How Often Do You Eat Out At Restaurants?

[love2travel]

Our young, transient oil town is hardly known for its good eats. There literally are no restaurants - only fast food chains such as McDonalds where I have not been in at least a decade. Not one single eatery has any gluten-free items or knowledge of celiac disease and I do not exaggerate. One owner is known to ask those with celiac who go there, "Are you a little celiac or a lot?" Even for a gluten eater there are no good choices. Our nearest good restaurants are in a city three hours away so we do not eat out often. When we do it tends to be high end because the staff are often well versed in our dietary restrictions and the food is local, fresh and seasonal (and just plain delicious). The chefs get it. Last time we ate out we had a lovely seven course prix fix meal including steak tartare served with gluten-free rice cakes! Not as awesome as the voluptuous grilled ciabatta would have been but it was a nice touch. Whenever we make reservations I speak with the chef at length regarding CC and food options. Many items are naturally gluten-free anyway and the best restaurants use very little or any flour in their sauces nowadsays. They are mostly reductions, glazes and so on.

I have now been strictly gluten-free for nearly five months. We probably eat at a good restaurant about every 6-8 weeks. Do you trust your restaurants? How often do you eat out?

[mushroom]

We eat out about every three to four months. Two reasons for this: I have so many additional food intolerances that it is hard to find tasty food that meets my requirements, and also, we live 45 minutes from the nearest place that could possibly prepare something even gluten free. People say to me, "What do you eat?" because of my restrictions, but at home I don't notice them. It is only when in a restaurant that I look in vain for something that can be adapted to my requirements that I feel restricted. If I start with a good gluten free menu I can usually make it work, or a good high end restaurant, but it is very difficult.

[cahill]

Like mushroom, I have additional intolerances that make eating out difficult at best.

I have been gluten free for about 19 months ,I have eaten out twice in that time. At the same restaurant .Once was a great experience and the other time I was extremely ill afterward. The difference (I believe ) was the waitstaff. The time I did not get ill , the waitstaff was knowledgeable and took my requests seriously. The time I got ill the waitstaff was not as knowledgeable and I felt they did not take my requests seriously .

If I had a restaurant that I could trust I would eat out MUCH more often

[love2travel]

I am SO sorry for complaining about my restrictions when you two have it worse than I!

[Juliebove]

It really varies. My daughter usually takes a lot of dance classes. She has just short of a stress fracture in her back so now no activity for 2 months. Otherwise she would be dancing twice a week until about 8 p.m. And most likely I would have taken her out to eat at least one of those days. Not that there is much open at that hour. Yes, there is Denny's but they have very little that is safe to eat for us. So that would leave Shari's and Yucatan. Both are very good with food allergies.

But since she isn't dancing and is stuck at home there is no need to eat out. And that's mostly when we do eat out. Because we are away from home and hungry.

However I just got a chest freezer for my birthday and we filled it to the brim in the past few days, mostly with gluten-free foods for my daughter. So we will be dining out a lot less than normal.

We do go to my parent's house once a week and we have lunch and dinner. But my mom doesn't like to cook. So we almost always dine out. Once in a while I can manage to cook a meal there. But... My mom also has food allergies and various issues with food. My dad has no food allergies AFAIK but for various reasons has some issues but he is limited as to what he can/will eat. So it is truly difficult for me to come up with a meal that we can all eat. And when I do it is usually something I don't really like. Or I will get prepared food from PCC Natural Market. They are good to label their food for allergens.

So right now we eat out for one lunch and one dinner per week. And then on special occasions. We do have a ton of restaurants around here but few that we can eat at. There are places that cater to celiacs and people with food allergies. We like to find places that cook from scratch and we get to know the owner or people who do the cooking. That helps. There is another Mexican place where we usually have lunch. They make special food for us. For daughter's birthday we are going to Olive Garden for gluten-free pasta. And near there is Old Spaghetti Factory. They also have gluten-free pasta.

