Restaurant Book

One thing that I did for my sister for her birthday was to print out all the gluten-free menus that I had found and put them into a book.  I did this after I had done the same thing for myself.  I have this book in the car so that I always have gluten-free menus with me.  The next few paragraphs are what I wrote in the front part of the book I made for my sister.  I thought that I would share it with you.

As eating out can be a scary thing when you have a special diet many times you can feel as if there are no options out there.  But there are!  A host of foods that can still be enjoyed.  This small book is a compilation of some of the places you can still enjoy on a gluten-free diet.  Make sure you let your server know of your situation, and your fear of cross-contamination.  The number one thing to do is to smile and to be as friendly as possible, if they know you’re not just there to make their life difficult everything will go smoothly. 

       Even though Celiac disease is not an allergy to gluten, it is ok to use the word allergy when talking to servers.  If you just mention you can’t eat gluten many times they won’t take you seriously, and want to know how much you can have before you notice.  So even though teaching the wrong things to people is bad…it’s better for them to think that you’ll go into anaphylaxis right away from them contaminating your food than it being just a food choice.  Make sure you state “Wheat, Barley and Rye” when you talk to a server, you’d be surprised how many people have no idea what gluten is, or what it is in.  Try and take a dining card with you for the server to give to the chef.  Many places already know what a gluten-free diet consists of, but it never hurts to make sure that the chef knows what he’s doing.

       If it’s a sit down place, make sure you inform the server of your special needs as soon as you sit down, you may need the manager in some cases.  When the meal is done make sure to tell the server how amazing the food was and how grateful you were for their service.  This is a sure fire way to get them to appreciate your patronage and it will help other Celiacs in the future.  Most of the time you’ll be dealing with the manager of restaurants because of your special needs.  This is ok, don’t be embarrassed by it.  Make sure you are grateful to them as well, they will be more apt to helping others with special diets if they know they did a good job.

       All of this sounds weird and kind of preachy, but as a person that loves to go out and eat, I have been doing this for a little bit now, and I’m starting to figure out what works, and definitely what doesn’t.  The number one rule to eating out, don’t be afraid to talk to people!  Yes, it is out of your comfort zone, but your health is a lot more important than your pride. ^-^ 

       I hope this helps you in your quest at being more free in the world around you.  Go out and conquer! 

-Mo