<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Thank you for the sixteen responses I received. Made me feel better that I was not being a pain in the neck when I was out ordering food in a resturaunt. On of the hardest things for me is to try and be "normal" when ordering and not be "different". I am an American that has lived in Australia for six years so trying to not to sound different is a challenge already! I had just learned to really love the meat pies as a fast food. No more! By the way, Wollongong is two hours south of Sydney. Most of the responses from people had similar experiences. Following are excerpts of e-mails received to learn to cope. Maybe they can be of some help to someone else. I got a lot out of it. Do not eat at franchise places where nobody really knows what is in the food. Broiled fish with nothing but lemon juice, Greek salad with nothing but olive oil and oregano, Grecian chicken (broiled) with nothing but olive oil and oregano and garlic are my standards when eating out. I take along gluten-free bread or gluten-free rolls I've made or obtained from a health food store. I disagree with you, I don't think it is someone else's job to pay attention to my special diet it is my responsibility. I have no problems eating out and I handle it myself, never ask what is gluten free or not. (I don't agree with that concept, but if it works for this person, go for it.) While this is so frustrating, I know we have to remember that not everyone knows everything about every food disorder--even a lot of gastroenterologists seem to be not so up-to-date on celiac, it seems. The waitress and probably not the food staff could really be expected to know how affecting gluten can be to people with celiac or even what gluten is. You know how hard it is to find foods without gluten, imagine how the waitress felt with no knowledge of celiac beyond what you could explain. We have Chilis in Canada and I can usually eat there safely. The manager at the one near my house said I was about the 400th person to ask him about gluten free stuff and was very knowledgable about the menu. Can't say the same for the staff, they brought out a salad with croutons and a marinated chicken breast once, so I sent it back with no problem. Check again - you should be able to get an unmarinated chicken breast cooked anyway they serve it (look under the health grills section) and their burgers are okay in Canada (no bun!). Their fries are not, but I had no trouble getting a salad with oil and vinegar dressing. i am writing to recommend you always use a restaurant card. i have these in the languages necessary, and you hand one to the waiter/ess and get him/her to take it into the kitchen to someone responsible. then you wait for the feedback. this is much more reliable than trying to communicate verbally and much less frustrating. the best thing is to ring ahead if you can - especially if you are invited to a function. the celiac society of nsw has pretty good suggestions for restaurant cards. I have found that it's simpler to order something that you know is safe rather than ask the waiting staff about what is and isn't okay. The problem is, what's safe? For lunch I used to order a bowl of rice and a salad without dressing. Eating out on a GF diet is even more interesting when you're on holiday abroad. Luckily there are several books and websites which have restaurant cards in different languages, though I don't know if there are any restaurant cards for any of the countries near Australia. One tip: for lunches out during work after a while I managed to find establishments with friendly kitchen and waiters/waitresses who were willing to do things a little differently for me - and they got a very steady customer in return. My point is that there is no one solution since people respond in so many different ways. Kitchens are often chaotic and it is difficult to ask for no croutons, etc. I have had waiters listen very carefully, ask appropriate questions, and then present food covered in floury sauces with crumbs. I have had waiters who appeared to be annoyed and refuse to listen, but then had the chef make a special arrangement of vegetables instead of a sauce. Can't even say that it is a language problem. Occasionally it may seem futile to even mention it, and best to order very simply, but it is their business to serve and you do deserve special care. When they seem to have no interest in trying to help, as in your case, sometimes you can use extreme politeness and flattery and suggest that you really do need more than just lettuce, perhaps a potato or extra vegetables...but if food is not made to order perhaps they can't. Calling ahead does not always work either, just as requesting special meals on airlines gives mixed results. Try to keep in mind that not everyone can understand and appreciate our problem, but we need to impress upon them that it is a serious diet issue, not just an eccentricity. And that we do like to eat! I think the message is often confused with the dietary restrictions embraced by people for assorted reasons. Restaurants do not in fact have to cater to all; they should be responsive when it is a health concern. Here in Texas where Chili's got started, we know better than to try to eat at franchise places where nobody there really knows what is in the food. It is shipped to them and they heat it up and serve it to you. Of course, there may be a whole different bunch of food restrictions where you live, but here, we avoid any place to eat that doesn't start with food from scratch and be responsible for it. It is basically up to you to figure out what you can and can't eat at the restaurant. You can ask what ingredients they use, what brands, etc of food they are making. If you ask them this, and tell them why, they are usually pretty good. Unless they actually know what celiac is, they still wo'nt understand what you are talking about. But if you ask for your salad with NO dressing or bread of any kind, etc etc etc and your meat must be plain with no seasoning, etc the restaurants are pretty good. We haven't had much trouble. As long as you don't expect miracles of understanding from them. I always put myself back in teh position of being ignorant like I was before my son's diagnosis. I thought celiac jsut meant you couldn't eat bread and I didn't know why. Most people are in this boat. The chef's are trained to cook, not be dieticians. But if you you are clear about what you want, they are happy to make it for you. If they don't have what you need, just ask if you can bring your own in. Oh but you need to write or type on a card what gluten is like: Bread, vinegar and etc because most don't have a clue and it may be some time before they do,or go out to the kitchen and talk to them You have to wonder about some people and their commitment to their work. Now, if I worked in the restaurant industry I'd make sure I found out everything I could to help customers. Sometimes the waitress is young and inexperienced (doesn't think) and sometimes the waiter has understood and is planning to bring out the salad personally, but someone in the kitchen "helps" and brings out the standard salad with croutons. Either way, I understand how frustrating it is when everybody at the table has their order, and you are trying to make the staff understand your needs. Besides that, you are hungry! try NOT to talk about gluten but say that you can't eat anything that has flour in it, or bread.