Dining Out Gluten Free



Guidelines for Gluten Free Dining

Call ahead

If you’re looking for gluten free restaurant meals, call ahead. When you call ahead to inform the staff that you need a gluten free meal you will learn if the staff know about celiac disease.

Does the server understand what gluten free is?

You need to be confident that your server understands what gluten free means. Ask the server “What gluten free meals can you serve?” Don’t ask questions that allow the server to simply answer “yes’ or “no” When you ask “Is your pasta gluten free?” The server may say, “I think so” or “Yes”, when they are not really certain. Don’t allow them to mislead you, make them tell you what they know about the food they serve. If they can convince you that they know what gluten free means, you will probably be OK.



If you are not confident that you are going to get safe food, ask to speak to the chef, cook or manager.
If you are still concerned, leave the restaurant, go somewhere else to eat. Better to be safe than sorry.

If you need to explain what gluten free food is, and how your food needs to be prepared, you are probably going to be disappointed.



Some high Risk foods:

– Deep fried or battered foods.

– Sauces often contain flour (ie: soy sauce).

– Salad dressings can contain gluten, stick to oil & vinegar if you can.



– Foods cooked with beef or chicken stock, these often contain gluten.

– Spices often have a flour base.