Tag Archives: Reviews

Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse, Huguenot Rd. & Robius Rd. Chesterfield, Virginia

Outback Steakhouse

We have visited this location on a few occasions, and they seem not to understand Gluten Free. More than once our gluten free burger has been brought out on a bun, requiring the entire meal to be replaced.

On 4/14, we ordered Outback using Midlothian Delivered. After our driver waited for an hour and twenty minutes, which is inexcusable on most nights and even more ridiculous on a Monday, our order was brought out and wrong. Our driver instructed the server if there is any chance the Gluten Free burger touched a bun, it needs to be remade. And, back the burger went. At least our driver, Ryan, knows about cross contamination. After another twentyfive minutes of waiting, the food was brought back out.

Let’s just skip the rest of the issues we had with our order, and move on to the following email sent to Outback, using their online contact form a couple of days later.

Hi,
I am writing due to repeated failures in your staff to understand how to create a safe gluten free meal. I have had multiple experiences where my gluten free burger was brought out to me on a bun. The Huguenot Road location is the location where this happens the most.
I am aware that your establishment has worked with the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) to create a gluten free menu. I thought that adequate staff training was included in that GIG approved status.
My experience last night could have made me very ill.
I ordered Outback for my family through a great local delivery service Midlothian Delivered. The driver is well experienced with gluten free and saved me from getting ill.
He arrived at Outback and placed our order. After an hours wait for our food to be ready, he checked to make sure the order was right before leaving your establishment. He quickly realized that some of the burgers had the wrong toppings on them including my gluten free meal. He had to force the server to admit that my burger had at one point been on a bun and been taken off of it. The driver then explained again the seriousness of celiac and our food got remade. I ended up with a meal that was safe for me and I did not end up with any ill effects. If it had not been for that very knowledgeable driver for my delivery service, I would have been ill for up to 3 weeks from that one burger. Your staff really needs to understand the seriousness of this illness and understand the procedures for preparing a gluten free meal. If this can not be done please consider discontinuing your gluten free menu until it can be safely consumed on a regular basis.
I will be contacting the GIG about the multiple failures at that location ad maybe they can offer some staff retraining.
I ended up waiting a total of about 2 hours for our meal to arrive. That was not the fault of our delivery service. That was the fault of your restaurant directly.
I would like to also note that the others I ordered for were very unhappy with their meals as well. The bacon on the burgers was under cooked and two of the meals burgers had less that 6 french fries with them.
I previously enjoyed dining at Outback about once every two weeks. I will be discontinuing eating there from now on. My health is much more important than a juicy burger.
Thanks!
Laurie
https://www.mygfgirlfriend.com

A few days later, we had zero response from Outback; so, we tweeted them as well. As of this posting, we have still heard nothing. A “Gig Approved” restaurant, with a customer who had an issue, and Outback will not even respond. Sad, Outback, sad.

One last thing. This was my (Alan’s) and my dad’s meals. Have you ever seen so many fries in your life [sarcasm]. If you want a great burger and fries, and safe service, head to Five Guys. There locations do it right and faster than we can write their reviews.

Rating by Alan Cook: 0.5 stars
1/2

Top 10 Gluten Free Bread Brands

Top 10 Gluten Free Bread Brands

Now that you need to eat a gluten free diet where do you go? What are the gluten free bread alternatives available to you? Here are ten of the best options in no particular order. Each link has multiple reviews to help you make your decision.

Enjoy baking? Don’t like the price of store bought breads? Here are some excellent sandwich bread recipes from a few of my favorite bloggers.

The Best Gluten Free Sandwich Bread ~ Don’t Mess With Mama
Another Wonderful Gluten Free Sandwich Bread ~ The Baking Beauties
Tender High Rising Gluten Free Sandwich Bread ~ Barefeet In The Kitchen
The Best Grain Free Gluten Free Sandwich Bread ~ Just A Pinch

Have a favorite gluten free bread or bread recipe? Please share it with us it in the comments section below.

Drew's All Natural

Is Drew’s All-Natural Organic Salad Dressing and Salsa Gluten Free

I recently purchased a bottle of Drew’s All natural Smoked Tomato Dressing and Marinade at my local Ollie’s. The bottle was labeled gluten free. hen I went to use it I noticed that it had a disclaimer stating that the dressing is made on shared equipment with many known allergens including wheat. I am super careful with what I eat and avoid anything processed in a facility or manufactured on equipment shared with wheat. This dressing looked exceptionally tasty so I decided to email Drew’s and ask about there processes and the possibility of cross contamination. Here is my email to Drew’s and the response that followed.

