More Restaurants Refusing To Accommodate

[Juliebove]

I have noticed the opposite here. More and more places are offering gluten-free things. Oddly enough my daugher has outgrown her gluten intolerance so she doesn't need those things! But it is good for other people.

I do agree with the poster who mentioned gluten-free as being a fad. I had some Energ-G bread that I wanted to give to a person who needed it. But the only other gluten-free person I knew of (aside from the owner of the local health food store and would not eat such bread) also outgrew her gluten...whatever...not sure if it was an allergy or intolerance.

This lady overheard me say this and said that her husband was trying to stick to a healthy diet so she would take the bread. I had a feeling that my trying to explain what gluten was and why her husband probably didn't need to avoid it would be lost on her. So I just gave her a loaf of each of the breads we had to try. They liked it so I gave her the rest of it.

I also have a feeling that they are hurting more financially than she might have let on so perhaps *any* bread I gave her would have been a help. Her husband is no longer able to work due to some medical issues.

[mushroom]

Youe daughter is certainly one of the few and the lucky if she truly no longer has to eat gluten free. Long may it continue!

[sandsurfgirl]

Today the restaurant that said on their website they can't accommodate food allergies did an awesome job for me. They couldn't give me any meat because all their meats are premarinated in soy sauce. Very weird for a Mexican restaurant. But they made me a nice HUGE platter of veggie fajitas and a side of rice and beans with guacamole. It tasted great. DS got a cheeseburger with no bun and a side of beans.

I thanked the manager for all her help and attention and she told me she made them clean the grill and prep it in a separate area.

Bucca Di Bepo had an gluten free menu. Not sure if they still do. Italian is scary because of the flour everywhere but I never got sick there and it's awesome. So I do think it's a matter of them knowing what they're doing and also caring to do it well.

[sandsurfgirl]

I have noticed the opposite here. More and more places are offering gluten-free things. Oddly enough my daugher has outgrown her gluten intolerance so she doesn't need those things! But it is good for other people.

I would be very careful with that. That's pretty much unheard of. Allergies can be outgrown but this... not so much.

Here's a quote from another thread that I read tonight.

"If you were gluten free for any length of time, the antibodies could have died down.

It is one of the reasons they used to think children outgrew Celiac.

At some point they appeared to be able to eat gluten again.

But then they noticed that these kids are the ones who developed the secondary autoimmune diseases and cancers associated with Celiac.

Don't een know if you are Celiac or not, but that could happen. The antibodies go away when your body doesn't have to fight wheat anymore. Then it takes time to build them up when you do start eating wheat."

Celiac is a weird disease. It can go into remission and then come back with a vengeance. Because of the wide variety of symptoms you may not realize she's getting sick from gluten.

Anyone with "intolerance" can never rule out celiac because the testing is so unreliable. Intolerance is just as serious as celiac and there is a very good chance she does have celiac and the tests were a false negative.

I think it's tempting to say yay no more gluten free but it's a dangerous experiment. Be vigilant. Since she's eating gluten again, after a few months get her tested again. Might as well, at least the blood test.

[dani nero]

I would be really interested in talking to the managers or whoever in charge of these decisions at few of the restaurants that do it consistently well. I'd like to find out why and how.

I find it's generally the better restaurants that do gluten-free well; upcoming chefs... If they use fresh ingredients it's very easy to do gluten-free (except bakeries). I find it's an attitude, a general feel to the place - pride in what they do and a passion for food perhaps that seems to be in common, at least on the surface?

I suspect the effort and training at a restaurant that does gluten-free well trains their employees well in general, and doing gluten-free is just easier.

Maybe when the restaurants are owned by a family or a food fanatic who take pride in offering really good food for everyone. It would be very a very interesting study :-)

[sandsurfgirl]

Maybe when the restaurants are owned by a family or a food fanatic who take pride in offering really good food for everyone. It would be very a very interesting study :-)

It depends on the family. There is a family restaurant here that keeps their chicken recipe secret. Even the managers don't know what's in the seasoning package. I asked if they could contact the owner and just find out if it has gluten. We used to eat there all the time and it's up the street from us. The owner just kept blowing me off and not responding so I gave up.

[mushroom]

Maybe when the restaurants are owned by a family or a food fanatic who take pride in offering really good food for everyone. It would be very a very interesting study :-)

I eat at a small lunch counter where the owner/chef is a celiac, and it is so wonderful to feel totally safe.

[bartfull]

We have a beautiful, fairly new retirement home/assisted living facility in our town. They hold events and concerts that are open to the public. I went there yesterday because they had a Mother's Day buffet and a very talented harpist was playing. I did not intend to eat, but was happy to pay my twelve dollars just to hear the harpist.

I got up and LOOKED at the buffet, and there was a nice lady there who asked if she could help me. I explained about the Celiac and corn allergy. She promptly pointed out the things I could eat - the roast beef that had been cooked plain, the vegetables and salads, the potatoes ("but you can't have the gravy"). The only thing she wasn't aware of was the marshmallow topping on the sweet potatoes being made with corn. I explained to her that veggies are often washed in a citrus wash made with corn. She assured me that they used pure ice water to wash their veggies and nothing else.

So I took a chance. I had two slices of roast beef, some carrots (raw), some cukumbers (plain) and a small handful of grapes for dessert. It was so nice to be able to eat with my friends, and so far I have not had a reaction.

This is only the second time I have eaten out since last June. I feel triumphant! I don't mind bringing my own food or eating before I go, but how cool it was to relax and enjoy the music AND the food!

[pricklypear1971]

We have a beautiful, fairly new retirement home/assisted living facility in our town. They hold events and concerts that are open to the public. I went there yesterday because they had a Mother's Day buffet and a very talented harpist was playing. I did not intend to eat, but was happy to pay my twelve dollars just to hear the harpist.

I got up and LOOKED at the buffet, and there was a nice lady there who asked if she could help me. I explained about the Celiac and corn allergy. She promptly pointed out the things I could eat - the roast beef that had been cooked plain, the vegetables and salads, the potatoes ("but you can't have the gravy"). The only thing she wasn't aware of was the marshmallow topping on the sweet potatoes being made with corn. I explained to her that veggies are often washed in a citrus wash made with corn. She assured me that they used pure ice water to wash their veggies and nothing else.

So I took a chance. I had two slices of roast beef, some carrots (raw), some cukumbers (plain) and a small handful of grapes for dessert. It was so nice to be able to eat with my friends, and so far I have not had a reaction.

This is only the second time I have eaten out since last June. I feel triumphant! I don't mind bringing my own food or eating before I go, but how cool it was to relax and enjoy the music AND the food!

Yay!

[KMMO320]

I work in a teeny restaurant and I have to admit, it is VERY hard to accomodate food allergies. I bring my own food to work unless I feel like ordering a plain salad. For Celiacs, there really isnt anything I would reccomend. Our cooking surfaces are SO SMALL that in order to serve them safely, the cook would have to ONLY be cooking for that table. He wouldn't have room to grill a plain steak and regular food for another table..it would really bog down the whole kitchen..so unless we are really slow, there isnt much we can do, and I say that as someone who has this problem.