Seriously?

[MindytheOrganist]

A while back, our local newspaper featured an article about the small restaurants in our area, and how they "struggle" to keep patrons. Owners implied that they could not understand why people say they like the smaller, local restaurants, but then go and wait an hour for a table at a "chain" restaurant.

So, I fired off a letter to the editor explaining that there is probably about 2,000 people in the area that cannot patronize these small restaurants because of the high probability of gluten being in everything they serve. My last sentence had the words "Gluten-Nightmares." It got printed, and as far as I know, no one fired back at me.

I did note that smaller, local places probably could not afford to do what is necessary to offer gluten-free menu items like the larger chains.

I don't know if it helped, but it sure made me feel better.

[Takala]

I don't understand the herd dining instinct, either.

If we find some place that can do gluten free or even has it on the menu option, we are pretty loyal customers. And I'm not talking anything exotic. I'm talking can you make a simple egg meal for breakfast with a fruit side, NO toast, no batter sneaking into the scrambled eggs, and maybe a plain serving of meat or fish, and salad and maybe a baked potato for the other options. You'd be surprised who can and can't handle this.

Or even a side dish. There is a small local taco chain where the refried beans are safe and very yummy and they come in a big cup as a side dish. That, and a drink is nice esp. if you just happen to have a tortilla in your purse you got out of your travel bag.

[Jestgar]

I like the places where you ask who's cooking tonight and the answer is "Mom".

[Rissmeek]

The smaller restaurants should have an easier time of doing gluten-free in my opinion. The amount of people to train would be less, the amount of suppliers would be less, etc. I think the problem is there are too few people who get the gluten free thing. They think it's some fad diet like South Beach or Atkins.

We are very lucky to have two wonderful locally owned restaurants that make sure my husband's meals are safe to eat. They asked questions about why he ordered his meals the way he did and after that they have gone above and beyond to ensure that things are safe for him to eat. One of them we had at breakfast not to long ago. The toast always comes on a separate plate always has always will, because she loads the plate with that much food. I order pancakes (which are cooked on their own griddle so they don't get into the eggs and meat.) with a side of sausage and told the hubs I wanted his toast. He ordered sausage, eggs, and fried potatoes with toast. The waitress barely got the order to the cook until here she comes to remind him he can't have the toast because she doesn't have any that he can eat. There are others who aren't that good though.

On the bright side though a bakery is going gluten free on Fridays!!

[Juliebove]

I actually prefer the smaller places and I find I am more likely to get a safe meal there. Yes some of the chains do a gluten-free menu. I mostly do not eat there because while that food might be gluten-free, it is not necessarily safe for me given my other food alleriges. And in general I do not like the food from chain places. It seems to come frozen and premade. Yes, I eat the gluten-free pasta at Olive Garden. I know it is safe. Do I like it? Not really.