Restaurants and Fast Food
Eat Gluten & Allergy Free in Restaurants Across the Globe
Even though more restaurants across the globe are offering gluten free menus and food allergy charts, there are times when you go to restaurants with regular menus or want to order something else based upon the ethnic restaurant that isn't on the gluten free menu. Arm yourself with information at your fingertips about foods, dishes, ingredients and food preparation!
Make sure your meal is safe from gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, nuts, peanuts, fish and /or shellfish when dining in Chinese, French, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Steak & Seafood and Thai restaurants. Use ethnic restaurant menu helpers designed as an easy-to-use mobile app, books and ebooks based on your preferences to help you navigate your menu options.
Based on years of extensive research, accuracy testing and focus groups, rely on the best-selling Let's Eat Out series for the answers:
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Multi-award winning iEatOut Apple app
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Let's Eat Out Around the World paperback book or ebook
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Gluten Free Dining Out Toolbox and specific gluten free ethnic restaurant meal ebooks
I receive a lot of emails asking for tips on eating safe fast food when on the road. Since the mobile app iCanEat Fast Food Gluten Free and Allergy Free has been expanded to 45 chains across the US, I decided that now would be a good time to offer my advice.
First, keep in mind that it is nearly impossible to ask questions about the ingredients and food preparation techniques used when ordering in a fast food atmosphere. Therefore, I rely on the information provided in the allergy charts and gluten free menus from the specific fast food and quick service restaurant chains.
In order to understand what menu items are prepared without gluten and/or other allergen concerns, I recommend one of two options for finding out details about gluten free and allergy free fast food by chain:
1. If you own an Apple device, download the iCanEat Fast Food app. I love this app and use it when I find myself at fast food chains and on the go. It allows you to personalize your meal options from 45 U.S. chains reflecting over 5,000 menu items.
See what you can eat and hide items that contain your food concerns including gluten, wheat, milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish. Then avoid those meals that contain your allergens and decide what you can order by easily browsing the meal options. This makes ordering your fast food meal so much easier!
2. If you don't have an Apple device, access and/or print out the specific gluten free menus and allergen charts directly from the fast food chain websites which we have listed for you on our Fast Food page.
Also, be sure to read the explanations provided by each chain describing food preparation and potential cross contamination considerations prior to ordering any menu items.
Once you know what you can order from either the iCanEat Fast Food app or the specific chains allergy chart, simply access the Find Me Gluten Free mobile app to obtain the actual address for the closest desired fast food and quick service chain location near you.
By the way, Chipotle is one of my favorite go-to quick service chains when I'm on the road! Enjoy!
How to Order Gluten Free and Allergy Friendly Restaurant Meals
Excerpted from Kim Koeller’s Interview with About.com
About.com Family Vacations: For dining out, your books and Apple app offer ordering guidelines for people with specific allergies and intolerances. Can you share a few examples of guidelines that would help parents or kids with an intolerance navigate a restaurant menu?
Kim Koeller: Based on global market research that we conducted, almost 90 percent of food service and hospitality professionals indicate that communication of special dietary needs when ordering is the top priority for gluten and allergen free guests.
Depending up on the desired ethnic restaurant meals, you also need to understand what ingredients and food preparation techniques are safe, what questions to ask the staff, where allergens may be hidden and what modifications can be made to easily accommodate the food allergy or intolerance.
So, parents or older kids first need to inform the restaurant wait staff of their food allergy or intolerance. Say, for example, "I’m allergic to gluten and wheat so I can’t eat any bread or flour." Or "I’m allergic to dairy so I can’t have any milk and butter."
Then, instead of simply asking, “Is this dish gluten free, dairy free or X allergen free?”, ask questions specific to the menu item based on ingredients and food preparation in restaurant terms.
For example, if they are gluten free, sample questions could be:
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Are your hamburgers and the flourless chocolate cake made with bread crumbs?
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Is your chicken flour dusted?
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Is the sauce made from a roux which includes wheat flour?
If they have a milk or dairy allergy, sample questions may include:/p>
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Does your marinara sauce have parmesan cheese?
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Is your steak finished off with butter?
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Do you add milk to your omelette?
It is critical to understand what can and cannot be eaten based on ingredients and food preparation when navigating restaurant menus. Some tools to help ensure safe meals include our Let’s Eat Out book and iEatOut Apple app.
Find gluten free and allergy restaurants and hotels where ever you are across North and South America, Europe and the World!
We recommend a combination of the following:
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Search Find Me Gluten free app for restaurants, fast food and hotels with gluten free menus and/or allergy charts
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Safely eat in ethnic restaurants without gluten free menus or allergy charts by using the iEatOut Apple app
App for Gluten and Allergy Friendly Restaurants
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