Gluten Free reviews?

[clanmcculloch]

I think it might be good to remind everyone that if you call the restaurant directly about 48 hours in advance, they will be able to have more options. They certainly should be able to at least do a GF Mac and cheese and decent dessert.

That doesn't seem to fit in with Disney at all, we have always had them prepare something special, if needed, but admittedly it wasn't GF issues for us, but we've seen plenty do it for those with gluten issues as well. I would definitely ask to speak with a manager if that's all that was offered. Considering how much the food costs and how much they sell it for, they can definitely accommodate dietary restrictions. I would simply not accept something for dessert made by another company at a TS restaurant like that. Can you tell that I am a bit proactive when it comes to things like this? I am nice about it, but I wood find that an acceptable solution for CS locations, not TS locations that have chefs on hand.

We usually just get the phone numbers from our TA. She is very helpful when we book. But I believe there is a thread on the dining board that had most, if not all of the numbers.

I strongly disagree with this. I would never expect a restaurant to be able to prepare something for me where the basic ingredients aren't on the menu. For Garden Grill for example, I would expect that the chef would prepare plain version of the meats and vegetables, maybe include sauces if they're already free of our allergens which I doubt would happen. If the restaurant had pasta on the menu then I would expect them to have gluten free pasta since that's the norm at WDW but something like mac & cheese I would assume is pre-made so I wouldn't expect them to have the ingredients with which to make an alternative (I might hope since I know a few places at WDW carry pre-made GF mac & cheese but I wouldn't expect it).

As to desserts, you've clearly been vacationing at a different place than I have because almost all of the allergy desserts that we've been offered have been packaged desserts (cookies, brownies) made by other companies. Yes chefs do sometimes doctor them up with chocolate sauce, sprinkles, or ice cream but that doesn't translate to them making something for us and it isn't always done (ex. we've eaten at Biergarten several times and each time a bunch of Enjoy Life cookies and Enjoy Life chocolate bars have been brought out on a plate, still in their individual packages). The majority of the dining reviews that I read are the same. Yes there are the occasional special desserts (I've gotten them myself) but those are the exception rather than the rule and they're always a wonderful surprise, or they're at a restaurant where I know they've got something different available (like at Crystal Palace where they have in-house made brownies or at LeCellier where their creme brule is GF).

Those phone calls ahead of time have become useless. I've had many things promised to us in those phone calls and when we arrive typically the chef I speak with didn't know I had spoken with anybody by phone and nothing that was promised is there. There have been a few times where we've gotten something special because of it but typically that's when we're staying at the resort and will be eating quite a few meals at the resort therefore they make sure to stock up on some things for us for multiple meals, not just a single one. We only get phone calls because we've got so many allergies among us that we're dealing with plus I ask questions specific to the restaurants so chefs are calling to discuss my questions and/or concerns. That's all I expect of these phone calls when they do happen. I want answers so that I can set our expectations realistically. I don't expect anything special to be done.

I'm rarely disappointed by going in with this perspective. We've had a lot of amazing meals and dining is one of the big reasons that we keep returning.

 

[cmwade77]

I strongly disagree with this. I would never expect a restaurant to be able to prepare something for me where the basic ingredients aren't on the menu. For Garden Grill for example, I would expect that the chef would prepare plain version of the meats and vegetables, maybe include sauces if they're already free of our allergens which I doubt would happen. If the restaurant had pasta on the menu then I would expect them to have gluten free pasta since that's the norm at WDW but something like mac & cheese I would assume is pre-made so I wouldn't expect them to have the ingredients with which to make an alternative (I might hope since I know a few places at WDW carry pre-made GF mac & cheese but I wouldn't expect it).

As to desserts, you've clearly been vacationing at a different place than I have because almost all of the allergy desserts that we've been offered have been packaged desserts (cookies, brownies) made by other companies. Yes chefs do sometimes doctor them up with chocolate sauce, sprinkles, or ice cream but that doesn't translate to them making something for us and it isn't always done (ex. we've eaten at Biergarten several times and each time a bunch of Enjoy Life cookies and Enjoy Life chocolate bars have been brought out on a plate, still in their individual packages). The majority of the dining reviews that I read are the same. Yes there are the occasional special desserts (I've gotten them myself) but those are the exception rather than the rule and they're always a wonderful surprise, or they're at a restaurant where I know they've got something different available (like at Crystal Palace where they have in-house made brownies or at LeCellier where their creme brule is GF).

Those phone calls ahead of time have become useless. I've had many things promised to us in those phone calls and when we arrive typically the chef I speak with didn't know I had spoken with anybody by phone and nothing that was promised is there. There have been a few times where we've gotten something special because of it but typically that's when we're staying at the resort and will be eating quite a few meals at the resort therefore they make sure to stock up on some things for us for multiple meals, not just a single one. We only get phone calls because we've got so many allergies among us that we're dealing with plus I ask questions specific to the restaurants so chefs are calling to discuss my questions and/or concerns. That's all I expect of these phone calls when they do happen. I want answers so that I can set our expectations realistically. I don't expect anything special to be done.

I'm rarely disappointed by going in with this perspective. We've had a lot of amazing meals and dining is one of the big reasons that we keep returning.

Given the amount of people with gluten issues these days and how close GF ingredients are in price now in many parts of the country (especially when buying in the quantities that WDW would need to), I would expect MOST restaurants that have a decent number of customers per day to stock gluten free ingredients and WDW would be no exception to this. I would expect them to prepare the foods in a similar manner to what other guests would get. In other words, if desserts are prepared onsite, I would expect GF (or any other needs) to have desserts prepared onsite. I would not expect prepackaged items and would be very disappointed to see this happen. Now, if everyone had prepackaged desserts, then that's another story.

Bottom line is there is just no excuse in this day and age for not making these alternative dishes to order in a restaurant.

Additionally, I would not expect Mac and Cheese to be pre-made for anyone, I count Mac and Cheese as a Pasta, so yes I would expect them to be able to make a GF version. Sorry, we take our Mac and Cheese seriously...LOL

As I said, in our case it wasn't GF that was an issue, but we have definitely had special desserts prepared for our needs when necessary, luckily with our needs there is usually at least one item on the menu that works and looks good.

That being said, we do have family and friends that have to have GF, so we pay attention to what is offered where. And we do tend to frequent places that provide better options, even if we don't need the options, simply because we feel that they deserve to be supported for doing so.