I have been remiss with blogging lately, in part because of the end of school, in part because of just finishing school and becoming lazy. :) But that doesn't mean I haven't been living the gluten-free life, so here's a couple quick things to check out!
www.yummly.com - My friend (and bridesmaid!) J. pointed me to this website. It's kind of social networking meets recipes. The awesome part? You can make a profile with your food allergy (or likes/dislikes/dietary preferences) that you can set to apply every time you do a food search! Now, I was pointed to this website all of five minutes ago, so I'll be sure to review once I do some future dabbling.
Wild Willy's Burgers of Worcester - I can not say enough good things about this place. This burger joint not only carries gluten-free buns, but also gluten-free french fries AND (wait for it...) gluten free ONION RINGS!!! Not good for my diet, but awesome for my taste buds. If you have one near you, call and see if they offer these options, I get the idea that they are independently owned, and thus might not all have the same food.
Glutino Gluten Free Crackers (original flavor) - My future in-laws bought these the last time they were up, and I had a couple with some peanut butter on them yesterday. They were great! They taste like regular crackers, and the calorie count isn't terrible.
So for now, dear readers, I'll leave you, with promises of more updates to come. Unemployment does have its benefits, after all.
Showing posts with label eating out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating out. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Confusion at Chili's
Last night, my mom, sister, my friend Jana, and I went to Chili's prior to a wedding dress/bridesmaid dress appointment. Chili's has a pretty great gluten free menu, and since I used to work there, I'm fairly familiar with a lot of their menu (though it's changed a bit recently).
I ordered tacos with ground beef (yum!), and on the gluten free menu, it said to order without cilantro sour cream. Fine and dandy. This is how the conversation went with our server/bartender (we sat at the bar):
T: So it says to order without the cilantro sour cream. You have plain sour cream, right?
Server: We mix the cilantro into the sour cream.
T: Right, so you have plain sour cream?
S: It's mixed with cilantro.
T: Okay, so do you mix it here, or does it come in mixed?
S: We mix it here.
T: Okay, so you have plain sour cream?
S: We mix it with the cilantro.
T: Right, so I just want a side of plain sour cream.
S: But....
T: Just plain, no cilantro in it.
S: But it says on the menu...
T: Right, no cilantro sour cream. I just want plain sour cream.
S: But...
This conversation continued for a while. I finally convinced her to get me a side of plain sour cream, after assuring her that plain sour cream, with nothing else mixed into it, would not make me sick. I knew that Chili's has plain sour cream. I should have just ordered a side of plain sour cream. I know the server/bartender was trying to help, and make sure I didn't eat anything that I shouldn't, but that was one of those where I just wanted to shake her and say, "Just give me the sour cream!" Entertainingly enough, by the time we got our food, I was so hungry I just wolfed down half my meal without looking at the sour cream, so she must have been even more confused.
The tacos were delicious, though!
I ordered tacos with ground beef (yum!), and on the gluten free menu, it said to order without cilantro sour cream. Fine and dandy. This is how the conversation went with our server/bartender (we sat at the bar):
T: So it says to order without the cilantro sour cream. You have plain sour cream, right?
Server: We mix the cilantro into the sour cream.
T: Right, so you have plain sour cream?
S: It's mixed with cilantro.
T: Okay, so do you mix it here, or does it come in mixed?
S: We mix it here.
T: Okay, so you have plain sour cream?
S: We mix it with the cilantro.
T: Right, so I just want a side of plain sour cream.
S: But....
T: Just plain, no cilantro in it.
S: But it says on the menu...
T: Right, no cilantro sour cream. I just want plain sour cream.
S: But...
This conversation continued for a while. I finally convinced her to get me a side of plain sour cream, after assuring her that plain sour cream, with nothing else mixed into it, would not make me sick. I knew that Chili's has plain sour cream. I should have just ordered a side of plain sour cream. I know the server/bartender was trying to help, and make sure I didn't eat anything that I shouldn't, but that was one of those where I just wanted to shake her and say, "Just give me the sour cream!" Entertainingly enough, by the time we got our food, I was so hungry I just wolfed down half my meal without looking at the sour cream, so she must have been even more confused.
