Bad Restaurant Service

[overratednormal]

I have celiac disease, which means I am intolerant to anything with gluten. Obviously, it can be limiting especially when dining out at restaurants, which is why I try to go to restaurants I know either have a gluten free menu or can cater to people who are gluten free

Comments

[dowisetrepla]

Ugh, I hate when restaurants leave things out of their menus. I ordered a salad last week that had no mention of strawberries (I'm allergic). I didn't find out until it was too late. Then I had this lovely cold sore pop up on my lip (which is still there yay). All week people have been staring at me and giving me dirty looks. I even had a teenage girl look at me and go, "Ew, herpes" Yeah, no.. just allergic to strawberries. Thanks TGIFridays!

[cassandraterra]

That happened to me too! They didn't list that the coleslaw had apples in it. I'm deathly allergic to them. I had one bite (they were in little bits) and spit it out really fast and drank a lot of water. Luckily nothing happened but I was so scared.

Ugh, people and their assumptions/judgments.

[dowisetrepla]

I know! It was so annoying. I don't get why people automatically assume it's something bad. I just started saying, "It's an allergic reaction!". Thankfully that seems to shut people up.

I've never heard of coleslaw having apples in it.. weird.

[dragonbat2006]

I've got a recipe that calls for it. They go well with the shredded carrot. Thing is, if you tell me you're allergic, I'll tell you to give it a miss!

[cassandraterra]

I feel your pain as a fellow gluten free sufferer. It is so hard to know where to go or whom to trust. I rarely eat out and my safe places are expensive. I wish I could have a nice gluten free coney island type of place. My dad keeps trying to get me to eat at Bob Evans. I'm always like...ARE YOU F-ING SERIOUS?! NO! And he's always like, Why?? They poisoned me at Christmas and I now refuse to eat over at their place.

I hope you feel better! I might call up and ask if they have any procedures to prevent cross contamination or suggest that waitresses/waiters are better informed on the menu.

[overratednormal]

Trying to explain to other people why restaurants are hard for gluten-free can be SO difficult sometimes. My husband's parents don't really get it, so we try to do a lot of cooking when we're around them.

I think when the big event in town is over, I'll give them a call. Because it is really annoying.

[desikitteh]

please do talk to them about this, even if it's solely to educate. they could make the wrong mistake one day and kill someone if they treat allergies like that.

[philstar22]

Have you tried those lactaid pills? I'm lactose intolerant as well, though your case is probably more severe than mine. With the Lactaid, though, I can now have milk products with ease.

[hushdawg]

Thanks for the mention, my wife is severely lactose intolerant and I was wondering if there was something that we could get when we move to the States that would help out.

She loves cheese and milk and such but her body doesn't.

[xfake__smilezx]

try this: http://www.amazon.com/Digestive-Advantage-Lactose-Capsules-32-Count/dp/B001G7QGCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327549302&sr=8-1

you can find it in drug stores, wall mart, bed bath and beyond etc

[jolynna]

I would have said something. I've cooked a 3 course meal for 70+ people and was very careful since I had two celiac people on my list, amid various allergies. Personally, I treat Celieac as I would treat my mothers allergy to mushrooms, they will kill her. Therefore, whenever I cook for a large group, or a family potluck I treat any and all allergies I am aware of as I owuld if I were cooking for my mom. I am so sorry you are suffering :(

[greensquiggly]

That's how I treat food I'm preparing when my sister is going to eat, too. She's vegetarian, partially due to having a PETA phase (which I am glad is over) and partially due to not being able to eat certain proteins (besides dairy, we're not sure which). It can be challenging sometimes (especially as I'm planning a wedding,) but not that difficult, really.

[silvers_shadows]

Oh, does she have Random Protein allergy too? My husband has it, it's all sorts of fun. /sarcasm

[greensquiggly]

Don't actually know, but that definitely could be it! I'll look into it and have her check in with her doc when she gets settled (she's becoming a member of my clinic finally. Somebody managed to convince her, yay!)

[gemfyre]

Sheesh, just last week the other half and I took on a last minute catering job - dinner for 20 people for a week on a tight budget.

We easily made pretty much everything gluten free (although it was lucky I checked the cans of tomato soup before we served the dish with it in - didn't even think to check that in the shop, but it had gluten in it - but at least then we could let the celiac KNOW before they ate it) and had vegetarian options. It's not that tough.

[overratednormal]

It is amazing how many simple things have gluten in it. I grew up reading labels, because my mom has had celiac forever, so I'm used to it. But things like the Corn Pops cereal added gluten at one point, when the "new" Burger King fries came out about 10 years ago, they added gluten to it...it really sucks.

[overratednormal]

Yeah, it seemed odd how they did not get it. At all.

We'll probably call back soon, once the big event in town has died down. Just to let them know that type of thing is really unacceptable.