Hey y’all! How are your Christmas preparations coming along? It was a busy week last week & we’re already wishing this week was over. Bri is finishing up school (Hallelujah!) & getting ready to head home to NV while I’m finishing up with Christmas presents & getting my little family ready to go to AZ for the week. We are really excited to get out of this cold snow for a bit!
Well I experienced a Glupid Moment the other day while eating at Texas Roadhouse with Colby’s family. First of all, I would take Outback Stake House (their GF menu is great!) over Texas Road House ANY day of the week. I could probably write an entire post on that, but lucky for you, today’s not that day. Every time we’ve gone to TRH, Bri & I both leave feeling sick.
Now, we TOTALLY get that when you eat out, you ALWAYS run the risk of cross-contamination & the food is usually heavier than what you would cook at home (well for us anyway). But besides all that, we just never have a great experience. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t ever hear what anyone’s trying to say because they blast country music so loud you leave with your ears ringing?
Well this one time we went to order, & first impression, the waiter was awesome. He bent down on one knee to get to “my level” (he was tall). He asked me what kind of salad I wanted & made sure he would hold the croutons (I thought, ok so either he was going down the waiters common knowledge list or he knew what he was talking about). Then he verified that since I couldn’t have ranch, I should go with the oil & vinegar…? When we got to what went on my baked potato he was sure to hold the butter & sour cream…… WHAT? I thought it was counterproductive to try & educate this poor fellow, so I told him politely that I could have those. Once we were all done ordering, I felt pretty confident that this visit would surprise me & turn out well.
Pause for dramatic effect…..
I wish I was smart enough to take a picture, because.. When my plate came out, my shrimp skewer was LYING ON TWO PIECES OF BREAD. ^ ^ That’s the look Colby & I gave each other. ^ ^
Every inch of the bottom of my shrimp, ya know, pretty much resonating in the very thing that the waiter was trying to help me avoid… Yeah. Gotta love chefs in the kitchen & waiters who are taking your food, not knowing what the heck they are doing. As for the cooks own credibility, I sure hope they were ignorant to my intolerance.
I understand, it’s a fine line these food places have to deal with. You either offer it & run the risk of people trusting you & hope your staff is fully equipped with solid gluten free knowledge to not poison your guests OR you say this: (This from their website):
“While we recognize that some guests have specific dietary needs, we are no longer able to offer our gluten-free menu at this time. It was a very difficult decision, but we concluded that due to the multi-use of utensils, supplier changes, substitutions, and the possibility of human error, we could not offer our guests a total assurance that the items were indeed 100% gluten-free. As such, we decided that the best approach was for the management team at each restaurant to work with guests individually to ensure that they can make the most informed menu decisions. Please ask to speak to your location’s Managing Partner, who will be happy to accommodate any requests or provide information about our food and preparation. Thank you for your interest in Texas Roadhouse!”
Smart move TRH, smart move.
zozo
Lame! I’ve been to Texas Roadhouse twice and never going back. Ditto on the loud music and the periodic dancing routine they did at my location was horrible!
xatelier zozo
Brooke
Haha! Yeah the dancing is a sight to see!.. That music is just way too obnoxious!
Christie @ Kissesandkale.blogspot.com
Lol this post makes me laugh because I’ve had so many experiences like this! I remember I was in Disneyland once and ordered tacos. I asked if I could have corn tortillas since I need to eat gluten free and the waiter brought me tacos with just chicken…no sour cream, cheese, salsa, or anything on it. Apparently gluten is in everything but meat now? I can’t believe they still brought your shrimp on bread after all of that!
Brooke
Yeah really! SO many places we go to hear the words “gluten free” & it’s like they start hyperventilating, so they associate anything they know about allergies, with gluten! So funny! Glad we can make an annoying experience an enjoyable one by hearing others experiences!
thekoshercavegirl
Wow. Just wow. Last week, I informed my waiter that I was both lactose and gluten intolerant when ordering a salad and requested that they hold the cheese. The entire salad was crouton-free but covered in goat cheese crumbles. *face palm*
Brooke
Ha are you serious!? That’s ridiculous! I feel like if anything, most people know about lactose intolerance, jeeze! That’s when you unfortunately have to tell them to take it back & then they feel/look dumb.. Sad day Mr. Waiter.
heather
Oh yes, this has happened to me lots! I ordered a gluten free burger recently and it came on a wheat bun, LOL. Poor waiter finally realized..
Brooke
Haha oh no! I hope they were able to get you the gluten free burger you ordered!! Gotta love those glupid moments!!
Pamela
Yikes! I had a similar experience with a soup one time – it came out with bread dunked right in it! The waitress brought out a brand new bowl, but it always makes you wonder! Thanks for the tip off about TRH. I’ve always been hesitant to try it, but now I’ll definitely cross it off the list!
Brooke
Oh no! Yeah, that’s no good!! Yeah, in my experience, TRH is not a very safe place for us to eat at. :/ Thank you for commenting!