Eleven things the gluten-free community has earned the right to expect.
Find GF-Safe Restaurants Near YouGluten-free options shall be listed on all websites and ordering platforms. We research restaurants and menus well in advance — sometimes weeks in advance. For most of us, gluten-free isn't an option, it's a requirement. If you don't tell us what you can offer gluten-free, it's likely we won't bother going to your restaurant. It is beyond maddening when options are listed on a print menu but absent from websites and menu sites like Grubhub and UberEats. Don't keep your GF options hidden from those who need it most.
The term Gluten-Free shall include how you prepare the food. If you mark your fries GF but prepare them in a shared fryer, you aren't offering a gluten-free option. What you are asking your gluten-free diners is: "Do you feel lucky, today? Well do ya, you wheatless eater?"
'Gluten-Friendly' shall have no meaning. Food shall be gluten-free or it isn't. 'Gluten-friendly' has no meaning to someone who medically can't eat gluten. It's for lifestyle diners — not that there's anything wrong with that — and for the legally-averse. Neither actually helps someone who medically can't consume gluten.
Cross contamination shall be a risk we understand together. There is no 100 percent way to make something gluten-free. We get that. When your servers make a frowny face and say they can't guarantee against cross contamination, it doesn't come off as care — it comes off as CYA (cover your ass). Tell us what you can do to protect us as best you can. Change gloves, mark your order, check with the chef, change out the ice cream scoop. We will be loyal customers if the attitude is "we got you."
There shall be markings on menus telling diners what does not contain gluten or can be made without it. If you're annoyed by menu symbols, imagine trying to navigate a dark room with no illuminated exit signs — with a serial killer lurking somewhere in the dark. The little GF symbols on menus might seem over the top, but we really appreciate them. Gluten-free menus are great, but marking options on your existing menu is just as good.
There shall be gluten-free ice cream cones wherever ice cream is sold. It's expensive, we know. We'll happily pay more for the cones, but little kids who already can't have birthday cake at their friends' parties should be able to enjoy soft serve in a cone on a hot day. Be a hero, ice cream shop owners — and manufacturers, consider individually wrapping cones so they don't spoil.
Gluten-free shall not be confused with vegan. Gluten-free is not dairy-free. Gluten-free is not nut-free. Gluten-free is not vegan, though a gluten-free person can certainly have additional restrictions. Most of us follow a gluten-free diet because we have an autoimmune response to wheat, barley, and rye. Please don't tell us about your vegan options when we tell you we are celiac or that we can't eat gluten. You instantly make us nervous.
Separate fryers and prep areas shall be embraced and celebrated. For us, it doesn't need to be perfect. Dedicated GF air fryers, toasters, pots, and pans are a bit of an investment, but if we know you take preparation seriously, we'll come back to your restaurant… we might even bring some friends.
Items containing gluten shall not be used for presentation. Plastic straws are bad, but pasta replacements aren't the answer. And unless that roll on the plate is gluten-free, it has no business next to our omelet.
There shall be no replacement for gluten-free safe handling training — but there are tons of great, free resources about celiac disease and how to prepare food safely. Committing just one hour a month to training your staff would go a long way to making things better for all of us.
There shall be no denial of service due to medical conditions. No one would feel comfortable denying a disabled person service because of a flight of stairs, so why do we accept it when a restaurant refuses service to a celiac diner because there might be a grain of flour in the air? If you genuinely believe your kitchen cannot safely serve us — and unfortunately that's sometimes how the law currently works — please don't just turn us away. Help us find an alternative: recommend a nearby option, or let us order delivery to your table. A flat refusal without any attempt to help isn't caution. It's abandonment.
Thousands of GF diners are actively searching for places that prepare food safely. Put yourself on their map.
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