We do have Outback, P.F. Changs and Bonefish near here. But... My oyster allergy leaves P.F. Changs out of the picture for me. Perhaps one day my parents can take my daughter there because she does LOVE Chinese food. Daughter and I don't like fish and we there is some reason why we can't have the chicken they offer at Bonefish. I can't remember now. We haven't tried Outback because we could basically only have meat and salad. And if I'm going out to eat I want more than that. Or at least I don't want to have to pay for a full meal and get only that. Some of the places we dine at allow us to order side dishes.

[sa1937]

I do not eat out...can't think of any really safe places around here (small town, USA) and don't believe our restaurants are very knowledgeable.

[eatmeat4good]

Eating out used to be something I enjoyed and looked forward to. Now after 9 months gluten free, I have vowed never to eat out unless I am forced to by circumstance. I would never plan to eat out. In my first few months I did. But after so much discussion about ordering, and still getting sick, now I just don't want to. It's like a land mine or Russian Roulette to me. Not really something I want to do, but will if I have no choice. I hate the anticipation and the anxiety of waiting to be sick after a nice meal...and then being relieved as if I dodged a bullet when I don't get sick. Of course I've never had the 7 course meal by a chef dining experience. Three days of anxiety wondering if I got away with it or if I got glutenend has changed the whole experience of eating out for me. Now I just love eating at home and then going to find something fun to do that doesn't involve landmines, roulette, or gluten.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I eat out about once every 2 months and usually that is NOT because of wanting an enjoyable evening out. It is usually because I am travling with my husband and have no choice. I always take food with me but it's not usually enough for both my husband and I to eat (he's a big eater and what makes a meal for me is just a snack for him). Sometimes I will just eat my safe food from my emergency snack bag and have a drink while he eats somewhere. At least I have been able to find some safe options even with no gluten, no dairy, no soy, no shellfish (so most seafood places are out), no mushrooms and no pork. But they are certainly not gourmet meals or anything. Usually really bland and boring because I can't risk any spices or marinades or even a little butter in my potatoes (anaphylactic reaction to dairy). Eating out is no longer what we do for a romantic evening out. We do non-food related activities now or things that allow us to pack a picnic lunch or grill our own food--like we take a cooler with meat to the beach or park and use one of the charcoal grills there (covered in foil of course). We go hiking in the moutains with packed lunches and stay places where we can make our own food. Last year we stayed in a cabin in the mountains for a week for our anniversary. I brought all the food, pans to cook with, our own tosster, etc and we cooked our own food for the week just like we were home. We ventured to a nearby town once to visit the super walmart and restock on food. There were lots of quaint little small town restaurants we probably would have tried in the past but now we didn't dare eat at any of them.

[cahill]

I am SO sorry for complaining about my restrictions when you two have it worse than I!

I am really OK with the way I have to eat,,It is second nature now.

I just want to be on the mailing list if you ever decide to open a restaurant.

[love2travel]

I am really OK with the way I have to eat,,It is second nature now.

I just want to be on the mailing list if you ever decide to open a restaurant.

You have an admirable attitude!

Thanks for the kind comments. Not only will you be on the mailing list, you will be at a table of honour!

[cap6]

eating out used to be no big deal - we did it quite often. Now we go somewhere I can eat maybe 2x's a month & it is a treat. When we are traveling during the summer and my SIL is visiting we eat lunch out every day or I should say they do & I bring something for me which gets real old real fast. It's usually at a place where there is nothing for me and it gets old bringing out my dried up old sandwich. Anyone have any items on what to take out to eat other than a snack or sandwich stashed in your purse?

[come dance with me]

We have a number of restaurants that have vegan options with naturally gluten free inredients like their stir-fry that's all vegan and served on rice or with rice noodles. We got to know the ones that did vegan food long before my child was diagnosed and later found out that most of what we had other than the pasta dishes were gluten free anyway so we go there still. It's not often but a few times a year we'll have a whole family gathering and choose the same places as always. Makes it hard with travel because we used to have a noodle place that we'd stop at when we were driving that isn't gluten free so now we literally cannot stop anywhere for fast food. It's only the restaurants where you have to book then sit and order then wait wait wait (im)patiently for them to bring the food out which is hardly convenient when you're travelling and only want to stop for 15 minutes to order than eat in the car.

