Gluten Free dining?
- Thread starter KFol
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Not sure where you read that. There are no regulations to that effect.
Exactly so why are restaurants being called out because they choose not to cater to gluten free folks. I'm not saying it's not a legitimate disorder and life threatening for some, but the rather magical explosion of folks who supposedly have celiac is bordering on the crazy. It also seems that those with the least likely legitimate diagnosis are the ones who harass restaurants who don't cater to them.
Dude...you and I are normally on the same page 99.99% of the time, but you need to quit when you're talking about folk with Celiac disease. It's the "oh, I can't eat gluten because it makes me bloated" crowd that are the PITA and not true Celiacs. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that wrecks the GI tract because the body makes gluten specific antibodies that attack the small intestine and quite literally destroy it.
You know my wife. Before she was diagnosed she lost 25 pounds. She only weighed 115 to begin with. Seeing her at 90 pounds was really scary. People who say they have Celiac disease and have never gone in for Celiac specific tests are full of crap. It can only be diagnosed by looking for a count of gluten specific antibodies in blood work and combined with upper and lower GI's. Heck...the doctor who diagnosed her had to look up the codes because true Celiacs don't come around often.
The thread is informative only. Cross contamination is a real threat. It's one thing for a restaurant to say they are gluten friendly and then give you something off of a grill that just had buns browning on it or give you french fries that came out of a fryer that had breaded onion rings in it and another to have a restaurant say they are gluten friendly that goes through all the protocol to make sure there is no cross contamination. I'm not going to call them out by name, but I vetted a popular venue on 30A that assured me that they were gluten friendly. After speaking with them for a minute, I made the determination that I would never ever take Debbie there despite what they said. People with real cases of Celiac need to know where it is safe to eat. If it's a place we don't know, we call them first. Almost all of them will never go into a restaurant blind so this thread is immensely helpful.
But...you and I are sooooo on the same page regarding people with the least likely diagnosis of anything gluten related being the biggest pains. Somehow, going GF became an unnecessary fad. While it raised awareness about being GF it also diminished people's understanding of how bad it can be for somebody who truly can't have gluten.
Remember...there's a big difference between ingesting poison and eating something that doesn't agree with you.
Oh...and the biggest insult you can throw at a Celiac when deciding on a restaurant is to say "They have salad." Bad juju. Don't ever go there!
Rant over...we're still pals!
You know my wife. Before she was diagnosed she lost 25 pounds. She only weighed 115 to begin with. Seeing her at 90 pounds was really scary. People who say they have Celiac disease and have never gone in for Celiac specific tests are full of crap. It can only be diagnosed by looking for a count of gluten specific antibodies in blood work and combined with upper and lower GI's. Heck...the doctor who diagnosed her had to look up the codes because true Celiacs don't come around often.
The thread is informative only. Cross contamination is a real threat. It's one thing for a restaurant to say they are gluten friendly and then give you something off of a grill that just had buns browning on it or give you french fries that came out of a fryer that had breaded onion rings in it and another to have a restaurant say they are gluten friendly that goes through all the protocol to make sure there is no cross contamination. I'm not going to call them out by name, but I vetted a popular venue on 30A that assured me that they were gluten friendly. After speaking with them for a minute, I made the determination that I would never ever take Debbie there despite what they said. People with real cases of Celiac need to know where it is safe to eat. If it's a place we don't know, we call them first. Almost all of them will never go into a restaurant blind so this thread is immensely helpful.
But...you and I are sooooo on the same page regarding people with the least likely diagnosis of anything gluten related being the biggest pains. Somehow, going GF became an unnecessary fad. While it raised awareness about being GF it also diminished people's understanding of how bad it can be for somebody who truly can't have gluten.
Remember...there's a big difference between ingesting poison and eating something that doesn't agree with you.
Oh...and the biggest insult you can throw at a Celiac when deciding on a restaurant is to say "They have salad." Bad juju. Don't ever go there!
Rant over...we're still pals!
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All good!
Will, such great comments above - and I had no idea about Hurricane Oyster Bar and the others in your list, thanks for those. Like you, my posts on this thread were for informational purposes only. I definitely do not expect any restaurant or chef to cater to Celiac (I can eat at home just fine), but I have just been surprised that in this area it can be difficult to obtain accurate information as to whether or not restaurants have any options that are truly gluten-free or just advertise things "without bread". When calling ahead, emailing, or even asking in person, communication has at times been a challenge to find out about what goes on in the kitchen to ascertain whether or not one with Celiac should eat there. It has been worth digging, as I'd like to give more business to area restaurants, just not at the risk to my health. Baby steps like you said! I am just so glad there are some places adding options to their menus in recent years.
Re: those who eat gluten-free "by choice" as Matt mentioned... It boggles my mind why anyone would voluntarily choose to eat this way other than medical necessity! There are too many SoWal favorites out there to miss otherwise... I still remember the exact day I found out from my doctor, I decided to have one last meal and went straight to George's and had my very last fried grouper sandwich and then bid it adieu and cheered to new health in the future. That was one incredible sandwich (that I do miss to this day), but not one bite is worth how much better I feel a year later!
Thanks again for the restaurant info - and Will, your wife is further on the journey than I am, so if she has any favorite dishes around town, I'd welcome any tips on what to order at the places you mentioned.
Re: those who eat gluten-free "by choice" as Matt mentioned... It boggles my mind why anyone would voluntarily choose to eat this way other than medical necessity! There are too many SoWal favorites out there to miss otherwise... I still remember the exact day I found out from my doctor, I decided to have one last meal and went straight to George's and had my very last fried grouper sandwich and then bid it adieu and cheered to new health in the future. That was one incredible sandwich (that I do miss to this day), but not one bite is worth how much better I feel a year later!
Thanks again for the restaurant info - and Will, your wife is further on the journey than I am, so if she has any favorite dishes around town, I'd welcome any tips on what to order at the places you mentioned.
Are Cheerios really GF?
yup. The wife eats them all the time with no ramifications, and she's crazy sensitive