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I got the message below from one of our listmates. I get the impression it was intended to go to the list. I will add the following before going on to his/her post. I eat out a lot. Some of it is circumstances, because I have to travel. But, we just like eating out now that we're retired. While I try to patronize places with gluten-free menus, that can be very limiting. I don't use the gf dining out cards. I find they scare the restaurant. Too much to process. I use them almost as rewards for waiters or managers or chefs who have sat through my shpiel, served me well, and could use a handy reference for future customers. (And it helps them remember me.) I call ahead only if I'm meeting other people for dinner and want to see if they can accommodate me. I call ahead if I'm going to a convention or banquet to request a special meal. Otherwise, I'm just calling to make reservations...preferably when it's not crowded. I have only rarely had to walk out of a restaurant for lack of options or incompetent staff. I find that these days, most places are very accommodating. That being said, my son and a partner recently owned a nutritionally based gourmet food delivery service, sort of an upscale Zone diet. My son refused to let me eat his meals because he said it was impossible for his kitchen to keep my individual meal gluten-free. Solo.....read on....to the message from our list.....Don't beat me up for what this person says. I believe the intentions are well meant and gives us another viewpoint.........


I'd like to add something to this...I own a restaurant and I am celiac.  We DO NOT have a GF menu.  Because everything we make is homemade, that means the baked goods are too, and therefore made in the same area as everything else.  Believe me, if it was my choice, we'd have the entire kitchen remodeled, buy brand new equipment, and I would certainly develop a GF menu.  As we do not have the thousands and thousands of dollars to do this, or the time to close the entire restaurant for a month to do the renovations (and thus, lose even MORE money), it doesn't seem likely that in the near future we will make these changes.  It is in the long term goals though! :)

This being said, we still get GF eaters.  We tell them of our concerns, we try our best, but I never feel 100% about celiacs coming in.  They DO NOT call ahead, and they DO NOT ask if we have a GF menu.  Personally, I think this is rude.  I myself only eat at restaurants with GF menus.  On the rare occasion that I need to eat at a restaurant that doesn't have one, I call ahead and ask.  If they aren't positive and confident, I don't eat there.  It's as simple as that.  You can't just expect everyone to be able to feed you safely, and when some places don't have a GF menu, it's FOR A REASON!  I do educate my staff, they all understand what Celiac and gluten-free mean.  But I confess, if I wasn't a celiac myself, probably none of us would be educated about this and we'd probably just look at GF eaters as a pain.  So please...CALL AHEAD!  And maybe you should expect the same thing every time from corporate chains that ship their food in, but when you eat at a local, independent restaurant, please be understanding.  

I know this is a sensitive issue, but please, can we all just remember our GF etiquette!?

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