Black Angus

[mytummyhurts]

My family and I are going to Black Angus (aka Stuart Anderson's) tomorrow night. I haven't been there since my diagnosis. Does anyone know if they are good to celiacs? Or any good menu items? Thanks!

[Guest ajlauer]

I've been wanting to go there, but the closest location is about 60 miles away - in Puyallup, tee hee! They are known for steaks. So if you like steaks, I'd say order your favorite one! Although... I don't know about gluten free. www.blackangus.com you can check out the menu and probably get a phone number to call them. It is a nice enough place - they should be able to specially prepare your food for you if you ask.

MmmMmMm just looked at the menu. With dinner, you pick any two sides. Vegetable medley and baked potato would probably be good. *droool*

[burdee]

I prefer Outback Steakhouse since going gluten-free/DF/SF, because they have a gluten free menu and are very celiac friendly. From what I learned from Outback I would suggest that you tell your server at Black Angus that you can't have any gluten from wheat, barley, rye (and whatever intolerances you have). Then order plain grilled meats, salads with NO croutons mixed in a clean bowl (if they mix the dressing in individual salads), vegies simply seasoned with salt/pepper and herbs (rather than a seasoning mix which could contain gluten). Since I must also avoid dairy I request the chef NOT add a dollup of butter to my steak to keep it moist. I usually email restaurants which I have not visited since going gluten-free and tell them my restrictions. Then I ask if their chef can prepare me a gluten-free/DF/SF meal from grilled meats or fish and cooked vegies without extra sauces. Good luck with Black Angus! Be sure to report back to us how celiac friendly they were.

BURDEE

[mytummyhurts]

I just back from there, it went pretty well and tasted really good. I got a plain steak, veggies and baked potato with only butter. I called ahead and talked to the manager and I was afraid then that it wasn't going to go well because she didn't even know what gluten was. But when I got there she came to my table and apparently caught my order before it went back to the chef because she came out and told me that they normally put a seasoning on the vegetables and asked if I could have that and I said no. So she actually caught that, I was pretty impressed. I gave my GIG card to the waiter though, intending for him to take it the chef, he kind of held it for a while and gave it back to me without really looking at it, so that sucked. But I feel fine afterward so I'd say it was a pretty good experience.

I've been to the Outback twice since I was diagnosed and the service has been terrible. The first time we called ahead and it still took almost an hour and a half to be sitted even though they told us it would only be 45 minutes. And they sat other groups only 1 smaller than us who got there after us. Then the food took forever and it was way to dark in there. My husband and I went back to celebrate our anniversary there because I didn't want to have to deal with places that didn't know my situation. It was a Thursday night and it still took a long time to get our food. So, I wasn't very impressed with them even though it is gluten-free.

[skbird]

I went to Black Angus about a month ago for lunch and the waitress was VERY nice. (Citrus Heights, CA). I got the London Broil lunch as she said that it was one of the steaks they don't marinade first and I had her give me double steamed veggies (I can't eat potatoes). I also asked if they could clean the grill. I also had a salad but forgot to mention croutons which came on it, but she very nicely took it back and got me a new one. Actually, it was funny, I was with my mom and I said I couldn't have croutons and my mom jumps in telling her that the seasoning on the croutons would make me very ill and that they easily crumble off the croutons and into the salad. When the waitress walked away I looked funny at my mom and she said she'd made the big deal so the waitress wouldn't just take the croutons off and bring it back. It was a major victory for me as my mom stood up for me, for the first time since I've gone gluten-free (6 months now).

Anyway, it was obviously a fresh salad, no spit (haha!) and the only "problem" was when I got my steak there was a little cup of some kind of dipping juice on the plate. But I just took it off the plate and ate my lunch. And no glutening from it, either.

Very good experience! Only drawback to Black Angus - why the heck do they always insist on making you sit in the waiting area first? They always do that, so does Red Lobster. Is it to make you *think* they are just so busy or something? I have gone to a lot of restaurants in my life and only these two consistently make you sit first in the waiting area, no matter how slow they are. It must be some company policy but I don't understand why...

Stephanie

[burdee]

Hi Abby:

I have to admit that my first experience with Outback was TERRIBLE. We waited maybe 20 minutes for a table after they promised us a 10 minute wait. They kept trying to sell us cold alcoholic drinks while we were seated in a cold, drafty waiting area. Eventually we gave up and left before ever getting a table. So we called ahead before our next visit and put our names on the 'waiting list', since they don't take reservations. We also planned our visit for a slow night (Monday through Wednesday) when the wait would be shorter if at all. The past 3 'slow night' visits have been wonderful with no wait and very attentive service. The worst part of our experience was the loud rock music. Unfortunately Outback is popular with nonceliacs as well.

BURDEE