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Has Anyone Been Glutened At Carrabbas?

hnybny91

By hnybny91
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

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hnybny91 Rookie
hnybny91
Posted

I went to Carrabbas last Saturday because I found a gluten tree menu online. I picked out a gluten free alcoholic beverage (Carrabba-Rita), a gluten free salad (Insalata Fiorucci)and a gluten free main course (Pollo Rosa Maria). The only thing it said I had to do was ask that my chicken not be basted with grill baste. Waiter knew I needed to be gluten free and acted like he knew / dealt with it often. Half way through my main course I get INCREDIBLY sick and had to go into the bathroom to throw up. I am suspecting that my chicken really did have grill baste. I sent an e-mail off to the restaurant the next day because I felt like crap (did for three days actually) and the manager did call me back on Monday but I was not able to answer my phone. Anyone else had a problem at Carrabbas?

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Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

I went to Carrabbas last Saturday because I found a gluten tree menu online. I picked out a gluten free alcoholic beverage (Carrabba-Rita), a gluten free salad (Insalata Fiorucci)and a gluten free main course (Pollo Rosa Maria). The only thing it said I had to do was ask that my chicken not be basted with grill baste. Waiter knew I needed to be gluten free and acted like he knew / dealt with it often. Half way through my main course I get INCREDIBLY sick and had to go into the bathroom to throw up. I am suspecting that my chicken really did have grill baste. I sent an e-mail off to the restaurant the next day because I felt like crap (did for three days actually) and the manager did call me back on Monday but I was not able to answer my phone. Anyone else had a problem at Carrabbas?

I have eaten at my local Carrabba's many times and never had a problem until this past Christmas. I went on Christmas Eve, between parties, so I could get a meal I could eat safely. We ordered and I must admit, the waitress was nice but ditzy. I went through the whole spiel about gluten free and when the meal came, I immediately knew there was something wrong. I have been gluten-free for 6 years and you develop a good sense just by looking at food whether it may not be right. The sauce on my chicken dish looked gluteny...it was thicker than I was used to there. I called the waitress over and told her I thought it was not right but she insisted, very nicely, that it was gluten-free. That annoyed me because a Celiac cannot take chances and the customer should be deferred to on food intolerance issues. I told her I was refusing the meal as it was Christmas Eve and no way was I going to get sick.

At this point she took the meal away and told me they would re-do the dish. I was kind of nervous because, although we worked it out in a polite manner, I still insisted that they take it away as I was not going to eat it. As it turned out, the manager came over and I explained to her what happened. She disappeared and came back saying she spoke with the chef and as it turned out, it was NOT gluten-free and he had made a mistake on the order. The waitress (the ditz) did not mark the order as gluten-free and they used the dreaded grill baste on it! What annoyed me the most was they never offered to take the meal off the bill....that's good business practice over such a huge mistake. I got my second meal and it was gluten-free and really good and I was not sick at all.

Moral of the story....a restaurant is only as good as it's employee's. This was the first waitress that I was not sure of and it turns out I was right. She was just a bubble head and screwed up my order. I have no idea why because she saw me holding and ordering from the gluten-free menu and I mentioned it more than a couple of times. I am not as confident about Carrabba's now but at least I can spot the non-gluten-free meal easily enough. It does happen but, luckily, it's not the normal experience I have had there.

hnybny91 Rookie
hnybny91
Posted
  • Author

Thank you for your reply Gemini. I suspect that it may have been the grill baste as well. I even mentioned to my husband that it seemed a little overly spiced but since I had never had that dish before I was not sure. Funny thing is, I never threw up over gluten when I was eating it but I supect now that I have purged my body of gluten it just wanted it out PRONTO...lol.

MaryJones2 Enthusiast
MaryJones2
Posted

I eat at Carabbas quite often when I travel. I've never really had an issue but I do ask the manager to stop by the table and let them know that I need gluten-free and they can then followup with the kitchen.

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