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Thank you so much for all of your responses. Some of you had great =
suggestions.  I did have some information to share that some list =
members asked.  Firstly, I ordered the JackARoo Chops from the GF Menu.  =
Other than showing the waiter the GF menu and asking if they were aware =
of my needs when ordering from this menu, I have never requested =
anything like "hold the seasonings" or "no marinade please" because I =
assumed if it was on the GF menu, I didn't need to specify details such =
as that, although some list members said they do. I do however remind =
them to hold the croutons on the Caesar salad, just in case. I was asked =
what was on the chops to make them either GF or not, and sadly I must =
say I do not know.  Once again, I left that to the restaurant due to the =
fact they are offering something to me under the premise of it being GF. =
The only reason I took notice was because it appeared to be much more =
moist than usual, as if it had been marinated.  Other times it did not =
appear so juicy and it seemed much darker than normal.  I also should =
tell you that that was the second time that same dish had been served to =
me and both times it was the appearance of the food that made me =
question. Also, I love Outbacks food and the fact they are trying to =
help us.  The purpose of my post was just to remind everyone that we =
have to be accountable for ourselves and not be dependent on anyone! =
Here come the other responses:
__________________________

Have you had a chance to leave feedback with the location and staff =
members
names at the Outback site? It does make a difference.
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I think you handled the situation with great respect.  I'm sure there =
were a
few employees who did not sleep well that night.
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Thanks for sharing your story - I've been meaning to post some of our =
experiences as well (waiters who think they know it all, and are sure =
that the "seasonal butter" (seasoned) is okay, which it is not (and my =
son got bad canker sores the second time we ate there, despite all the =
precautions), etc. I also wanted to let you know that many times I have =
found that a nice suggestion will result in getting something - e.g. =
next time just kindly say something along the lines of - gee, maybe you =
should offer me a complementary desert to make up for this; my bet is =
that they will; the real truth of the matter is that they were all =
wrapped up in their guilt and fear - I'm sure it never occurred to them =
that they could offer you a glass of wine or a salad or anything to help =
you wait and to express their apology. Heck, write them a little letter =
and you may get a free dinner for coming back! Its worth a try, and if =
nothing else, maybe they'll think of it the next time they mess up for =
someone.
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Thank you so much for your post that was so descriptive, and to which I =
can
relate. We never know what our restaurant experience is going to be =
like, do
we? At least our lives are never dull.
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The real moral to the story, Glenda, is that eating out is definitely risky.
I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette every single time I step into a
restaurant. What happens in the kitchen is completely out of our hands. The
cross contamination problem is a big one. I certainly would have called the
manager the next day and expressed my dismay that they didn't even try to
make it up to you in any way. They could have had a lawsuit on their
hands.....they are blessed that they had a nice customer like yourself.

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *