Why This Problem Should Matter to ALL Of Us
Chick-Fil-A Fries and Grilled Chicken: Gluten Free and Delicious!
As I’ve said here, before, for health reasons I’ve had to begin eating completely gluten free/wheat free – so a lot of places I once ate at religiously have become just that… places I once ate at religiously. If a restaurant doesn’t have a “gluten free menu” or at least options I’m sure are “gluten free,” I don’t gamble with health. Not even my previously favorite food in the world (fried catfish!) is worth two weeks of pain and agony…. and that’s on top of damage it does on my insides that’ll last a lot longer than two weeks.
As someone who writes a lot of Kentucky restaurant reviews, I knew things were going to be rocky when I had to start eating like this. I knew there’d be certain restaurants I couldn’t enjoy any more (How have you been, Fazoli’s? How about you, KFC?) and knew that some of my favorite foods would now be as big a part of “history” as Abraham Lincoln.
Hush pupppies, fried catfish, pizza, spaghetti, bread… doughnuts, pancakes, waffles… it wasn’t you, it’s me… well, actually it’s a little bit you, too…
Fortunately, a lot of restaurants make life easier for people like me who have to eat a gluten free diet. Some have even added special “gluten free” items to the menu, such as TGI Friday’s Gluten Free Hamburger buns, Olive Garden’s Gluten Free Pasta, and Pizza Hut’s Gluten Free crust.
Another Broken Egg has a Gluten Free Pancake on their menu that’s the size of a plate and as delicious as any pancake ever made.
{Continue reading below the Unwich!}
Jimmy John’s Delicious Unwich – Any Sandwich Wrapped in Lettuce
Others, like Jimmy John’s have simplified things for us with their wonderful “Unwich.” Their chips are also gluten free, meaning they’re one of the best lunch options imaginable.
Wendy’s and Chick-Fil-A are also darn good to us GF Peeps. Chick-Fil-A’s fries, coleslaw, and grilled chicken are all gluten free, meaning we can have an entire meal… and a delicious one, at that.
Restaurants like this allow us to eat out and feel normal again. The first time I ordered a “gluten free” pizza at Papa Murphy’s and carried my treasure home, I was on top of the world. Then when the pizza ended up tasting better than I remember any pizza tasting, I was on cloud nine.
The Coolest of the Cool
There are a lot of things we SO take for granted and, trust me, being able to eat ‘”normally” is one of them. Just imagine if you had to suddenly give up your favorite foods and had to stop going to restaurants that had become a huge part of your life.
At least this is allowing me to see the restaurants that are willing to take extra steps to welcome “everyone” instead of just the majority. When a restaurant goes the extra mile and creates a list of gluten free food available on their menu, they instantly rank as “cool” in my book.
When they THEN go even further and create special food or “modify” methods and ingredients, they rank as the absolute “coolest of the cool!”
Why This Matters to You
Whether you are a GF Peep (or have one or two of your own) or not, you should care how restaurants are handling this growing situation.
For one thing, you, yourself, may become a GF Peep yourself, one day! You also have to factor in your loved ones. The more people in your family, the greater your odds of “this” one day touching you. As research continues, more and more diseases are being connected to gluten as well as underlying wheat or gluten allergies.
Many people are finding that health issues (such as thyroid disease, infertility, migraines, allergies, asthma, hiatal hernias…) can be tied directly to their diet and that many symptoms can be alleviated by eliminating gluten/wheat.
Due to the fact that 5-10 years ago people who were sitting where I am now spoke out, things are a lot better today. They didn’t mind being pests if that’s what was needed and, because of their boldness, there are a lot of people today who have A LOT more options available. They’re why there are so many gluten free foods available at the supermarket. They’re why so many restaurants are “cool” and a growing number are entering “coolest of the cool” status.
They weren’t speaking out (or being pests when that was called for!) for themselves as much as they were others. I’d wager that 9 times out of 10, they were thinking of their children… I can relate to that strongly. My oldest daughter (Emily) is also a GF Peop.. and a cute one, at that. Her reaction to wheat is, literally, life-threatening. I also have no good reason to believe that my other two daughters won’t also have to eat this way one day. They very may well may be GF Peeps masquerading as normal peeps!
