Has Anyone Tried The Gf Menu At Pei Wei?

[Billygoat]

Do you have any Pei Wei Asian Diners in your area? I've heard they are owned by the same company as PF Chang's, so I decided to walk in and ask if they had a gluten-free menu. They do! It only has a few items on it, but it's good stuff! You can check it out here on their website:

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I just happened to be in the take out lane and had a manager ringing my order up. He gave me two tips whenever I order there.

1. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ask for a manager. The managers are trained on exactly how to order the gluten-free food and many regular staff are not. The regular staff might think they understand how to do it, but most often they end up "glutening" the guest by requesting something incorrectly. For example:

2. Do NOT ask for anything to be "steamed". They use a vegetable broth to steam their vegetables to give it more flavor. But their vegetable broth is NOT gluten-free. You can request it be steamed in just plain water, but that doesn't always guarantee not being cross-contaminated. (This really helped me understand why I still get glutened occassionally at other restaurants who steam my food. Maybe they're using a vegetable or meat broth to do the steaming!)

Anyways, I ordered their Pei Wei sweet and sour chicken. Yummmyyy! It is "breaded" in potato starch to give it a slightly crispy texture and it worked. The sauce was great and the vegetables were crisp.

Good experience all in all. We share so many bad experiences, I thought I'd share a good one for once!

[badandi2005]

Pei Wei is great! Thanks for the tips!

In addition to the Sweet and Sour Chicken, I recommend the Vietnamese Spring Rolls. They are seriously yummy!

[anerissara]

Oh yea! I was just looking to post a question about this. I had Pei Wei last night, and the sweet and sour chicken was great...but I was worried that although they left the *batter* off the chicken, it was still kind of crispy and seemed to have been dredged in something before cooking. I was worried it might have been flour! I'm so glad, I was finally starting to feel better after being glutened and I'm glad I won't have to worry about feeling sick this week!

And the Vietnamise rolls were soooo good!

Thanks for posting.

[mouse]

I had lunch a week and a half ago at a Pei Wei's. It was my first visit. I had the gluten-free sweet and sour shrimp and white rice. It was wonderful. I did not get sick and so I assume the white rice was gluten-free.

Armetta

[Billygoat]

Oh, I'm so glad others have had good experiences before as well. I think we should share more of those positive ones. Since I'm still learning to not gluten myself, every successful meal is a reason for celebration. (Especially eating out!)

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I did not get sick and so I assume the white rice was gluten-free.

Rice usually is gluten-free. I haven't had any issues with it as long as it doesn't have seasonings in it or stir fried in something.

badandi2005 - I love your name! Whatever happened to that cute little monkey? My real life name is Andi.

[sladewig]

After reading several posts here regarding the gluten-free menu at Pei Wei, I decided to try it today and was extremely surprised and excited to have a new gluten-free option for lunch. I had the Pei Wei spicy chicken and it was tremendous. Usually after 30 mins I'll know right away if any trouble, but didn't notice any reaction and still haven't. Thanks so much for all the input on these boards. I feel a huge burden lifted having this wonderful website resource to help deal with this health issue.

[WendyG]

Hi,

I eat a Pei Wei at least once a week and I LOVE it. I also get the edamame when the manager has time to make it gluten free. If you order it regular they drop in in the same water as the noodles....

I have not had any problems and I always get the spicy chicken with brown rice. I eat at the Woodbury MN location and have never had any trouble with ordering without a manager. If the food comes to the table and the person does not say gluten free spicy chicken I ask. One time they had made a mistake, they also have gluten free soy sauce.

happy eating!!!!

[lizard00]

Their Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls are sooo good! I have a Pei Wei right down the street from me, but we don't go there often. But I always get an order of the rolls. They are definitely my favorite! I've never gotten sick from eating there.

[taweavmo3]

We love Pei Wei! There was only one time that our order was wrong, it was the regular sweet and sour chicken. It was pretty obvious before we ate it, thank goodness... it was darker, and had more crispy bits on the chicken. The manager was great though....he fixed it, gave us our meal for free, plus a card for two more free meals.

It is such a treat for me to take a night off from cooking for a change, and the kids love watching all the fire action going on behind the counter. The staff know us by now, and it is so comforting to be able to eat our and feel safe.

[Jane Price]

I, too, eat at Pei Wei and have never gotten sick. I have found that the Raleigh stores are very aware and careful to prepare the food for me with excellence. It's always good and I have always found it to free of gluten. I highly encourage all my celeiac's brothers and sister to discover the gluten free menu there. It's short but sweet!

[MNBeth]

We are also big Pei Wei fans, and were SO BUMMED when they closed the two locations closest to us (Maplewood and St.Anthony, MN.) Even they weren't exactly convenient, but it was worth the trip now and then. And we never got sick. I love the food, but I love being able to relax even more!

[nasalady]

I love Pei Wei, but last week I had my first bad experience there. I ordered the sweet and sour shrimp on brown rice and when my husband went to pick it up, it didn't have the usual "gluten free" sticker on it. So he asked if it was gluten free and the person at the register said "Yes" and showed him on the receipt where it said "gluten-free Sweet and Sour".

So I ate it and the next morning I knew I'd been glutened (neuro symptoms and the big D). I called the manager to ask him what he would recommend that we do in a case like that. He said that if the box does not have the gluten free sticker, no matter what the person at the register says, refuse to take the meal and ask that they make a new one, to be sure that it's gluten free.

Just FYI....

[angel-jd1]

I love pei-wei. I have never had a problem eating there. I don't have one close to me. However, when I go to the city that is my place of choice for lunch. I just ate there this weekend. LOVE IT!!

[justaccord]

Sorry to say I got glutened at Pei Wei earlier this week. Haven't talked to the management yet but my observation was that everyone from the cashier to the waiters were quite casual about the gluten-free menu.

I'm new to all this (one month) and I've been very impressed with PF Chang's (which also owns Pei Wei as I understand it) where they seem quite attentive and sensitive to the issue.

The Pei Wei experience was a true disaster!

[CeliacAndCfsCrusader]

  On 5/17/2010 at 2:10 AM, justaccord said:

Sorry to say I got glutened at Pei Wei earlier this week. Haven't talked to the management yet but my observation was that everyone from the cashier to the waiters were quite casual about the gluten-free menu.

I'm new to all this (one month) and I've been very impressed with PF Chang's (which also owns Pei Wei as I understand it) where they seem quite attentive and sensitive to the issue.

The Pei Wei experience was a true disaster!

First of all, welcome to the life you never expected! Seriously, you'll adapt and there are TONS more choices out there since I was diagnosed 3 years ago.

You'll find that even the best of places make mistakes. The key is to accept it and to take baby steps as you venture out into the gluten-free world. This Forum is a fantastic resource for EVERYTHING you need to know.

You'll also find that some places just "never get it right". I give them 2 chances, after that I move on. My local Ted's Montana Grill is on that list.

Every restaurant is dependent not only on the ingredients, but everyone that touches the food.

I prefer places that either take gluten-free preparation super seriously, I can SEE the food being assembled and/or I take a shot with those places I read about here. Even my 100% confident choices are on someone elses "no way list". Find your local places and patronize them.

Personally, Pei Wei is my new favorite. Two locations here I go to regularly, with zero problems. Chipotle has been my "go to" place, never an issue for me (I think the CO locations are better than others nationally, they started here).

Best of luck!

[FLgal15]

Just tried Pei Wei