Going out to eat as someone with celiac isn’t always the most fun, it can be super stressful to try and figure out which foods are gluten free in general, and then it’s even worse once you bring in the additional factor of cross contamination! Some restaurants are great about cross contamination, and understand how to make sure that gluten free food is celiac safe. Others? Not so much.
Don’t worry though, today I’ll share with you all of my best tips and tricks to make sure that you’re able to safely eat out at restaurants, and I really mean eat out, not just sit there and stare at some random food while the rest of your friends indulge in delicious looking meals!
I’ve talked about this first step before in other posts, but I will continue to say that Find Me Gluten Free is your best friend! You can do your research beforehand and try to find some nice celiac-safe suggestions to bring up to your friends/family! I know that some of you may be slightly skeptical right now, because how many real, genuine, celiac safe restaurants are really around you? Far more than you realize! Looking ahead and finding some places that you know will be good for you can help to ensure that you’re getting food you feel safe eating, and enjoy! And hopefully, your friends are happy to oblige and go to a place where you feel comfortable.
If a place has already been decided on, and it’s not looking totally celiac-friendly, there are still steps that you can take in order to be able to eat a safe meal there! The first thing that you should always do is just call ahead and let them know that you are coming in later and tell them that you’re celiac. Normally, a place will be able to make some sort of accommodation or tell you which foods would be safest. Sometimes it will just be a salad, and in those cases, if the dressing is looking a little iffy, just bring your own and you’re good to go! Tons of different brands sell dressing packets which you can quickly throw onto a plain salad at a restaurant, and this, along with a call ahead, should ensure that it is safe for you!
Finally, the last, and in my opinion most comforting, way of ensuring that your food is celiac-safe, is just to use a Nima sensor. Although they’re on the pricier side, it’s totally worth it to see that little smiley face and know that your food is safe! Although the Nima sensor could, on occasion, falsely say that something has gluten in it, it will never give a false gluten-free, so once you get that smiley face, rest assured, your food is good to go! Every time I travel I bring my Nima sensor and a few capsules with me, it definitely gives me an extra level of security about the food I’m eating (and I’m a super anxious person!). The one fault with the sensor is that it’s a little bit loud (not too loud but you can definitely hear it), so if you’re out with friends and don’t want them to know that you are testing the food – this probably isn’t the best option.
Thanks for reading and feel free to email me with any other questions you have, or any other methods you use to feel safe when eating out!
– Mira
