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

Has Anyone Been Glutened At Carrabbas?

hnybny91

By hnybny91
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

Recommended Posts

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?

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


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.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. Rogol72
      - Rogol72 replied to HAUS's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      8

      Sainsbury's Free From White Sliced Bread - Now Egg Free - Completely Ruined It

      @HAUS, I was at an event in the UK a few years back. I remember ringing the restaurant ahead to inquire about the gluten free options. All I wanted was a few gluten free sandwiches, which they provided and they were delicious. The gluten-free bread they used was Warbutons white bread and I remember mentioning it on this site before. No harm in trying...
    2. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to HAUS's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      8

      Sainsbury's Free From White Sliced Bread - Now Egg Free - Completely Ruined It

      In the U.S., most regular wheat breads are required to be enriched with certain B-vitamins and iron, but gluten-free breads are not required to be. Since many gluten-free products are not enriched, we usually encourage people with celiac disease to consider a multivitamin. In the early 1900s, refined white flour replaced whole grains, and people began...
    3. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to deanna1ynne's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      13

      Inconclusive results

      Keep in mind that there are drawbacks to a formal diagnosis, for example more expensive life and private health insurance, as well as possibly needing to disclose it on job applications. Normally I am in favor of the formal diagnosis process, but if you've already figured out that you can't tolerate gluten and will likely stay gluten-free anyway, I wanted...
    4. JoJo0611
      - JoJo0611 replied to JoJo0611's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      6

      CT with contrast.

      Thank you.
    5. deanna1ynne
      - deanna1ynne replied to deanna1ynne's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      13

      Inconclusive results

      Thank you all so much for your advice and thoughts. We ended up having another scope and more bloodwork last week. All serological markers continue to increase, and the doc who did the scope said there villous atrophy visible on the scope — but we just got the biopsy pathology report back, and all it says is, “Duodenal mucosa with patchy increased int...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,441
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Linda Boxdorfer
    Newest Member
    Linda Boxdorfer
    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

    • Rogol72
      Sainsbury's Free From White Sliced Bread - Now Egg Free - Completely Ruined It

      By Rogol72 · Posted

      @HAUS, I was at an event in the UK a few years back. I remember ringing the restaurant ahead to inquire about the gluten free options. All I wanted was a few gluten free sandwiches, which they provided and they were delicious. The gluten-free bread they used was Warbutons white bread and I remember mentioning it on this site before. No harm in trying it once. It's fortified with Calcium and Iron. https://www.warburtonsglutenfree.com/warbs_products/white-loaf/ The only other gluten-free bread that I've come across that is fortified is Schar with Iodized salt, nothing else.
    • Scott Adams
      Sainsbury's Free From White Sliced Bread - Now Egg Free - Completely Ruined It

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      In the U.S., most regular wheat breads are required to be enriched with certain B-vitamins and iron, but gluten-free breads are not required to be. Since many gluten-free products are not enriched, we usually encourage people with celiac disease to consider a multivitamin.  In the early 1900s, refined white flour replaced whole grains, and people began developing serious vitamin-deficiency diseases: Beriberi → caused by a lack of thiamin (vitamin B1) Pellagra → caused by a lack of niacin (vitamin B3) Anemia → linked to low iron and lack of folate By the 1930s–40s, these problems were common in the U.S., especially in poorer regions. Public-health officials responded by requiring wheat flour and the breads made from it to be “enriched” with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. Folic acid was added later (1998) to prevent neural-tube birth defects. Why gluten-free bread isn’t required to be enriched? The U.S. enrichment standards were written specifically for wheat flour. Gluten-free breads use rice, tapioca, corn, sorghum, etc.—so they fall outside that rule—but they probably should be for the same reason wheat products are.
    • Scott Adams
      Inconclusive results

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Keep in mind that there are drawbacks to a formal diagnosis, for example more expensive life and private health insurance, as well as possibly needing to disclose it on job applications. Normally I am in favor of the formal diagnosis process, but if you've already figured out that you can't tolerate gluten and will likely stay gluten-free anyway, I wanted to at least mention the possible negative sides of having a formal diagnosis. While I understand wanting a formal diagnosis, it sounds like she will likely remain gluten-free either way, even if she should test negative for celiac disease (Approximately 10x more people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity than have celiac disease, but there isn’t yet a test for NCGS. If her symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet, it would likely signal NCGS).        
    • JoJo0611
      CT with contrast.

      By JoJo0611 · Posted

      Thank you. 
    • deanna1ynne
      Inconclusive results

      By deanna1ynne · Posted

      Thank you all so much for your advice and thoughts. We ended up having another scope and more bloodwork last week. All serological markers continue to increase, and the doc who did the scope said there villous atrophy visible on the scope — but we just got the biopsy pathology report back, and all it says is, “Duodenal mucosa with patchy increased intraepithelial lymphocytes, preserved villous architecture, and patchy foveolar metaplasia,” which we are told is still inconclusive…  We will have her go gluten free again anyway, but how soon would you all test again, if at all? How valuable is an official dx in a situation like this?
×
×
  • 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.