“Hi,

I was about to use your Drew’s Smoked Tomato Dressing and Quick Marinade. I see that it is labeled gluten free, but it states that it is made on shared equipment with wheat. Is there a possibility of cross contamination from the wheat? If so how is it labeled gluten free? I would like to use it on my chicken tonight, but am celiac and do not want to get sick.

Thank you,

Laurie”

Drew responded within the hour which was quite impressive.

“Dear Laurie,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us regarding our Smoked Tomato Salad Dressing.

At Drew’s, we take our responsibility of eliminating the risk of allergen cross-contamination and ensuring the safety of consumers very seriously.  Drew’s has implemented a number of comprehensive standard operating procedures for the handling of known allergens, including but not limited to:  employee training, separate storage areas for allergen products, and an allergen cleaning/sanitation cycle of all equipment between production batches.  Following the allergen clean, we test for the presence of allergens (soy, gluten, milk, coconut or egg) prior to the next production run.  This ensures the cleanliness of our production equipment and the absence of known allergens.  As an added precaution, we schedule our allergen items for production on separate days or at the end of the day whenever possible.

In addition, our facility is SQF (Safe Quality Food) Certified and items which are labeled as Gluten Free have been certified to be in compliance by the GFCO (Gluten Free Certification Organization – http://www.gfco.org/).  Both of these certifications require very strict adherence to our aforementioned allergen control procedures.  Audits and inspections are performed by the certifying agencies to verify our system’s effectiveness.

We appreciate your taking the time to write us – please rest assured that we share your concerns and have taken the appropriate steps to keep our consumers safe as they enjoy our delicious Drew’s All-Natural and Organic Salad Dressings and Salsas.

Should you have further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate in contacting our office.”

I was glad for the quick response but decided to give the product to Alan’s mom and go with something that I knew was without a doubt safe.

I know many people have different severities of gluten intolerance and different levels of comfort with gluten free products in general. I tend to be on the strict side but am really interested in how the rest of the gluten free community feels on the subject.

My question to you all is whether you eat products with statements of processed in a facility that contains wheat, or made on equipment shared with wheat, ect.  Please let me know how you feel on the subject in the comments section below.

California Pizza Kitchen GLuten Free Pizza Review

California Pizza Kitchen Gluten Free Pizza Review

California Pizza Kitchen

11800 W Broad St.
Richmond, VA
23233
(804) 364-9047

http://www.cpk.com/‎

When I first read that California Pizza Kitchen would be making gluten free pizzas available I immediately went to Google to get some facts. This is not the first time the restaurant has offered gluten free pizzas. A few years ago they sold them and had a mixed response as to how gluten free and celiac safe they really were. California Pizza Kitchen realized quickly that they needed to stop serving those pizzas and research how to provide a completely safe gluten free pizza that all gluten intolerant and celiacs could enjoy with out possibility for cross contamination. In October of 2013 California Pizza Kitchen once again rolled out a gluten free menu including four delicious gluten free pizzas. This time they teamed up with the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). Continue reading
Fresh Yellow tomato Sauce with Bilinski Sausage

Fresh Yellow Tomato Sauce With Bilinski Mild Italian Sausage

Fresh Yellow Tomato Sauce With Bilinski Mild Italian Sausage
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 6 medium yellow tomatoes
  • 10 leaves fresh basil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives
  • 4 leaves fresh oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 Bilinski Mild Italian Chicken Sausages
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
Instructions
  1. Cut tomatoes that will fit in your food processor.
  2. Process 3 tomatoes fresh spices, and garlic until smooth.
  3. Pour mixture itno a container and set aside.
  4. Dice remaining three tomatoes (or if your food processor will dice nicely use it)
  5. Strain juice from the diced tomatoes and save for drinking, soups, ect. I never waste good food but the extra juice is not needed for this sauce.
  6. Add diced tomatoes to the tomato and spices from earlier.
  7. Add up to 1 tsp salt.
  8. fry up sausages until browned to your liking.
  9. Serve sausages and sauce over bowls of warm cooked quinoa.

 

Coconut Flour Mug Cake Showdown Comparison

The Ultimate Coconut Flour Guide: Which Coconut Flour Is Best For Baking? 7 Coconut Flours Compared

I love coconut flour. I bake with it as often as I can and eat it at least once every day. Some people would call me obsessed. Low calorie, high protein, low carb, high fiber, this flour has amazing benefits! What’s not to love? I have tried my fair share of coconut flour recipes from other food bloggers. Most worked out fantastically, but some flopped. After reading a bajillion comments on those recipes the common consensus was that the brand of flour may be the reason for the recipe failure. Coconut flour absorbs a ton of water. Coconut flours differ in how finely they are ground and how much fat they contain as well. I really wanted to figure out which flours worked best and why. Continue reading