The tacos were delicious, though!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Eating Out: The Boynton
This is an eating out post, even though we actually ate at home. M. and I really love The Boynton, in Worcester, MA, not in small part because they offer the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had.
Their pizza has a thin, crispy crust, and they have some great topping choices. Tonight I went with the Red Hot Chicken Pizza, which they describe as "A white peppercorn pizza sauce topped with spicy grilled chicken strips and topped with a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses." It's more tangy than I usually like, but for some reason, I find it to be outrageously delicious.
We also get the potato skins regularly, which I've never had problems with. The Boynton also had a full gluten-free menu one night a week at one point, but we managed to never get there while they had it, and they've since gotten rid of it.
The Boynton has three gluten-free beers, including Redbridge and two Green's offerings. They have a lot of other beers, as well, so your favorite beer lover would have a grand time deciding what to drink. Their non-gf menu is extensive, and according to M., very enjoyable. Try it the next time you're in Worcester!
Their pizza has a thin, crispy crust, and they have some great topping choices. Tonight I went with the Red Hot Chicken Pizza, which they describe as "A white peppercorn pizza sauce topped with spicy grilled chicken strips and topped with a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses." It's more tangy than I usually like, but for some reason, I find it to be outrageously delicious.
We also get the potato skins regularly, which I've never had problems with. The Boynton also had a full gluten-free menu one night a week at one point, but we managed to never get there while they had it, and they've since gotten rid of it.
The Boynton has three gluten-free beers, including Redbridge and two Green's offerings. They have a lot of other beers, as well, so your favorite beer lover would have a grand time deciding what to drink. Their non-gf menu is extensive, and according to M., very enjoyable. Try it the next time you're in Worcester!
Eating Out: Uno Chicago Grill
Last night, my fiance (M.) and I went to Uno Chicago Grill in Worcester, MA with one of M.'s co-workers. This particular Uno's is right across from the DCU Center, so it gets busy when there's an event there. We happened to luck out last night, arriving right after a hockey game started at the DCU, so the restaurant had pretty much cleared out.
We had decided to go to Uno's because I discovered last night that they had a gluten-free menu, including gluten-free pizza (which I will have to try at some point, to compare to The Boynton, which is a post for another day). Our waitress was somewhat on the incompetent side, and our first clue was how long it took me to get a gluten-free menu. I asked for one when we ordered our drinks, and she brought our drinks (and no gluten-free menu), left, then came back and asked if we were ready to order. I asked again, and five minutes later actually got the menu.
I waffled on whether I should order the pizza or the steak, since I was really in the mood for steak, but also love pizza. I've noticed that on some gluten-free menus, the restaurants will write tips like "Order without the bun," or "Order without sauce." I've found that these restaurants tend to be the ones that are better about providing food that is safe for me to eat. Uno's did not indicate anything like this.
Out of curiosity, I opened the regular menu and compared the gluten-free steak to the regular menu steak. They were exactly the same, but the regular menu indicated that the steak came with a breadstick. I voiced my concern to my dinner companions, and M. said if it's on the gluten-free menu, it shouldn't come with a breadstick, and if that's the only thing keeping me from ordering the steak, that's silly. I agreed on both counts, and decided to order the steak. I didn't mention the breadstick, hoping for the best, and figuring that I wasn't starving, so if I had to send it back, so be it.
When our food came out, I realized that trust was a poor choice. Surprise, surprise, my steak had a breadstick on it. I told my waitress that I couldn't eat it, since I ordered gluten-free and there was a breadstick on the plate. She took the plate and told me she'd be right back. A few minutes later, she came back and said it would be about five minutes (which was fine by me, since that meant they were giving me a fresh steak rather than throwing the contaminated one back on the grill). A while later, someone who I would guess was a manager came out with my plate, said, "Here's your breadstick-free steak," and left.
