Jump to content

  • 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

How Clean Does The Grill Top Have To Be?

Kay DH

By Kay DH
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

Recommended Posts

Kay DH Apprentice
Kay DH
Posted

I called a brew pub yesterday to determine IF I can eat their food at a scheduled holiday party (work). The person in charge of the event never heard of celiac but had heard of gluten. She just said, check our online menu for what you can eat. I replied that I can't eat anything on the menu unless the salad is safe or the grill area is cleaned first (no broiler). She said they can't clean the grill for just me. My question is. How long does it take to scrape an area on the grill surface and is this enough? I am very sensitive to cc but have been able to eat at several (non-greasy-spoon) breakfast places without problems. It gets so tedious when restaurants don't want to bother with you. This is a nice brew pub, and it's owned by a fellow scientist that is running for political office, so I would have assumed the personnel would be more knowledgeable and interested. I'll call the manager later, but it would be good to find out from you, first. ;)

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

It depends on what they cook on the grill. If all they ever put on it is plain burger & burgers with cheese, it would probably be good. If they grill teryiaki marinated chicken breasts & toast buns on it, it will probably never be clean enough. Maybe they would cook yours in a clean skillet (pan) instead of on the grill. Call at a non busy time, like 11 am or 2pm and talk to the manager or the kitchen manager. Some places I have talked to will not even make an effort because they are too busy or are afraid they will make you sick. You may just have to eat first or bring your own food.

RideAllWays Enthusiast
RideAllWays
Posted

I would be nervous to try someplace like this who sounded like they just didn't want to bother.

i-geek Rookie
i-geek
Posted

Would they be willing to grill your food on a piece of foil?

Kay DH Apprentice
Kay DH
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the great replies. I talked with the manager today and he said he would talk with the chefs regarding food that I could eat. Hopefully the cooks know more about gluten than the manager or banquet organizer. If it doesn't work out, maybe we'll stay home and broil some lobsters. Always good to have backup plans.

irahappy1 Newbie
irahappy1
Posted

I haven't taken time to read all the messages here, but having been a cook for a while, I would warn that the process of cleaning a grill, if not carefully done, can leave bits of the (can't recall name of the thing that is used, but it's like a pumice stone and bits fall off as it scours the grill).... this stuff can give you a terrible intestinal reaction... so be careful...

Kay DH Apprentice
Kay DH
Posted
  • Author

Got back from a road trip yesterday. It's interesting how many small town eating places have nothing that I can eat. The grills didn't even have separate pans to fry/poach/boil eggs. Thank goodness for snacks. The problem was resolved on my original post; they are going to have gluten-free chili for me. It took about 3 phone calls and 10 emails back and forth to various folk. gluten-free is a bit of a maze, but it can be traversed. Best to think of gluten-free as a game.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted
Best to think of gluten-free as a game.

I do that. I'm stalking a gluten-free meal, much as a hunter stalks a doe. Sometimes I come back empty-handed but I've gotten pretty good at it. ;)

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted
Best to think of gluten-free as a game.

I do that. I'm stalking a gluten-free meal, much as a hunter stalks a doe. Sometimes I come back empty-handed but I've gotten pretty good at it. ;) I was on a short vacation recently, found a group that lists restaurants in the area, and had some really good gluten-free meals.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,398
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Megannnnn
    Newest Member
    Megannnnn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Coeliac UK Research Conference 2025

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Thanks for sharing this!
    • Scott Adams
      Shingles - Could It Be Related to Gluten/ Celiac

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had the same thing happen to me at around your age, and to this day it's the most painful experience I've ever had. For me it was the right side of my head, above my ear, running from my nerves in my neck. For years before my outbreak I felt a tingling sensation shooting along the exact nerves that ended up exactly where the shingles blisters appeared. I highly recommend the two shot shingles vaccine as soon as your turn 50--I did this because I started to get the same tingling sensations in the same area, and after the vaccines I've never felt that again.  As you likely know, shingles is caused by chicken pox, which was once though of as one of those harmless childhood viruses that everyone should catch in the wild--little did they know that it can stay in your nervous system for your entire life, and cause major issues as you age.
    • trents
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By trents · Posted

