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

At 10:10 PM -0400 6/22/04, Daniel DuBravec wrote:

>CSA/USA Chapter #100
>Gluten Free Dining at
>Maggiano's Little Italy
>5333 Wisconsin Ave NW
>Washington DC
>6:15pm Monday June 28th, 2004
>
>Only 3 mile from the NIH Conference.


I'm glad to see so many people eating at Maggiano's Little Italy, and
getting attention to their GF needs.  I have corresponded with others
on the list, in other cities, who regularly eat at Maggiano's with
much cooperation.

In Indianapolis, Maggiano's opened last year to great hoopla.  My
husband and his mother ate there, and raved about it.  The parking
lot is always overflowing, even at odd hours.

When I spoke to their manager about my GF needs, he actually
recommended, outright, NOT to plan to eat there at all, as they could
not guarantee that any of my food would be prepared to meet my needs
-- no matter what I ordered.  Actually, I was totally dumbfounded, as
I've never had a restaurant tell me this - that is, to say they
weren't willing to accommodate my needs in ANY way.  (To me, I fear,
this says a lot to me about the quality-control of a restaurant's
kitchen.  But that's just my opinion.)

I actually don't care that much about whether I can eat at Maggiano's
or not -- it was just the outright rejection of my needs as a
customer that got to me.  I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it has
quite a negatively emotional and long-term effect on me.  I've had to
eat some pretty boring meals at good restaurants, to get my GF needs
met, but I've never been refused service.  I suppose had I sat myself
down at a table and ordered food, they would have tried to serve me
something -- as I was only ASKING the manager in advance about eating
there, and he was clearly wanting to avert the "problem" I might
present to them.

It would appear, to me, that this manager's attitude about attempting
to meet my needs is, at least in part, reflective of their corporate
stance on the issue.  I followed up this experience with a note to
their corporate offices, and this (below) was what I received.  They
gave me the number of a person to pursue the issue with, but I didn't
want anything more to do with them.

>Subject: Maggiano's 235216
>Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:02:26 -0600
>From: "Guest Relations AD (Guest Emails Only)" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>
>January 06, 2004
>
>Dear Suzanne,
>
>Thank you for your email and for your interest in Maggiano's menu
>items. Unfortunately,
>we are unable to provide the information you are inquiring about.
>
>Our restaurants stock many items that contain ingredients excluded
>from your diet.  Most
>processed foods contain derivatives of wheat.  Therefore, out of an
>abundance of caution
>and concern for your health, we cannot recommend menu items that are
>gluten free due to
>the potential of cross contamination or adulteration.
>
>We suggest you speak with the manager on duty or the head chef and
>perhaps they can
>suggest and prepare a meal that would meet your satisfaction.
>
>If you should have any further inquiries please call our Food &
>Beverage Quality
>Assurance Department at 972/980-9917 and speak to Rachel Beltzman.
>
>Again, thank you for your interest in Maggiano's.
>
>Maggiano's
>Guest Relations


I would like to add that I will NOT be doing a summary of any
responses to this post.  I know there are other Maggiano's in other
cities that are wonderful about GF needs -- I hope that you live near
one of those.  I felt the need to share this information about the
company in general -- but I, personally, don't want to deal with them
or this issue any further.  (Gee, being GF makes such a crab out of
me sometimes!)

-Suzanne

*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*