<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi All--

My original post recounted my conversation with a staff person at Carrabbas
in Huntsville, AL as I was trying to verify how the restaurant prepares GF
food. According to the menu, the "grill items" on the menu should be
requested without the baste. The person I spoke with was not a manager or
the owner. He  indicated to me that there was not a separate grill for GF
food. Beef, chicken and fish had their own separate areas on the grill, with
fish being the only grill item that is never prepared with the baste. I
asked then if I was correct in understanding that beef or chicken grill
items that needed to be GF was cooked on the same grill as the items with
the baste. He told me yes, that was correct.

I contacted Carrabbas corporate office via email. I told them what I had
been told by this staff person and requested that they verify the accuracy
of his explanation of GF food preparation. On Wednesday of this week, a
manager called me at work. He had the email I had sent to the corporate
office. I asked him if the information I'd been given by one of his staff
was correct. He told me that they scrape the grill for GF items. I then
asked him if they cooked basted items at the same time they cooked GF items
(for example, basted chicken next to non-basted chicken intended to be GF).
He indicated, yes, that was necessary due to the number of meals they had to
cook. I asked if they perhaps separated the basted from the non-basted items
with foil or in some other way to avoid cross contamination. He said no.

After I explained to him the importance of avoiding cross contamination, he
said he would contact the corporate office to find out what they intended
the procedures to be in providing GF food for celiacs and that he would call
me back with the official policy. To date, I've not received his return
call.

I don't feel comfortable taking the position of "assumpting" anything at
this point. Personally, however, I don't believe I can safely eat at
Carrabbas knowing what I know. As I stated in my original post, I ate shrimp
scampi during my first and only visit to the restaurant and experienced no
problem - it was wonderful. Everyone should make their own decision about
eating at Carrabbas. I think we, as celiacs, could possibly change their
procedures if more people wrote to the corporate office to express their
concerns.

Carrabbas lost $$ from five dinners and tips last weekend. Bone Fish Grill
received my family's business and we enjoyed it immensely! And I didn't go
home ill!  If I receive additional information from Carrabbas, I will post
it.
Cheers ~~Ayn in Alabama

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