Hard Times Cafe - Gluten Free Chili (supposedly)

[Emily Elizabeth]

Hi everyone, I just contacted Hard Times Cafe and they said their chili is gluten free. Here is the response:

Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 1:29 PM

<<Hi Emily - Yes the chilies are gluten free but you would not want to have the chili on the spaghetti. The chili on Fritos would be OK. Unfortunately our corn bread is made with wheat flour so it is defiantly NOT gluten free.

We are in the process of putting together a nutrition page and hope to have it on the website later this year.>>

-- Then I asked if I should worry about cross contamination and here is the response:

<<The only cross contamination concerns are with the fries and onion rings.

The onion rings are made with a flour batter. Bits of the flour remain in the hot oil when the rings are cooked. It's the same hot oil we cook our fries in so there's probably some cross contamination there. So I wouldn't recommend ordering the fries.>>

If you have had an experience there, I'd love to hear about it! I have yet to go since being diagnosed.

Thanks,

Emily

[jststric]

I was at the Indianapolis Hard Rock Cafe in August. I'm trying to recall what I had! I have a hard time remember this morning most days, lol. I'm pretty sure I stuck with a salad. I sometimes will order fries as a side, but I don't believe I did this time. I do recall playing 101 Questions with our waiter, who was very nice. He did well at going to the back and asking questions but he was soon busy with an onslaught of customers, so I let it go and stuck with safer items. I have no problem with asking for substituting veggies or a different kind of salad dressing if needed. I have alot of other food intolerances besides just the gluten thing, so I have to be even more careful. And too often, salads is the safest thing when traveling. Best wishes to you!

[Tim-n-VA]

Just to clarify, the original post was about "Hard Times" which I think is a regional chain around the DC area, not the Hard Rock Cafe national chain.

I've not eaten there since my diagnosis and am interested in hearing if anyone has any experience with them.

[Kylie]

I eat Hard Times chili all the time! I love the Cincinnati chili the best, but all of them are good. And the last time I went in, I was told the corn bread was gluten free, ate it and had no problem (I am incredibly sensitive, I would have known quickly if there was wheat in it). Maybe at different locations they have different corn bread recipes. But I will definitely be checking the next time I go in to make sure they haven

[ChickensDon'tClap]

I ate at Hard Times recently and got glutened. I knew that the chili was gluten-free, but I didn't think to ask if the tortilla chips were. Guess I was just that hungry! I also had the chicken breast entree that comes with bacon and BBQ sauce on it so that could have been the culprit too. Either way, it was all my fault for assuming I would be OK without asking!