Gluten Free Menu Analysis
Here are 5 tips for gluten free eating out in restaurants.
1) Do some research first - search in Google for the name of the city and "gluten free restaurants" to see if there are any restaurants near you that can provide gluten free good. Sometimes you may find a restaurant that has a special gluten free menu, or you may find that other people have reviewed that restaurant from a gluten free perspective. There are a lot of gluten free bloggers online who like to review restaurants and you can also find information about gluten free friendly restaurants on sites like "Urban Spoon" and "The List".
2) Give the restaurant a phone in advance - it is a good idea to take the time to phone the restaurant in advance. Ask them if they cater for people on a gluten free diet and if they do check with them how much choice you will have on …show more content…
the menu. I've been to some restaurants where every single item on the menu could be made gluten free by the chef, and I've been to other restaurants where I had only one or two choices on the menu. If you are sensitive to cross contamination you may also want to check how the restaurant deals with cross contamination in the kitchen.
3) Look at the restaurant menus online - some restaurants use gluten containing ingredients very heavily in their menu, whereas others don't. If you look at some menus online in advance you will get a good idea of the types of food that a restaurant serves and whether or not gluten features highly in the menu. If you react to cross contamination you might want to avoid restaurants that use a lot of gluten containing ingredients such as flour, pastry, breadcrumbs and so on.
4) Inform your server when you arrive at the restaurant - be sure to let your server know that you are on a gluten free diet as soon as possible, even if the menu has a dedicated gluten free section on it.
Ask them what options are available to you and if they seem in the slightest bit unsure about it ask to speak to a manager or to one of the chefs.
5) Double check everything - you can never be too careful when dining out on a gluten free diet. It is always worthwhile double checking that your meal is indeed gluten free when it arrives on your table. I've heard many stories about people receiving the wrong meal and getting ill as a result, so a quick "is this the gluten free option?" or "gluten free?" doesn't do any harm. If you have accidently received bread on your plate or croutons on your salad, ask for a completely new meal and explain to the staff that a tiny crumb of gluten can make you ill.
Eating out is certainly much more challenging when you are on a gluten free diet, or when you have allergies, but if you follow these 5 tips above your meal should be much more enjoyable and the chances of you getting ill will be a lot
lower.
1) Do some research first - search in Google for the name of the city and "gluten free restaurants" to see if there are any restaurants near you that can provide gluten free good. Sometimes you may find a restaurant that has a special gluten free menu, or you may find that other people have reviewed that restaurant from a gluten free perspective. There are a lot of gluten free bloggers online who like to review restaurants and you can also find information about gluten free friendly restaurants on sites like "Urban Spoon" and "The List".
2) Give the restaurant a phone in advance - it is a good idea to take the time to phone the restaurant in advance. Ask them if they cater for people on a gluten free diet and if they do check with them how much choice you will have on …show more content…
the menu. I've been to some restaurants where every single item on the menu could be made gluten free by the chef, and I've been to other restaurants where I had only one or two choices on the menu. If you are sensitive to cross contamination you may also want to check how the restaurant deals with cross contamination in the kitchen.
3) Look at the restaurant menus online - some restaurants use gluten containing ingredients very heavily in their menu, whereas others don't. If you look at some menus online in advance you will get a good idea of the types of food that a restaurant serves and whether or not gluten features highly in the menu. If you react to cross contamination you might want to avoid restaurants that use a lot of gluten containing ingredients such as flour, pastry, breadcrumbs and so on.
4) Inform your server when you arrive at the restaurant - be sure to let your server know that you are on a gluten free diet as soon as possible, even if the menu has a dedicated gluten free section on it.
Ask them what options are available to you and if they seem in the slightest bit unsure about it ask to speak to a manager or to one of the chefs.
5) Double check everything - you can never be too careful when dining out on a gluten free diet. It is always worthwhile double checking that your meal is indeed gluten free when it arrives on your table. I've heard many stories about people receiving the wrong meal and getting ill as a result, so a quick "is this the gluten free option?" or "gluten free?" doesn't do any harm. If you have accidently received bread on your plate or croutons on your salad, ask for a completely new meal and explain to the staff that a tiny crumb of gluten can make you ill.
Eating out is certainly much more challenging when you are on a gluten free diet, or when you have allergies, but if you follow these 5 tips above your meal should be much more enjoyable and the chances of you getting ill will be a lot
lower.