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

Below are some personal experiences that various list members have sent
to me about restaurants:

SUBWAY
(1)  "I'm Celiac as is my daughter. When we eat salads at Subway I ask
them to put on fresh gloves and they go in the back and use fresh
ingredients where there has been no cross contamination. When they are
slicing up in the back they insist they are not near any bread to have
this problem and we are extremely sensitive but have not had any
problems."

(2)  "I don't eat at Subway that often, but sometimes they change their
gloves (Or ask them to do that).  I have not had any problems with
eating at Subway."

(3)  "Just stand in Subway and watch the gloves and you'll see it
exactly as the person you corresponded with suggests.  And if that's not
enough to scare you, a friend with a tomato allergy said she saw one
employee "practicing" making a sub, then put all the ingredients back in
the original trays!  Subway is a cross contamination nightmare."
(8/2003)

RED LOBSTER
(1)  "I've eaten there.  I order fresh fish, no seasoning, and ask them
to squeeze a little lemon juice on it.  I ask for real butter and lemon
wedges (to be brought to my table).  I order a plain salad, no croutons,
and a baked potato.
I bring a small bottle of olive oil (unless they have it), and top the
salad with olive oil and squeeze on lemon juice.  If they have avocado,
I order some avocado and raw onion, and I put that on the salad.  I put
a dab of butter on the fish, a little sour cream and butter on the
potato, and I'm ready to eat...safely.
You can ask them to broil the fish on a clean pan - or to make the fish
in a clean pan, using clean utensils, cooking it in olive oil (your own,
if needed) or real butter.
Enjoy!"

(2)  "I gave up on Red Lobster--the ones that I have been too were hard
to deal with.  Waitpersons did not follow requests and information about
how items were prepared were difficult to get answered."

(3)  "I went to a Red Lobster April of 2002 and found that the cocktail
sauce they had at the time contained Gluten, as did many of their
spices, including what they put on he rice pilaf, but the manager of
that particular location was into health food and my waiter was getting
a degree in nutrition and was HAPPY to read labels for me.
I can't have casein either, so I ended up with Shrimp Kabobs on a bed of
white rice.  (Thankfully they make their rice pilaf by flavoring white
rice instead of getting rice preflavored, at least at the location I
went to.) Not the greatest meal I'd ever had at Red Lobster, but safe,
and not bad.
Wish I could help you more -- but I did find that things seemed to be
well labeled back in the kitchen and my waiter said it felt easy enough
to figure things out for me -- so I think their advice of ask at the
location works.  I also think things would have been easier had I not
been casein free also as they use butter on the grill.
Not sure if that helps you at all, but hope it does. :)"

(4)  "We have Red Lobster Restaurants here in Tucson, and I called the
manager to see what they had that I could eat.  One of the things he
mentioned is that they do not use real butter--it is a soy blend.  I
never feel good after I eat at a Red Lobster and I think it is because
of the soy, to which I am very intolerant.  About the only food there
without gluten or soy butter is plain broiled fish.  But usually it is
rancid.  Yuck!  They do have about the best garden salads in town,
though.  If only I could live on salad, I would be in heaven!  I think
Arlene's advice to consult with the restaurant manager would be true for
any restaurant, even if they have a gf menu.  You never know what is
going on in the kitchen, and they really need to know your needs so that
they do not make an error in your order."

(5)  "The Red Lobster here in Winnipeg had a gluten-free list in their
kitchen last time I went, which was a couple of years ago now.  I don't
know if it was just them, a Canadian thing or if it might be worth
asking if you happen to go to one."

HARDEES
"Just think of all the bread crumbs one is eating that cling to the
plastic gloves and are never washed off as all the food is being handled
(lots of poison)"

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