Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Troubles At Restaurants


lazyperfectionist

Recommended Posts

lazyperfectionist Newbie

OK, so first let me say is my whole family is celiac and we've always had troubles at restraunts. Especially my parents because they're exceedingly sensitive. We always call before, inform the waiters/waitresses, etc, etc. You know the basic celiac restaurant advice. We even have troubles with the restaurants with the gluten-free menus! So I'm just curious has anyone had the same problems? Any advice to help? I just want to make sure were not the only ones. :(


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



gfp Enthusiast

It really depends what you call trouble....

I tend to view all resto's as risky, its just a fact of life....

You seem to be doing everything correct but remember you are dealing mainly with people on minimum wage who might lack motivation from time to time.

My advice is never to expect too much. Its frustrating but less so than looking forwards to eating something and turning up and just loosing confidence. Often its "no problem" then 2 minutes later "would you like some bread" .. etc.

I've found the worse thing is when you wait and wait and your absolutely starving, then you end up taking risks you wouldn't otherwise have taken.

I tend to find its best to find 2-3 places that you feel a good vibe regarding confidence, then keep going back and tip like crazy when they make a big effort or remember something ....

Try and be positive, if you are steered away from something be positive you didn't risk it... sometimes hard when its the item on the menu you really want... or when the waiter(ress) suddenly suggests more bread? but that doesn't always mean they were not on the ball when talking to the kitchen...

I always try and talk to the kitchen myself, when possible but its sometimes hard and then I try and get a floor supervisor and ask them. London is terrible for getting to talk to the kitchen's and the floor staff often don't speak English which doesn't help ... A couple of weeks ago I ended up asking for the supervisor because the waitress didn't speak English beyond "You want drink something" and finally got the supervisor who spoke better English but I still ended up speaking in Italian .. (at which point she suddenly got the point ... "oh celiachia .. si" ... After this she ran off to the kitchen and communicated in whatever language they shared (probably sign) but I ended up OK :D

Anyway, that probably doesn't apply to you but it just shows that things often don't do as expected but the outcome can be OK. I was lucky to get an Italian ... probably better than finding an English speaking waiter/ress (not that its really possible in London) ..

I did however find one place where all the staff seem well trained, I was told I can't have the fries ... well it would be easy to be dissapointed (since its a grill) but instead I convinced myself I'm over the moon finding somewhere understands CC.

For every bit of advice there are examples of the opposite ... phoning in advance is good but often the staff will be different when you arrive... etc.

I honestly think being flexible and have a backup so you can walk away if they just seem to not get it is the best...

Finally .. take advice from others and stick together. Sometimes I find myself just leaving the sald because they added some unknown dressing... but uless you make a point the next celiac will get the same.

Sometimes I think we are our own worst enemy when it comes to awareness ?? How many of my bad experiences are due to someone before me and how many after me got poor awareness because I didn't speak up?

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,016
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Lia Minish
    Newest Member
    Lia Minish
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Jenny (AZ via TX)
      When using daily med to look up prescriptions, is there a way to filter ingredients such as gluten or wheat?  I usually take only a couple of drugs but since I’m having surgery, I have 5 new ones to take for a short time post-op. Thanks!   For non prescription drugs, Walgreens has a line called Free&Pure that has gluten free written on the packaging if anyone is interested. 
    • Scott Adams
      Dr. Jean Duane published a book on Celiac.com, and although all chapters are worth reading, there are some that cover this perfectly. Here is the link to the 1st chapter: This chapter and others cover this topic well:  
    • Jenny (AZ via TX)
      I called Colace to see what they would say. They cannot guarantee the products are gluten free.  No gluten ingredients but mentioned ingredients from pigs.  I did explain the pig part wasn’t the issue, just gluten.  I had asked about Colace clear as I had read that one was gluten free. 
    • Scott Adams
      As I recall Canada created some special rules just for gluten-free oats--not other gluten-free products--right around the time that General Mills launched their gluten-free Cheerios. The move seemed more politically motivated given that other products could be 20 ppm or below, but not oats. Here is an article we wrote at the time:  
    • trents
      @Winnie-Ther-Pooh, we are talking about two different standards here. In the U.S, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set the standard for using "Gluten-Free" in product advertising at less than 20 ppm of gluten. There is another standard, an internationally-recognized one, known as "Certified Gluten-Free" which is stricter, requiring less than 10 ppm of gluten. Certified Gluten-Free products will bear the GFCO logo. But in either case, it is important to understand that there still may be some gluten in the product which, for the super-sensitive subset of the celiac community, may still cause reactions.
×
×
  • Create New...