I want them (as well as everyone else) to be able to go out and enjoy a meal wherever they please and be perfectly safe doing so.
I want children and teenagers who already feel “different” enough to be able to sit right down beside their friends and eat something other than a salad, without croutons.
{Continue reading below the catfish!}
Catfish Kitchen Gluten Free Fried Catfish
Smaller, Local and Non-Chain Restaurants
I understand that a lot of smaller “non-chain” restaurants can’t afford new menus or “gluten free flour,” but pretty much anyone can offer grilled chicken, right? Catfish Kitchen (one of the most popular restaurants at Kentucky Lake) now offers fried catfish – with gluten free flour! Talk about setting a whole new standard for cool… they went and nailed it.
Even restaurants operating on tight budgets (like all of us, huh?!) can educate themselves and their staff on what gluten is and which of their ingredients contain gluten. Very often, turning a menu item from gluten-y to gluten free is as simple as replacing a guilty ingredient with a safe one. Mayonnaise and soy sauce are two examples of ingredients that can be easily and inexpensively replaced with gluten free versions.
Also, any restaurant on any budget can offer an option of a hamburger dressed and wrapped in lettuce instead of on a bun.
And, yes, having this listed on a menu makes a difference. A 17 year old, for example, doesn’t want to stand at a restaurant counter with their friends and have to iron out the details of having their sandwich without bread or, worse yet, be the recipient of a funny face made by the person taking the order. Heck, I don’t know that anyone, any age would consider that fun.
Problems Can Arise Even When You’d Least Expect It
So, how can an already tough situation get even tougher? When restaurants who offer “gluten free” options drop the ball and/or workers get lazy and you get cross-contaminated. For those of us with serious reactions to gluten, even a crumb can make us sick for weeks. If the kitchen workers don’t handle and prepare gluten free food correctly, it can lead to pain and suffering for days.
You have to always be on your toes when you are, or love, a GF Peep. If a restaurant messes up, let them know! It may be too late for you to avoid a stomachache from the depths of hell, but think of the next diner and complain. Not just to the server (if you catch it in time), but also to the manager. If it’s a chain restaurant, also complain at the highest level. This “mistake” can prove fatal for some people – report it!
Whether you have to eat gluten free, someone you love has to eat gluten free, or you simply want to help others, what are things you can do?
Just about every restaurant on earth (except for the smaller ones) has a website with a contact form. Many ask for suggestions – offer them some helpful “gluten free” suggestions. If they’re doing a great job, commend them and thank them. If they have a “few” gluten free options, acknowledge those and ask if they could possibly add more. If they don’t have a gluten free list, ask if they could provide one.
If you don’t see a contact form, e-mail them!
For those who don’t have websites, they more than likely have a Facebook. Leave a polite message right on their Facebook, asking them if they have any plans to add more gluten free items.
Use comment cards in restaurants.
This is extreme… but in honor of those who went out on a limb years ago (when they must have been thought to be the oddest birds of all time… can you even imagine?!)… I have to bring it up – simply stop going to restaurants and fast food places that aren’t even reaching “cool,” let alone “coolest of the cool.” I hate to name names, but sometimes bold is called for. Years ago, Subway announced they were working on gluten free bread. They still don’t have it available in their restaurants, so obviously it wasn’t very important to them. They have enough resources, they could have done this by now. I also have to call out Arby’s here. A few years back, I contacted them and VERY kindly asked if they had any plans to add gf options to the menu. I heard from a ridiculously friendly nutritionist with the company who said this was something that was “very” important to them. Since all this time has passed and lots of new promotions and menu items have been added without a single step in the “gluten free” direction, all I can gather is that it wasn’t important enough.
Is it extreme to stop going to particular restaurants? Sure. But usually when nothing else is working, that’s when it’s time to tell extreme to put his cleats on and get into the game!
If you’re one of those families who usually go through one drive thru for one member, then Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A or Jimmy John’s for your gluten free peeps, start getting everything at the cool restaurant.
Support them for caring about your gf peep! As for the rest… well… Why support them at all if every member of your family isn’t welcome there?
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Why support any restaurant if every member of your family isn’t welcome there? #glutenfree
Another Broken Egg’s Gluten Free Pancake with Berries