Gluten Free at Universal

[damo]

Oh, wow! That's looks great. Thank you damo! I didn't see menus online, I will look again for the other dining locations as well!!

Only the full service restaurants have menus online. If you look at the food sticky on the other Universal forum, all the menus are there.

 

[goofy4wdw2]

Only the full service restaurants have menus online. If you look at the food sticky on the other Universal forum, all the menus are there.

Thank you so much! I just took a quick peek and can't wait to go through all of the menus!!

 

[mcgregml]

Found more information on counter service:

http://www.eatingoutwithout.com/search/label/Universal Orlando

That looks promising!

This blog is great! I hope she keeps posting. She just posted a review of options at one of the Springfield counter service restaurants. Such a great resource!

 

[CPanther95]

Two years ago, my wife was on an extremely restrictive diet. (No Gluten, Corn, nuts, fruits, dairy - no oils except natural animal fats or olive oil - and quite a few others ..... don't ask, even the doctors were at a loss) ... our trip to universal was fantastic. Almost every restaurant was extremely accommodating.

Now the year before that, a couple restaurants had a limited selection (Mama Della's concocted fantastic meals for her from their pantry) - but the executive chef at Margaritaville told us that if we had called at least a week ahead, he could have made sure that he had more things to work with to give her some variety beyond a hamburger with no bun. >>>Many of the restaurants (Margaritaville, Pat O'Briens, etc) got their chicken breasts in marinade from the supplier, so even a grilled chicken breast wasn't an option.

... so anyway, 2 years ago we called ahead to about 5 or 6 of our favorite restaurants and spoke directly to the executive chef at each one. We did that about 2 or 3 weeks before our visit. True to their promise, they all were extremely accommodating. They brought in custom proteins and ingredients to have on hand for the 8 days we were there. She never ate so well and had a tremendous variety of meals throughout our stay.

Bottom line: That open letter from Steve Jayson posted earlier is not just marketing spin. They really will go out of their way to deal with a wide variety of dietary restrictions. Just don't expect them all to be able to do it straight from their normal stocked pantry - except for the most basic selections for the most common allergies.

 

[schumigirl]

Two years ago, my wife was on an extremely restrictive diet. (No Gluten, Corn, nuts, fruits, dairy - no oils except natural animal fats or olive oil - and quite a few others ..... don't ask, even the doctors were at a loss) ... our trip to universal was fantastic. Almost every restaurant was extremely accommodating.

Now the year before that, a couple restaurants had a limited selection (Mama Della's concocted fantastic meals for her from their pantry) - but the executive chef at Margaritaville told us that if we had called at least a week ahead, he could have made sure that he had more things to work with to give her some variety beyond a hamburger with no bun. >>>Many of the restaurants (Margaritaville, Pat O'Briens, etc) got their chicken breasts in marinade from the supplier, so even a grilled chicken breast wasn't an option.

... so anyway, 2 years ago we called ahead to about 5 or 6 of our favorite restaurants and spoke directly to the executive chef at each one. We did that about 2 or 3 weeks before our visit. True to their promise, they all were extremely accommodating. They brought in custom proteins and ingredients to have on hand for the 8 days we were there. She never ate so well and had a tremendous variety of meals throughout our stay.

Bottom line: That open letter from Steve Jayson posted earlier is not just marketing spin. They really will go out of their way to deal with a wide variety of dietary restrictions. Just don't expect them all to be able to do it straight from their normal stocked pantry - except for the most basic selections for the most common allergies.

Glad you had such an good experience.

I'm surprised you were told Margaritaville got their chicken already marinaded from supplier as We have always ordered a plain chicken breast from Margaritaville for our son for years. Never had any issues at any of the restaurants in Universal, Citywalk and hotels getting plain grilled chicken.

 

[CPanther95]

Glad you had such an good experience.

I'm surprised you were told Margaritaville got their chicken already marinaded from supplier as We have always ordered a plain chicken breast from Margaritaville for our son for years. Never had any issues at any of the restaurants in Universal, Citywalk and hotels getting plain grilled chicken.

It may just have been Pat O'Brien's with the pre-marinaded chicken. It's been 3 or 4 years since we went that first time under her restrictive diet so I may be fuzzy on some of the specifics.

I remember Pat O'Brien's in particular because they had a number of possibilities based on their menu so we met another couple there. That's when we found out that the vast majority of their items were either brought in prepped or prepped in bulk earlier in the day before dinner service - so she ended up without an entree that night.

Gotta say though, the chef at Margaritaville was extremely helpful and creative. The year we called ahead, he even made sure to get some duck fat in stock to cook her meals with.

 

[schumigirl]

It may just have been Pat O'Brien's with the pre-marinaded chicken. It's been 3 or 4 years since we went that first time under her restrictive diet so I may be fuzzy on some of the specifics.

I remember Pat O'Brien's in particular because they had a number of possibilities based on their menu so we met another couple there. That's when we found out that the vast majority of their items were either brought in prepped or prepped in bulk earlier in the day before dinner service - so she ended up without an entree that night.

Gotta say though, the chef at Margaritaville was extremely helpful and creative. The year we called ahead, he even made sure to get some duck fat in stock to cook her meals with.

We have never been to Pat o Briens, never fancied it really. But glad to hear Margaritaville went the extra mile for your wife. It must be tough having allergies to deal with as bad as that.......but glad you found them so helpful.

I remember years ago in the UK we went to a country house hotel that claimed everything was cooked fresh, never frozen and always home made.......we ordered a plain chicken breast for DS, the rather embarrassed waitress came out and told us they only had Cajun or curried chicken..........I said well leave off the sauce..........yep you guessed.......came in ready marinated and frozen.......we never went back.

 

[CPanther95]

We have never been to Pat o Briens, never fancied it really. But glad to hear Margaritaville went the extra mile for your wife. It must be tough having allergies to deal with as bad as that.......but glad you found them so helpful.

I remember years ago in the UK we went to a country house hotel that claimed everything was cooked fresh, never frozen and always home made.......we ordered a plain chicken breast for DS, the rather embarrassed waitress came out and told us they only had Cajun or curried chicken..........I said well leave off the sauce..........yep you guessed.......came in ready marinated and frozen.......we never went back.

O'Brien's biggest feature was the ability to sit at a table, drink and smoke on the patio. The food definitely doesn't hit my Top 10 of Universal restaurants.

So few places to smoke during dinner (without excusing yourself and heading outside) and O'Brien's' New Orleans-feel back patio was great for long nights of drinking.

 

[Chickp]

I'm here at universal right now and am gluten intolerant as is my daughter, but neither of us are diagnosed celiac so take that into account. But we are having a great experience so far. We have eaten at the kitchen at hard rock which made us gf pancakes (and said they had toast too), Sals at the Portofino hotel for personal gf pizzas, and the three broomsticks for gf pancakes. Quick service mostly will give you a gf bun for your hamburger or chicken sandwich, and they are readily available at richters and captain Americas diner. Capiscos was delicious and had lots of options, chicken wings, a shrimp dish that came with gf bread, and the buns for the sandwiches. I have been pleasantly surprised! They know to ask if you have an allergy and even kept the seasoning off my chicken at richters because they said it had wheat in it.

Butter beer is gf (but not dairy free) and is AMAZING.

So, have fun!

 

[Chickp]

A few more restaurants...we ate at Margaritaville and it was great, gf buns for our burgers and safe fries, plus they offer a gf brownie sundae! Cow fish was not great...we asked for no buns on our burgers and they brought one anyway after a long wait. They did have it marked which of the sushis were gf though.