      Keep us posted.
    • Clear2me
      Gluten free nuts

      By Clear2me · Posted

      Thanks for the info. I recently moved to CA from Wyoming and in that western region the Costco and Sam's /Walmart Brands have many nuts and more products that are labeled gluten free. I was told it's because those products are packaged and processed  in different  plants. Some plants can be labeled  gluten free because the plant does not also package gluten products and they know that for example the trucks, containers equipment are not used to handle wheat, barely or Rye. The Walmart butter in the western region says gluten free but not here. Most of The Kirkland and Members Mark brands in CA say they are from Vietnam. That's not the case in Wyoming and Colorado. I've spoken to customer service at the stores here in California. They were not helpful. I check labels every time I go to the store. The stores where I am are a Sh*tshow. The Magalopoly grocery chain Vons/Safeway/Albertsons, etc. are the same. Fishers and Planters brands no longer say gluten free. It could be regional. There are nuts with sugar coatings and fruit and nut mixes at the big chains that are labeled gluten free but I don't want the fruit or sugar.  It's so difficult I am considering moving again. I thought it would be easier to find safe food in a more populated area. It's actually worse.  I was undiagnosed for most of my life but not because I didn't try to figure it out. So I have had all the complications possible. I don't have any spare organs left.  No a little gluten will hurt you. The autoimmune process continues to destroy your organs though you may not feel it. If you are getting a little all the time and as much as we try we probably all are and so the damage is happening. Now the FDA has pretty much abandoned celiacs. There are no requirements for labeling for common allergens on medications. All the generic drugs made outside the US are not regulated for common allergens and the FDA is taking the last gluten free porcine Thyroid med, NP Thyroid, off the market in 2026. I was being glutened by a generic levothyroxin. The insurance wouldn't pay for the gluten free brand any longer because the FDA took them all off their approved formulary. So now I am paying $147 out of pocket for NP Thyroid but shortly I will have no safe choice. Other people with allergies should be aware that these foreign generic pharmaceutical producers are using ground shellfish shell as pill coatings and anti-desicants. The FDA knows this but  now just waits for consumers to complain or die. The take over of Wholefoods by Amazon destroyed a very reliable source of good high quality food for people with allergies and for people who wanted good reliably organic food. Bezos thought  he could make a fortune off people who were paying alot for organic and allergen free food by substituting cheap brands from Thailand. He didn't understand who the customers were who were willing to pay more for that food and why. I went from spending hundreds to nothing because Bezo removed every single trusted brand that I was buying. Now they are closing Whole foods stores across the country. In CA, Mill Valley store (closed July 2025) and the National Blvd. store in West Los Angeles (closed October 2025). The Cupertino store will close.  In recent years I have learned to be careful and trust no one. I have been deleberately glutened in a restaurant that was my favorite (a new employee). The Chef owner was not in the kitchen that night. I've had  a metal scouring pad cut up over my food.The chain offered gluten free dishes but it only takes one crazy who thinks you're a problem as a food fadist. Good thing I always look. Good thing they didn't do that to food going to a child with a busy mom.  I give big tips and apologize for having to ask in restaurants but mental illness seem to be rampant. I've learn the hard way.          I don't buy any processed food that doesn't say gluten free.  I am a life long Catholic. I worked for the Church while at college. I don't go to Church anymore because the men at the top decided Jesus is gluten. The special hosts are gluten less not gluten free. No I can't drink wine after people with gluten in their mouth and a variety of deadly germs. I have been abandoned and excluded by my Church/Family.  Having nearly died several times, safe food is paramount. If your immune system collapses as mine did, you get sepsis. It can kill you very quickly. I spent 5 days unconscious and had to have my appendix and gall bladder removed because they were necrotic. I was 25. They didn't figure out I had celiac till I was 53. No one will take the time to tell you what can happen when your immune system gets overwhelmed from its constant fighting the gluten and just stops. It is miserable that our food is processed so carelessly. Our food in many aspects is not safe. And the merging of all the grocery chains has made it far worse. Its a disaster. Krogers also recently purchased Vitacost where I was getting the products I could no longer get at Whole Foods. Kroger is eliminating those products from Vitacost just a Bezos did from WF. I am looking for reliable and certified sources for nuts. I have lived the worst consequences of the disease and being exposed unknowingly and maliciously. Once I was diagnosed I learned way more than anyone should have to about the food industry.  I don't do gray areas. And now I dont eat out except very rarely.  I have not eaten fast food for 30 years before the celiac diagnosis. Gluten aside..... It's not food and it's not safe.  No one has got our backs. Sharing safe food sources is one thing we can do to try to be safe.        
    • Mmoc
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By Mmoc · Posted

      Thank you kindly for your response. I have since gotten the other type of bloods done and am awaiting results. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.