[GFinDC]

Not very often at all. Been about 9 months I think. Then I went to a sandwich place while out with friends and got a soda and a banana, and ate my Lara bars that I had brought with me. Other wise I would order a salad perhaps, but that's about it.

When traveling I take fruit and Lara bars and nuts. Sometimes a cooler with food in it.

[navigator]

We eat out twice a week,mostly at our favourite local restaurant. When I was diagnosed as coeliac, I informed the waiting staff and the chef and I've had no problems. Chef does alternative sauces and salad dressing for me and even comes out to give me gluten free cooking tips. I wouldn't eat in cafes or fast food places and have found pubs to be a hit or miss but proper restaurants are okay. Qualified chefs have to do a module on gluten free cooking including cross contamination issues in order to get their qualification in Scotland now. I'm not sure how long this has been the case. When I'm ordering I just tell waiting staff what I would preferably want and ask them to discuss with chef. I then get told either I can have it, or there has to be some variation of it or I can't have it. My pleasure in eating out has not been diminished by my coeliac diagnosis as long as I'm choosing where to go. Where the trouble comes in is when the venue has been organised by others. I'm giving my works Christmas Dance a miss this year as I'm not confident about the venue.

[Poppi]

About once every 3 weeks here.

There are 4 restaurants within a 30 minute drive that I trust and a couple more I am planning to try at some point.

One of the restaurants is attached to a spa so it's a special twice a year treat with the hubby and we make a day of it. They were amazing when I went last month, endless tapas and several desserts and I felt great after.

We also have a Cactus Club which has a celiac menu. I always get the same thing, it's a big, lovely salad with chicken and also the only meal on the menu that isn't missing the sauce or the side dish or the bun or something.

There is a restaurant downtown with a fairly extensive celiac menu, burgers and pasta and everything. The problem is that they share their fryers but don't say as much on the menu so I'm nervous about other foods. DH and I had an amazing meal there a couple of months ago. I had some pretty intense brain fog for a few hours afterwards but no other glutening symptoms so I'm not sure what happened, I think I'll give them another chance.

The last restaurant I trust is a locally owned diner in the next town. They have fed me safely before and seem both knowledgeable and caring about the issue.

There are another handful of places in and around town with celiac menus but I haven't tried any of them yet. It's just such a huge gamble, I'm a great cook so I don't mind eating at home.

I am scared about August. I am travelling twice. Once for 4 days, once for 7. Both times in hotels where I don't know the surrounding area at all. I can take some food but won't have a kitchenette or a microwave. Maybe a tiny fridge and a coffee maker (can't drink coffee though). I'm looking forward to the vacations (they were booked pre-celiac diagnosis) but terrified as well.

[sb2178]

Less than twice a week. I go out to one nice dinner a month (+/-), and then I find myself stuck between meetings or with no lunch once or twice a month, and then I get brunch with my knitting club once or twice a month. I also get a hot drink (chai, hot chocolate, tea, etc) away from home about once a week.

The brunch is at a diner/pub place where I can get poached or scrambled eggs with potatoes. Basic, and more of a support-them-because-we-meet-there meal than anything else. Other people already have them trained, and I've never gotten sick from them.

Lunch/quick dinner tends to be a "burrito bowl" from one of several chains that are pretty good about clean gloves and all that. I had one experience where I had a cash register guy who insisted that a flour tortilla was not made from wheat... doh! Fortunately, the woman making it had more sense.

Nice meals are at all sorts of places; they generally know the schema and I often go to places that have a reputation for knowing their job. I very occasionally get sick, but it's down to maybe once every six or eight months, and I recover fairly quickly. Some of it is my own training-- the last time I forgot to remind them that not only did I need new fish, but that I also needed a new plate and new salad when the first batch of fish had been floured (why exactly someone thought it was fine to flour the fish when the breadcrumbs had be removed, and no flour in the sauce could be used, I don't know)... at least, I think it was the plate. It was a place where I probably shouldn't have gotten food, but I was cold and wet and hungry and planning to drink. Basically, reminder to self: save the eating out for the good places!