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

Our Power To Influence


jenvan

Recommended Posts

jenvan Collaborator

Hey there! Had to share this victory with you all, and hope it encourages you to keep up the letters, feedback too. I recently sent out several letters to restaurants on my experiences with their gluten-free menus. One I sent was Ted's Montana Grill--because I had two frustrating experiences. Both times I went to their restaurant, the staff was unaware of the gluten-free menu info on their website and a huge ordeal insued both times... Long story... I basically wrote, complemented them on their food (their buffalo burgers are AMAZING !), and said that if the gluten-free info is on the website, they need to train their employees to know about it, and also stated some celiac disease stats, and that by choosing to have a menu celiacs can eat, they create a loyal customer base.

Well, today I received a fedex package from them. In it-- a $50 gift certificate, and a letter from the head of marketing, stating that he discussed my experience and concerns with the owner of the restaurant and that now they have laminated copies of the gluten-free menu in the store for people upon request and that they are working to train their employees even better.

Power of the people! Needless to say, because of their great response , I will definitely return. Remember your power to influence !

(And remember--their buffalo burgers are awesome !) :P


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



mytummyhurts Contributor

Yay Jen! That's so cool! It makes me feel guilty because I was planning on writing a restaurant I went to about how good they did even though they had never even heard of celiac disease and how impressed I was with how they helped me. But I never got around to it. :( I could still write it now though, it's been a couple months.

That's really exciting that you received such a response! Good job!

Jnkmnky Collaborator

Awesome job. Let's have more of these posts!! :lol:

KaitiUSA Enthusiast

That's great! One person can sometimes be louder then a crowd. This is definitely a good thing for us and hopefully the more we get the word out to these restaurants, the easier it will get for us.

angel-jd1 Community Regular

Nice job creating awareness!! Enjoy your $50 cert!!!

-Jessica :rolleyes:

VegasCeliacBuckeye Collaborator

Great Job!

I e-mailed them to ask about why they put their fries on the gluten free list.

I had heard they did not use dedicated fryers....

Carriefaith Enthusiast

Wow! Good work Jen! That's some great customer service :D


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Guest nini

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but just today I wrote a letter to the Corporate office of the company that owns my daughter's daycare center. I raved about the director and the assistant director and their entire staff and how they have bent over backwards to accommodate my daughter's special dietary needs. I didn't truly realize just how lucky I have been to have their support until I started preparing to send my child to PUBLIC SCHOOL for the very first time in August! They have worked with me in providing me copies of the menu for each week so that I could provide a gluten free equivalent for my daughter, AND they made a space in the pantry and in the freezer JUST for her food so that I don't have to pack her lunch everyday. I just replenish the supply when they start to get low. AND they take the time to actually prepare her food carefully to avoid any cross contamination issues! They didn't have to do this, but they did.

Guest imsohungry

Hey Jen-

That is awesome! B) You must have written a very articulate letter...wow...good job! ;) -Julie

cdford Contributor

I make it a point to contact restaurant companies when I have a positive experience as well. I knew I was getting somewhere when one of the VP's I spoke with let me know that a group of restaurants in our area were meeting together to discuss ways to meet or special needs. Apparently they were getting a lot of calls. Not too long after that, I went to one of those hot spots and was quite surprised when my waiter recognized my card and began talking about gluten free meals before I could explain.

Archived

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


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,133
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Exhausted-momma
    Newest Member
    Exhausted-momma
    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

    • knitty kitty
      @rei.b,  I understand how frustrating starting a new way of eating can be.  I tried all sorts of gluten-free processed foods and just kept feeling worse.  My health didn't improve until I started the low histamine AIP diet.  It makes a big difference.   Gluten fits into opioid receptors in our bodies.  So, removing gluten can cause withdrawal symptoms and reveals the underlying discomfort.  SIBO can cause digestive symptoms.  SIBO can prevent vitamins from being absorbed by the intestines.  Thiamine insufficiency causes Gastrointestinal Beriberi (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation).  Thiamine is the B vitamin that runs out first because it can only be stored for two weeks.  We need more thiamine when we're sick or under emotional stress.  Gastric Beriberi is under recognised by doctors.  An Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test is more accurate than a blood test for thiamine deficiency, but the best way to see if you're low in thiamine is to take it and look for health improvement.  Don't take Thiamine Mononitrate because the body can't utilize it well.  Try Benfotiamine.  Thiamine is water soluble, nontoxic and safe even at high doses.  I thought it was crazy, too, but simple vitamins and minerals are important.  The eight B vitamins work together, so a B Complex, Benfotiamine,  magnesium and Vitamin D really helped get my body to start healing, along with the AIP diet.  Once you heal, you add foods back in, so the AIP diet is worth doing for a few months. I do hope you'll consider the AIP diet and Benfotiamine.
    • captaincrab55
      Imemsm, Most of us have experienced discontinued, not currently available or products that suddenly become seasonal.   My biggest fear about relocating from Maryland to Florida 5 years ago, was being able to find gluten-free foods that fit my restricted diet.  I soon found out that the Win Dixie and Publix supper markets actually has 99% of their gluten-free foods tagged, next to the price.  The gluten-free tags opened up a  lot of foods that aren't actually marked gluten-free by the manufacture.  Now I only need to check for my other dietary restrictions.  Where my son lives in New Hartford, New York there's a Hannaford Supermarket that also has a gluten-free tag next to the price tag.  Hopefully you can locate a Supermarket within a reasonable travel distance that you can learn what foods to check out at a Supermarket close to you.  I have dermatitis herpetiformis too and I'm very sensitive to gluten and the three stores I named were very gluten-free friendly.  Good Luck 
    • rei.b
      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
    • rei.b
      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
×
×
  • 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.