How to Find a Restaurant When You Have Celiac Disease
We all know the struggle. You’ve got a hot date lined up or you’re planning a fun night out with friends. Food plays a central role in our social lives, so you probably want to share a delicious meal with your romantic interest or buddies. But if you have celiac disease, you need to be careful about which restaurant you choose. Choosing the wrong restaurant or menu item could trigger symptoms, ruining the evening and likely the following days as well.
It can be hard to know which place to choose when you want to dine out or order delivery. Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered with my top tips on how to choose restaurants and dishes that won’t trigger symptoms.
Choosing a Restaurant
Here are the important steps to take before you pick a restaurant:
1) Start with a Google search
i) Find out what your pool of options are with a simple Google search like, “gluten free restaurants in town/city” or “best gluten free spots in your area”.
ii) Pare down the list of options by eliminating the restaurants that are likely to have gluten-filled kitchens. For example, places that serve a lot of pasta dishes, pizza, or baked goods. In kitchens at restaurants such as these, cross-contamination is a lot more likely to happen, so it’s best to steer clear. Buffets are also not a great option because customers might nonchalantly use the same serving utensil for different dishes, causing cross-contamination.
iii) There might be a few blog posts that come up in your search results about the best gluten free spots in your area. These posts are an invaluable resource! What better opinion is there to trust than that of a celiac foodie? Just be sure to take some time to check out whether the author of the post has celiac disease or just prefers to eat gluten free. If they don’t have celiac disease, they might have restaurants on their list that are not safe for you.
iv) Check out the reviews for the restaurants that peak your interest. If the restaurant is advertised as a gluten free spot, chances are that celiac diners have left their reviews about their experience there. It can also be helpful to know if a restaurant offers good customer service because they’re more likely to be accommodating to your dietary needs.
2) Check out the website
In the process of narrowing down your options, be sure to check out the website of any restaurants you’re interested in. Here are some things to look for on the restaurant website:
i) Allergy statements/policies
The restaurants that are least likely to gluten you tend to have a statement on their site (often on their menu page) about their willingness to accommodate customers with dietary restrictions. Conversely, if there is a statement about not being able to guarantee your food is gluten free, it is better to avoid these restaurants. Some restaurants will even specify that their gluten free items are not safe for celiacs, which is helpful (though saddening) information.
ii) The menu
If there are items on the menu labelled as gluten free, this is a good sign. However, further research is still required. Due to the lack of regulation of the term “gluten free” in the restaurant setting, an item could be labelled as gluten free, but might not actually be safe for a celiac. Conversely, some restaurants do not label their dishes as gluten free, but taking into account their ingredients and preparation methods, they might be! (An example of this could be a steakhouse that serves dishes made up of meat, potatoes, and veggies, with no gluten-containing ingredients.) Optimally, choose restaurants whose majority of dishes are gluten free, since this decreases the risk of cross-contamination.
Be aware that the term “gluten-friendly” often (but not always) means not-actually-gluten-free.
iii) Allergen information
Some restaurants have an allergen chart on their site, often in PDF format. The chart will have each of the menu items along the side, with allergens along the top. The list of allergens will include the most common food allergens (also called “priority allergens”): peanuts, crustaceans & mollusks, fish, sesame seeds, soy, sulphites, tree nuts, wheat & triticale. Many food allergen charts also include gluten in their list. You can go through the chart to look for items that do not have check marks in the wheat or gluten columns.
Here is an example of an allergen chart. (Source: https://neat-burger.com/allergens/)
3) Call ahead
Now that you have a few options in mind, call these restaurants to ask some questions. Try to call them outside of the lunch and dinner rushes. You’re more likely to get accurate, polite answers if the staff are not so busy:
“I have celiac disease - do you have any gluten free dishes?”
After a bit of preamble, asking this question is an excellent way to test the waters. If the staff at the restaurant do not know what “celiac disease” or “gluten free” mean, it’s not a good choice. You’re looking for a restaurant where the staff are able to confidently state that they do have gluten free options that are safe for people with celiac disease. There will be follow-up questions to ask, but it’s not a great idea to order food from a spot that isn’t sure whether their food is safe for you. Ideally, you’re looking for a restaurant where they say they serve many gluten free options - this cuts down on the risk of cross-contamination. Bonus points if you find a place that is entirely (or, like, 98%) gluten free.
“What gluten free dishes do you serve?”
This gives you the opportunity to check up on the staff’s gluten free knowledge. They should be providing you with examples of dishes that make sense to you, given your experience eating gluten free. Menu items that are likely to be gluten free include curries, quinoa bowls, basic meat + grain/starch dishes, etc. If foods like pasta, pizza, and baked goods are listed, it’s important to ask questions regarding cross-contamination.
“Do you use a separate area/separate kitchen appliances for your gluten free items?”
There are lots of restaurants that offer gluten free pasta, pizza, cupcakes, buns, etc, but often these items are made in the same space, using the same appliances and utensils as the regular items. If the staff cannot assure you that they use a different fryer for their fries, bake the gluten free pizzas separately, toast the hamburger buns on a separate spot on the grill, etc, I recommend that you not go to that restaurant. Or at least, don’t order the menu items that are likely to be contaminated.
4) Communicate with your date/friends
Make sure you talk to your date or your friends before you go out so that they are aware of a few things. The people in your life need to know that you have celiac disease and need to eat gluten free. Explain the basics of what it means to eat gluten free and how much it can impact your health if you eat gluten. It’s important that the people you socialize with understand your dietary needs so that they can support you. A good romantic interest and/or friend will be happy to order from a restaurant that is safe for you and won’t leave you feeling unwell.
When You Get to the Restaurant
You’ve found a spot that looks like a good fit - woo! The work isn’t quite done yet though. There are still a few steps to take during your outing:
1) Consider the time of day
If possible, go out to eat at a low-traffic time of day. Restaurants tend to be busiest from 11am - 1pm and 6:30 - 8:30pm. When the restaurant is less busy, you’ll be able to more clearly communicate with your server and the kitchen staff are less likely to make mistakes when preparing your food. If you find it’s too difficult to follow this tip, be sure to follow the next two.
2) Ask questions
It’s important to verify the information that you got online or over the phone when you get to the restaurant. Depending on the restaurant, they might not update their website very often, so it’s possible that there might have been changes to menu items or the way things are done in the kitchen. Even if you did speak to a staff member over the phone, doing a doublecheck doesn’t hurt just in case some miscommunication occurred during the first conversation.
Let your server know that you called ahead of time and were informed that the restaurant offers gluten free options. Make sure to tell them that you have celiac disease. Ask your server if they can let you know which options would be safe for you. Or, if you’ve already narrowed down the menu options beforehand, ask if the options you’re interested in are gluten free. If it’s an item that has potential to be contaminated (like a sandwich or fries), ask them some questions about how the dish is prepared. If the server is unsure, politely ask them if they could check with the kitchen staff. You’re excited to eat here, but just want to make sure you won’t have a reaction!
3) Be assertive
Don’t feel guilty about doing what you need to do to have a safe and fun dining experience:
verify the details of your order with your server before they take the group’s orders off to the kitchen
when your order arrives, confirm that it’s gluten free
if you feel like the restaurant staff are not listening to you or don’t accurately understand your requests, you have every right to leave and go to a different spot!
This is where having a supportive romantic partner and friends comes in handy. Hang out with people who prioritize your health and happiness and will back you up if a restaurant turns out to be a bad fit. Never feel like you should allow yourself to get glutened for the sake of other people!
What’s your favourite gluten free spot in your area?