Syracuse Olive Garden

[Imanistj]

I made my first attempt in early October to eat gluten-free in a Maine Olive Garden and left without ordering, almost in tears. It was painfully obvious the staff knew nothing about the gluten-free menu. I didn't sense that anyone had received any gluten-free training. Maybe they just haven't had any celiac patrons. I never enjoyed eating in OG even when I could have anything on the menu, but my friend loves the place and I agreed to try in Syracuse. My friend is a nurse but I know she still believes a little gluten now and then shouldn't hurt. Grrrrr! I still don't feel any better since becoming gluten-free so I won't know if there is any CC. I know that following sterile technique regarding CC in hospitals is a never ending battle with nonnursing staff. I really don't feel comfortable that all restaurant staff will comply if they feel they aren't being observed. I am going tomorrow even though I really don't want to go. I will call the restaurant in the early afternoon and hope to talk to the chef or manager. I hate the idea of quizing my waitress regarding CC when I order. I felt like a freak when I was in Maine!

[wildwood]

I made my first attempt in early October to eat gluten-free in a Maine Olive Garden and left without ordering, almost in tears. It was painfully obvious the staff knew nothing about the gluten-free menu. I didn't sense that anyone had received any gluten-free training. Maybe they just haven't had any celiac patrons. I never enjoyed eating in OG even when I could have anything on the menu, but my friend loves the place and I agreed to try in Syracuse. My friend is a nurse but I know she still believes a little gluten now and then shouldn't hurt. Grrrrr! I still don't feel any better since becoming gluten-free so I won't know if there is any CC. I know that following sterile technique regarding CC in hospitals is a never ending battle with nonnursing staff. I really don't feel comfortable that all restaurant staff will comply if they feel they aren't being observed. I am going tomorrow even though I really don't want to go. I will call the restaurant in the early afternoon and hope to talk to the chef or manager. I hate the idea of quizing my waitress regarding CC when I order. I felt like a freak when I was in Maine!

My daughter has been to both the Clay and Erie Blvd locations. She had a good experience at the Clay location, but not so much at Erie Blvd. I was with her when she went to Erie Blvd. The waitress was new and luckily when the food came out my daughter noticed it looked different than the last time she ordered at Clay location. My daughter pointed this out and the waitress came back and said they put "seasoning" on, but could not tell my daughter what it was. My daughter said she did not feel comfortable eating it. In their defense, they prepared my daughter her whole new meal correctly, did not charge for it and gave her a $25 gift card. She ate the second meal and had no problems at all. I am sure all this was all due to the waitress being new and the fact that my daughter should have stressed more to the waitress the meal needed to be gluten free. When we are on our own my daughter is very assertive about her food, but we were having lunch with my other daughters future mother in law. She still feels self conscious making an issue about needing her food gluten-free when she is with people she does not know well. She has asked me to let her handle these situations and not to intervene (boy is that hard!!!). She gets mad at me if I don't contain myself, so I have to respect her and let her handle it. I got the feeling the waitress forgot to indicate on the order and to the chef that the meal was supposed to be gluten free. My daughter learned a lesson here (and I am sure the waitress did too). By not making it clear in the beginning she needed her meal gluten free it became a huge issue and drew more attention to her situation than if she would have asserted herself up front when ordering. My daughter will give them another chance. I cannot forget what it is called, but she gets some sort of meat and vegetable grill. Once she got the correct meal she said it was delicious and the staff there could not have been nicer about the whole situation. I think if you give them a chance, you may be pleased.

[Swimmr]

I react every time no matter how much I stress it at Olive Gardens. Even with the simplest of meals.

We only go out to eat if there is a get together of some sort...and the last place I had a good meal. I got a steak and some mashed potatoes. I asked for everything plain...no salt, no seasoning and requested that my steak be kept separate from other steaks.

This place is called the Mash House and they brew their own beers...and when I declined to a beer, the waitress just blinked a few times and asked why. I said, "I am allergic to wheat and gluten" and then all the people at the table with these giant cylindrical urns of beer stopped and almost in unison said, "what?"

[wildwood]

I know it is too late for you today, but my daughter also has had good experiences at the Pizzaria Uno in Clay. The manager always comes to check and make sure everything is as it should be. He is very nice and seems proud of their gluten free pizza. She prefers the pizza I make at home, but she does enjoy the opportunity to order one out if she pleases. I do not know if you care for mexican food, but my daughter went to The Mission near the courthouse in Syracuse in the spring. She came home so pleased because they were familiar with preparing food gluten free and everything was so good. She said she felt very comfortable eating there. She does want to try the Olive Garden again because they went the extra mile when she was there. She feels if she did not go back, they would stop all efforting in offering gluten free options and preparing them properly. She wants more choices, not less and feels that things can only improve with experience on the part of the restaurants.