I must say that the food was delicious. I had mashed potatoes and broccoli, which were both yummy, and the steak was juicy and wonderful. It would have been nice, however, to eat with M. and D., rather than after. We finished up our meal, got the bill, paid, and left. At that point I realized that I never got a single apology. Not one person said they were sorry or asked if they could do anything else for me or my companions. They also didn't offer to comp anything on our bill to make up for the fact that I had to sit and watch M. and D. eat for 10 minutes. I'm not looking for free food, but I think that offering to take a drink off our bill or give us a coupon is a good way to encourage someone who has had a less-than-ideal experience to come back. I used to work at a chain restaurant, and I saw that happen all the time. Maybe I would have gotten a different reaction if I had been irate about it, but that's just not my style.
I will likely order from Uno's again, if not just to try the pizza, but I will be somewhat more wary in the future. One of my adventures is finding the right balance between not saying anything and annoying the waitstaff by saying it so many times. Clearly, just ordering off the gluten-free menu is not enough at Uno's, and I'll remember that in the future.
We had decided to go to Uno's because I discovered last night that they had a gluten-free menu, including gluten-free pizza (which I will have to try at some point, to compare to The Boynton, which is a post for another day). Our waitress was somewhat on the incompetent side, and our first clue was how long it took me to get a gluten-free menu. I asked for one when we ordered our drinks, and she brought our drinks (and no gluten-free menu), left, then came back and asked if we were ready to order. I asked again, and five minutes later actually got the menu.
I waffled on whether I should order the pizza or the steak, since I was really in the mood for steak, but also love pizza. I've noticed that on some gluten-free menus, the restaurants will write tips like "Order without the bun," or "Order without sauce." I've found that these restaurants tend to be the ones that are better about providing food that is safe for me to eat. Uno's did not indicate anything like this.
Out of curiosity, I opened the regular menu and compared the gluten-free steak to the regular menu steak. They were exactly the same, but the regular menu indicated that the steak came with a breadstick. I voiced my concern to my dinner companions, and M. said if it's on the gluten-free menu, it shouldn't come with a breadstick, and if that's the only thing keeping me from ordering the steak, that's silly. I agreed on both counts, and decided to order the steak. I didn't mention the breadstick, hoping for the best, and figuring that I wasn't starving, so if I had to send it back, so be it.
When our food came out, I realized that trust was a poor choice. Surprise, surprise, my steak had a breadstick on it. I told my waitress that I couldn't eat it, since I ordered gluten-free and there was a breadstick on the plate. She took the plate and told me she'd be right back. A few minutes later, she came back and said it would be about five minutes (which was fine by me, since that meant they were giving me a fresh steak rather than throwing the contaminated one back on the grill). A while later, someone who I would guess was a manager came out with my plate, said, "Here's your breadstick-free steak," and left.
I must say that the food was delicious. I had mashed potatoes and broccoli, which were both yummy, and the steak was juicy and wonderful. It would have been nice, however, to eat with M. and D., rather than after. We finished up our meal, got the bill, paid, and left. At that point I realized that I never got a single apology. Not one person said they were sorry or asked if they could do anything else for me or my companions. They also didn't offer to comp anything on our bill to make up for the fact that I had to sit and watch M. and D. eat for 10 minutes. I'm not looking for free food, but I think that offering to take a drink off our bill or give us a coupon is a good way to encourage someone who has had a less-than-ideal experience to come back. I used to work at a chain restaurant, and I saw that happen all the time. Maybe I would have gotten a different reaction if I had been irate about it, but that's just not my style.
I will likely order from Uno's again, if not just to try the pizza, but I will be somewhat more wary in the future. One of my adventures is finding the right balance between not saying anything and annoying the waitstaff by saying it so many times. Clearly, just ordering off the gluten-free menu is not enough at Uno's, and I'll remember that in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
