subject: How To Eat Out Safely While On A Gluten Free Diet [print this page] Eating out in restaurants can be very challenging if you have a gluten intolerance or coeliac disease. It is very common for people with coeliac disease to actually avoid eating out altogether through fear of getting ill, or due to the lack of choices on the menu.
Here are 5 tips for gluten free eating out in restaurants.
1) Do some research first - search in Google for the name of the city and "gluten free restaurants" to see if there are any restaurants near you that can provide gluten free good. Sometimes you may find a restaurant that has a special gluten free menu, or you may find that other people have reviewed that restaurant from a gluten free perspective. There are a lot of gluten free bloggers online who like to review restaurants and you can also find information about gluten free friendly restaurants on sites like "Urban Spoon" and "The List".
2) Phone the restaurant in advance - it is a good idea to take the time to phone the restaurant in advance. Ask if they will cater for people who are on a gluten free diet. If the answer is yes, you may also want to ask about the choices available to you on the menu. I've been to some restaurants where every single item on the menu could be made gluten free by the chef, and I've been to other restaurants where I had only one or two choices on the menu. If you are sensitive to gluten and react to cross contamination it is also worthwhile asking how the restaurant prevents cross contamination in the kitchen.
3) Look at the restaurant menus online - some restaurants use a lot of gluten containing ingredients, whereas other restaurants don't use as much. If you look at some menus online in advance you will get a good idea of the types of food that a restaurant serves and whether or not gluten features highly in the menu. If you react to cross contamination you might want to avoid restaurants that use a lot of gluten containing ingredients such as flour, pastry, breadcrumbs and so on.
4) Let your waiter or waitress know as soon as they inroduce themselves - remember to tell your waiter or waitress that you require gluten free food, even if the menu in the restaurant has a gluten free section in it. Ask them what options are available to you and if they seem in the slightest bit unsure about it ask to speak to a manager or to one of the chefs.
5) Double check everything - you can never be too careful when dining out on a gluten free diet. It is best to double check that your meal is definitely gluten free when you receive it. I've heard many stories about people receiving the wrong meal and getting ill as a result, so a quick "is this the gluten free option?" or "gluten free?" doesn't do any harm. If you are served a meal that has obvious gluten in it such as salad croutons, or bread on the plate, then be sure to send it back and ask for a fresh one. In this case it will help if you explain to the staff that the tiniest bit of gluten can make you unwell.
Eating out is certainly much more challenging when you are on a gluten free diet, or when you have allergies, but if you follow these 5 tips above your meal should be much more enjoyable and the chances of you getting ill will be a lot lower.
