Card Recognized By Manager

[cdford]

I had the neatest thing happen this last week. I went into a local restaurant (Longhorn's in this case) and set my restaurant card out so that I could show it to the waiter. A manager walked by my table, took two steps back, pointed to the card and said "Gluten, Ma'am?"

I said yes and he proceded to tell me about some of the things they did for other customers who had a problem with gluten. He assured me that they could feed me safely and even came back to the table after talking with the chefs to ensure that they were "doing it correctly" by verifying the ingredients they were using, etc.

I was sooo impressed and so was my family. Apparently, the celiacs in this area have figured out that this restaurant is helpful and the word is getting around because he said that they had several regular customers and had spent some time adjusting several recipes to ensure their safety and availability.

I just thought it was such a neat experience that I had to share it. It certainly is not the norm. Needless to say we will go back as the budget allows.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Very cool! What did you order?

[aaascr]

I just took my son to Longhorn's for his birthday and I thought I might give

them a try with my altered gluten-free card. I added all my food allergies as well. I knew that I could eat their baked potato anyway.

The manager came out to ask me if they could put my non-marinated salmon (the only fish I can eat w/o repercussions) in a separate dish and cook it in their oven.

All the other food that came with it was in separate side dishes so that either of my sons could eat if they wanted too. I brought my own toppings for the baked potato - the salmon was perfect.

And - no getting sick!

[Boojca]

This is ALL very interesting to me as I contacted Longhorn this summer and got a response that may as well have said "Go away, we don't serve your kind". It wasn't even one of those "nice" "we can't help you" messages that we sometimes get. So, I promptly emailed them back and informed them they better get on the bus bc there are so many people out there that suffer from this they are losing out on a lot of business, especially because their competitors such as Outback, Carraba's and many, many others (not to mention "local" restaurants) are VERY accomodating and even have gluten-free menu's. I never got a response from that, but maybe things have changed with this chain since last summer. I've been boycotting them.

Bridget

[Carriefaith]

Maybe your e-mail made them change their attidude towards celiacs and the gluten free diet!

[MySuicidalTurtle]

If you deal with each location individually you will have more success than with the company, I think.

[cdford]

This time I had a steak with a baked potato (they use real butter, not the soy margarine), and steamed vegetables. I even had a salad and did not react. It was also enough food for me to get a take-home box and eat the rest for my dinner that night.

They also do a wonderful dish that is a modified version of their portabella chicken. They use fresh mushrooms instead of the marinated ones and do not use the usual sauce. It is great.

I enjoyed the meal so much that I did not even ask whether the ice cream was gluten-free when the rest of my family had one of those outrageous deserts.

When I went there before, I had a positive experience because the manager then knew someone with celiac. I contacted the area manager who said then that the company was assessing what they could do to work with people with our disease. Apparently it was becoming a major concern among the larger chain restaurants in the Atlanta area.

Maybe my call and your e-mails got the ball rolling. Whatever the reason, I am glad. It is so hard to find a good place to safely eat out.

[Guest NancyNet]

Which Gluten-Free Restaurant Card did you put out, and where can I get one over the net ?

[cdford]

I use the one from CSAUSA (www.csaceliacs.org). I like it because it is larger than others I have seen and gives specific guidance to the chef in the kitchen. I took mine and had it laminated so that I could wipe it down if something spilled on it. I keep it in a side pocket in my purse and pull it out at every restaurant.