Tag: gluten free options

gluten free reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Traveling Gluten Free

Wicked Fresh Craft Burgers

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Over the summer, my family and I ventured to North conway for a mini vacation. I had been looking forward to visiting the Santa’s village, and checking out local places to eat. As per usual our plans, never go according to plan. On the last day of our vacation, before heading home though, I found a place that seemed to have really great reviews. In fact it had a 98% rating for celiac safety. This place is called Wicked Fresh Craft Burgers, just located next door to the Settlers Green outlets and the North Conway Grand hotel!

Let me tell you! I wish this place wasn’t three hours from my house, because it truly was the best burger and roll I have ever had in my years since being diagnosed gluten free! The roll didn’t fall apart and was that greasy/buttery grilled kind! They cooked it unfortunately on the same grill as everything else but they assured me they clean it as well as they possibly can, plus they try to cook it on a separate section of the grill that isn’t used by other things containing gluten/wheat. They have so many varieties of burgers to choose from. The fries were also cooked in a dedicated fryolator as well. I did test it both the bun and burger and fries with my Nima Sensor. It came back with a smiley face for all three!

The establishment has outdoor seating but is rather small on the inside. I would say it has about 12 small tables that seat 2 people each, which for us we ended up putting together since we had 10 of us that took up almost the entire room. As for the pricing it cost us about $52 for the 5 of us, just my family which included one meal being gluten free.

I highly recommend stopping by this place if you’re ever in the area. I give it a 9/10. I wish there were more seating as many people came and left because there wasn’t enough room inside.

gluten free reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Traveling Gluten Free

Scoop Deck

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If you are ever on vacation up in Wells, Maine, I suggest stopping by this little ice cream place called Scoop Deck. They have so many different varieties and flavors. They can check on their allergen list and tell you what might contain gluten. This establishment is cash only, so make sure you have some on hand. The staff was very knowledgeable when it came to my order. They are all trained really well. They were able to wash and get a new scoop, and changed their gloves, however they were not allowed to open to a new tub of ice cream. Instead they made sure to scoop from an untouched side. They also offer gluten free ice cream cones. They have such a cute back area for the little kids to enjoy as well as picnic tables both in the shade and sun. I think this a great little gem to stop at!

gluten free reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Gerados Bakery

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Gerados Bakery in West Boylston, MA

So I had written a few instagram posts about gluten free baked goods at Gerados in West Boylston, MA. I have done the Nima test on them which all came back with a big smile! They have been offering gluten free items for some time now, however I did have some questions to see if they were deemed safe for those with celiac disease. I reached out to the bakery via email, but hadn’t received a response in a few weeks. I then tried to reach them via facebook and said that I was trying to compile a list of places that people with celiac disease could visit. It took about another 3 days before getting a response asking what those questions were.

Here is a list of the questions that I have been sending not only to this bakery but other establishments in the area. Their answers are below the question:

1.How long has your establishment offered gluten free food?
About 5 Years

2. What was your backstory for deciding to offer gluten free items?
There were a lot of requests.

3..Would you consider this facility safe for those who have been diagnosed with celiac disease?
All of our customers who ask for gluten free are told the items are gluten free but not made in a gluten free environment, so they can decide. (From personal experience, everytime I have ever asked for gluten free items, nothing was told to me that the items are not made in separate area or anything. The establishment has never made it outright known)

4.Have any of your staff completed any gluten-free training programs?
Yes, the owner has (so for me this is just the owner, but I feel like the rest of the staff should be trained in that area as well. Personal opinion only)

5. Does your staff change their gloves without being asked when a gluten free order comes in?
Yes (Again everytime we have ordered gluten free I have never seen gloves changed, and I have to actually request that it be put in a separate box.)

6. Do you have a separate preparation area for the food that people ask to be gluten free?
No (obviously for people with celiac, this is a huge problem)

8. If not, Is there a risk for flour to be cross contaminated with food that is being made gluten free? Aka even if regular wheat flour is being used it gets in the air. Any particles made in the same area as an order with gluten can get on a person’s gluten free food can make that person become ill.
Yes there is always a risk. Every customer with any allergy is warned whether tree nut or gluten that is could of been in contact with other items in our facility. (Again, from personal experience only, I have never been warned or told, granted this could common sense but for those wanting to dig deeper to see how things are made you would ask)

9. Do you share bowls and baking pans for both gluten free items and non gluten free?
No

10. Why are the gluten free products not in a separate case as they used to be?
As we started making more gluten free products, we could fit them all in one spot.
(Again, personal opinion only… this establishment has always had a large case with two shelves of gluten free items. Then one day, the entire case was gone and combined with that of gluten containing items which does not make it safe for people with celiac disease.)

SO here is my issue, as much as I LOVE this bakery and their gluten free items, which have always tested negative for gluten in their gluten free products, and the fact that I have never gotten sick from their products, the answers to these questions make me very nervous. Like I said above, everytime I have ever asked for gluten free items, they never say anything about how it’s made, or the result of possible cross contamination. I do not want by any means to bash this company or give a negative review but being a person with celiac disease the risk is huge, and I feel as though even those people who eat gluten free because of gluten sensitivity are still at risk. It almost makes me think this would only be good enough for those who are still on the “gluten free fad” or just trying to eat gluten free for no medical reasons. I will reiterate that I have never gotten sick from their gluten free items, but now that I know the high chances of cross contamination, it does make me a little weary.

I hope this interview with the establishment helps those with celiac disease. I also hope that if anyone from an establishment reads something like this realizes how sensitive something like this is to people with celiac. I wish more places would jump on board with how things are made and unfortnatley I understand it is hard to kep up with that with most places.

So the question is will I keep going there knowing such a high risk of cross contamination?? To be honest, I probably will refrain from now on unless someone brings me something from their on occasional visits and then I will use my Nima sensor. I just feel though having celiac disease, we have tob e well aware of what is going into our body and how it will affect our intestinal track even with the smallest amount of gluten!