How to eat out with a gluten allergy or sensitivity

I was away this weekend. I ate out four times. Three were wonderful experiences and one was lousy. The ones that were all excellent had staff knowledgeable about gluten free or I ordered very simple meals. The one that was terrible had very slow service and a waitress who was overwhelmed and annoyed at dealing with allergies. I was up throughout the night with stomach issues after eating at the lousy restaurant. However, the good experiences and bad experience allowed me to reflect on what is important when going out to eat and some ways to hopefully allow for a better dining experience with allergies.

Here are some tips from my experience:

1. Go to a gluten free only restaurant or one with separate prep area if you can find one

2. Go to fine dining restaurants if possible. They tend to have better trained staff. Also many chain restaurants are fairly good about gluten free options.

3. If you feel the restaurant has no idea about gluten or asks you what exactly is gluten, either get a drink/leave or order a salad with no croutons, grilled chicken, a baked potato and/or rice. Order a simple meal!

4. Read reviews!

5. Make reservations and ask about their gluten free options and ask for a very experienced waiter or waitress. Ask if they have a separate prep area for allergies. New servers or ones in training will most likely get overwhelmed with dealing with a gluten allergy if not properly trained.

6. When at the restaurant, ask again to ensure you will have an experienced waiter or waitress.

7. Tell the waiter or waitress that you know that you will need extra care and attention because of your allergy and that you typically tip extra because of this reason. This weekend, I said that we would tip our server well because of my allergy and waiting for family to join us who were stuck in traffic. This server received a 30+% tip. However, I have no idea what the server at our bad experience restaurant received because my husband paid the bill and I would rather not know.

8. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bread)

9. BYOD (Bring Your Own Dessert) Sometimes I throw a few chocolates in my bag if I know the restaurant will not have good dessert options.

10. BYO<anything>! Bring a side or gravy in a thermos.

11. Ask to speak to a manager or chef if things don't seem to be going well or the server seems to not understand a gluten allergy.

12. Have a gluten free advocate. When hungry, your head will tell you things will be okay. My husband senses before I do when he thinks I will probably end up with a bad experience. He is normally right and my head is wrong. (I don't admit too often that he is right, but he is always right when he senses we will have a bad experience! 😃)

I hope these tips help you have a better dining experience with your allergies or sensitivities. Unfortunately all of us have some good and bad experiences when dining out. As always discuss what is best for you regarding dining out with your doctor. I had a friend in college who could never eat out because of very severe allergies. Everyone is so different when it comes to our levels of allergies and sensitivities.