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My Experience With A Waiter Last Night, At Lost Dog Cafe

Monklady123

By Monklady123
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted

If you know the Lost Dog Cafe you know that it's FILLED with gluten. The main thing on their menu is the sandwich, in a gazillion varieties. Then they have pizza, in another gazillion varieties. Then they have salads, a lot of which have grilled chicken with "special seasoning." :ph34r:

So, I called ahead and asked for the manager. The first thing I asked was "if I said the words gluten-free to you would you know what I'm talking about?" His reply: "Yes, of course!" aha...good start. lol. Turns out that they do have gluten-free pizza crust, but I think $14 is a lot for a personal-size pizza. He said I could not eat the "special seasoning" so that meant no chicken, fish, or fries. sigh..

Anyway, I went there (this was a church meeting so I had no choice about where to go since this is right around the corner from the church, most of the people attending -- 8 of us -- live nearby, and we like to patronize the local businesses near the church) -- so I had the plain Greek salad. But, it came with "feta vinaigrette" dressing. I asked the waiter if he could please find out the exact ingredients in it because I was "allergic to wheat" (easier than "celiac" or "gluten intolerant" ). So what did he do? He came back to the table with the entire industrial-size bottle of dressing! rofl... He said "there were a lot of ingredients in there so I thought you'd better look for yourself, since I'm not 100% sure where gluten can hide."

Now remember, I had said "allergic to wheat" -- I hadn't mentioned gluten. So I said "oh, so you knew what I meant when I said "allergic to wheat?" He said "yes of course... although I suppose someone could be actually allergic to wheat. But usually when people ask that they mean gluten."

Now how's that for a knowledgeable waiter?! woot! And he was really young too. I left him a nice tip, and got his name and called the manager this morning.

Oh and fyi, the feta vinaigrette did NOT have gluten in it, and I had a nice salad and feel just fine this morning. B)

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laura4669 Apprentice
laura4669
Posted

Wow, that is great! I love it when a waiter or restaurant manager goes the extra mile for people with food allergies. I am recently diagnosed with celiac, and I am finding out that some waiters have no idea what gluten is, and others know right away what I am talking about. I have been surprised at how many waiters will say to me, "Oh yeah, my mom, sister, cousin, etc. has the same problem with gluten. I know exactly what you are talking about". Glad you had a nice meal!

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

What a pleasant surprise. Thanks for sharing your story.

RachelisFacebook Apprentice
RachelisFacebook
Posted

That's truly awesome!! I had a waiter at Olive Garden who knew if I was ordering off the gluten-free menu that there couldn't be croutons in the salad. Unfortunately, something still made me sick at that meal. :( But it's a GLORIOUS feeling knowing that there are some wait staff who understand. I actually feel like I should be a waiter so I could really help other celiacs who come in the restaurant! Haha.

jenngolightly Contributor
jenngolightly
Posted

What a great story. We avoid sandwich shops - my motto is that sandwich joints have "bread flying all over the place." No place for a Celiac. But it looks like you were with a group so you had no choice. Would you go back, or do you think it's too risky?

tea-and-crumpets Explorer
tea-and-crumpets
Posted

That's great! I had a similar experience when I went to Biaggi's -- my (very young!) waiter was very knowledgeable and kind when I asked about their gluten free menu. When it came time to wrap up the leftovers, he offered to take everyone's in the back and I told him I'd prefer just to wrap my own. He said "Oh, because of cross-contamination, right?" Turns out he had been gluten free for a while (and later found out he didn't have celiac.) I am much more confident about eating at that particular Biaggi's now!

I made sure to go home and write a letter praising him to the manager (and he got a really good tip.)

Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted
  • Author

What a great story. We avoid sandwich shops - my motto is that sandwich joints have "bread flying all over the place." No place for a Celiac. But it looks like you were with a group so you had no choice. Would you go back, or do you think it's too risky?

I'm not sure I would go back. Not so much because of CC -- although with that menu I'm thinking I got lucky this time, unless the salad stuff is somewhere separate. But the main reason I'd rather not go back there is that while I do like salads it's hard to eat only that while everyone else is digging into wonderful sandwiches,seasoned fries, garlic bread.....sigh. We do have another restaurant we go to for church things and I'm going to suggest that one next time -- it's a Mexican place and their corn things are all corn and I've NEVER had a problem with anything I've eaten there. And I can have a plate of food that looks just like everyone else's. I know that's silly, but I'm so tired of being different!

well...anyway... woke up this morning with an awful headache so I'm about ready to search for that gluten-free wine list since that's about the only thing I can blame it on.

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