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Using Mrs. Glee's Ginger Snap Mix

Gluten Free Fat Free Carrot Cake Using Mrs. Glee’s Molasses Cookie Mix

I love all things ginger. I was super excited to see Mrs. Glee’s Molasses Ginger Snap Cookie Mix arrive in my box of items from Mrs. Glee’s. I was in the mood to bake and immediately thought of making this mix as ginger snap cookies. I asked Alan if he liked ginger snaps and I was met with a resounding NO! I did not want to have the temptation of eating all of those cookies with no help, so I started the wheels turning in my head. Continue reading

Cheesecake with Mrs. Glee's Graham Cracker Mix Crust

No Bake Cheesecake With Mrs. Glee’s Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crust

As you all may know I love coconut flour for its high protein content and fiber content. In looking for other protein and fiber rich gluten free flours, I came across Mrs. Glee’s Gluten Free Navy Bean Flour. Mrs. Glee’s whole bean flour is milled from the best Michigan grown beans sourced from a facility that only processes dry beans (i.e. no soybeans) They are milled using a unique process to minimize the bean flavor and effects. You can find out more about Mrs. Glee’s products on their site on Amazon. Continue reading

Pies And Pints Charleston WV

Pies and Pints Review Charleston, WV

Pies and Pints

222 Capitol Street
Charleston, WVA
25301
304-342-7437

http://www.piesandpints.net/

While on vacation we came across this awesome restaurant in Charleston WV. We were looking for Gluten Free Pizza and this hit the spot. When you walk in you are greeted by an upbeat and friendly staff. We came around dinner time on a Thursday night and did not have to wait for a table. We were seated at a table for two in the back. It was cozy. The restaurant is bright, modern, and comfortable.

Pies And Pints Table Charleston WV

We were greeted by our server who was extremely nice and knowledgeable about the gluten free options. Almost the entire menu can be made gluten free! We ordered the antipasto salad and gluten free garlic bread for appetizers. We were famished! The server had to go ask if they could do the garlic bread as a gluten free option and came back quickly saying that they could. I have not had garlic bread since before my celiac diagnosis so this was a real treat for me. The salad came out first. We ordered a small but it was large enough for 2 people to have large portions of. I can’t begin to imagine how massive a large salad would have been. We couldn’t decide on dressing so the server kindly brought us both the vinaigrette and the creamy gorgonzola. I liked the vinaigrette best. The salad was amazing with a large portion of meats and veggies.

Pies And Pints Gluten Free Antipasto Salad Charleston WV

 

The garlic bread came out next. It was basically a gluten free pizza crust with garlic oil and cheese on it and a large bowl of tasty marinara for dipping. The crust is thick and chewy and amazing so it translated well to garlic bread.

Pies And Pints Gluten Free Garlic Bread And Marinara Sauce

We ordered two gluten free pizzas. The pizzas were small but since we had eaten garlic bread and salad we still could only eat half a pie which is 2 slices before we were full. I suggest if you are only going for pizza then order 1 per person to fill you up. They have so many unique pizza flavors I had a hard time choosing just one. I wanted to try the red grape, the chicken gouda, or the steak and mushroom. Since alan wanted to try the steak I ordered the steak and mushroom. He ordered the Mediterranean Shrimp pie. The steak and mushroom had large juicy pieces of steak and large pieces of mushroom with gorgonzola cheese and horseradish sauce. It was amazing!

Pies And Pints Gluten Free Pizzas

Alan loved his shrimp pie with artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, shrimp, garlic, lemon, and herbs. He had never tried artichoke hearts or kalamata olives and found two new foods he likes!

They also offer many beers. We were going to be driving so we did not partake in alcohol. The gluten free beer that was available was Green’s Trippel which I have had before and remember liking a lot. They also had woodchuck cider and one other organic cider that I can’t recall the name of. They do have desserts but I did not ask if any were gluten free as we were already stuffed. We only choose to eat out once on any given vacation and carefully choose our restaurant. I am so glad we found Pies and Pints. It was a great atmosphere with friendly knowledgeable servers, quick service, and amazing food. We will visit other locations for sure when we see them on our travels! Way to go Pies and Pints for making it fun and easy to eat gluten free safely!

Rating by Laurie Clark: 4.0 stars
****

Pies & Pints on Urbanspoon

Dr. Lucy’s Costco Chocolate Chip Organic Gluten Free Cookies

Dr. Lucy’s Costco Chocolate Chip Organic Gluten Free Cookies

costco-cookies
We’ve had much better cardboard.

These cookies taste like cardboard covered dirt and leave a soap like taste in your mouth.

Rating by Laurie Clark: 0.5 stars
*****