side. I bring my own bun and just put it together at the table.

  • 3 weeks later...
tracylikesfood Newbie
tracylikesfood
Posted

outback in Laguna Hills isGreat

La Fondue in San Juan Capistrano is awesome and they really go out of there way to help.

I generally stay away from restaurants and other peoples kitchens. But -- I like to have the option of eating out. I live in South OC and was wondering of there are others who have had successful meals out at specific locations with some of these local chains.

I have eaten at Pei Wei's in Lake Forest and have never gotten sick. (YAY). I have eaten at PF Changs at the Mission Viejo mall twice and got very sick both times.

The very first time I ever ate out after going gluten-free was to Pei Wei's in Irvine (this was months after going gluten-free too), and the guy that brought me my food couldn't speak English, so when I asked him (to confirm) if my dish was gluten-free free he gave the obligatory "yes" -- then I found out I had the wrong salad, it was my husbands gluten salad which I had started to eat. I started crying -- they gave me gift cards worth 40 bucks, but I won't go back to that location.

I have not tried Outback yet -- After my experience with PF Changs, I am a little skiddish to try another big chain restaurant.

I suspect some of these chains do better than others.

I have also eaten at the Fish Market at the Irvine Spectrum twice, and did not get sick.

I tend to go during off-peak times to try to limit mistakes.

Anyone from this area have some success stories from any of the chains around here?

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    • cristiana
      Coeliac or not coeliac

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi @CC90 Ah... that is very interesting.  Although it is very annoying for you to have to go through it all again, I would say that almost sounds like an admission that they didn't look far enough last time?   I could be wrong, but I would not be at all surprised if they find something on the next attempt.  Coeliac damage can be very patchy, as I understand it, so that's why my own gastroenterologist always likes to point out that he's taken lots of samples!  In the kindest possible way (you don't want to upset the person doing the procedure!) I'd be inclined to tell them what happened last time and to ask them in person to take samples lower down, as  if your health system is anything like the one in my country, communication between GPs, consultants and hospitals isn't always very good.  You don't want the same mistake to be made again. You say that your first endoscopy was traumatic?  May I ask, looking at your spelling of coeliac, was this done at an NHS hospital in England?  The reason for the question is that one of my NHS diagnosed friends was not automatically offered a sedative and managed without one.  Inspired by her, I tried to have an endoscopy one time, in a private setting, without one, so that I could recover quicker, but I had to request sedative in the end it was so uncomfortable.    I am sorry that you will have to go through a gluten challenge again but to make things easier, ensure you eat things containing gluten that you will miss should you have to go gluten free one day. 😂 I was told to eat 2 slices of normal wholemeal bread or the equivalent every day in the weeks before , but I also opted for Weetabix and dozens of Penguin chocolate biscuits.  (I had a very tight headache across my temple for days before the procedure, which I thought was interesting as I had that frequently growing up. - must have been a coeliac symptom!)  Anyway, I do hope you soon get the answers you are looking for and do keep us posted. Cristiana  
    • CC90
      Coeliac or not coeliac

      By CC90 · Posted

      Hi Cristiana   Yes I've had the biopsy results showing normal villi and intestinal mucosa.  The repeat endoscopy (requested by the gastro doc) would be to take samples from further into the intestine than the previous endoscopy reached.      
    • Wheatwacked
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      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Transglutaminase IgA is the gold-standard blood test for celiac disease. Sensitivity of over 90% and specificity of 95–99%. It rarely produces false positives.  An elevated level means your immune system is reacting to gluten.  Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) does not typically cause high levels of tTG-IgA. Unfortunately the protocols for a diagnosis of Celiac Disease are aimed at proving you don't have it, leaving you twisting in the wind. Genetic testing and improvement on a trial gluten free diet, also avoiding milk protein, will likely show improvement in short order if it is Celiac; but will that satisfy the medical system for a diagnosis? If you do end up scheduling a repeat endoscopy, be sure to eat up to 10 grams of gluten for 8 - 12 weeks.  You want  to create maximum damage. Not a medical opinion, but my vote is yes.
    • trents
      Coeliac or not coeliac

      By trents · Posted

      Cristiana asks a very relevant question. What looks normal to the naked eye may not look normal under the microscope.
    • cristiana
      Coeliac or not coeliac

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hello @CC90 Can I just ask a question: have you actually been told that your biopsy were normal, or just that your stomach, duodenum and small intestine looked normal? The reason I ask is that when I had my endoscopy, I was told everything looked normal.  My TTG score was completely through the roof at the time, greater than 100 which was then the cut off max. for my local lab.  Yet when my biopsy results came back, I was told I was stage 3 on the Marsh scale.  I've come across the same thing with at least one other person on this forum who was told everything looked normal, but the report was not talking about the actual biopsy samples, which had to be looked at through a microscope and came back abnormal.
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