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August 7, 2025 14 mins

Text Carrie!

Ever stared at a restaurant menu and thought... ‘Okay, is anything actually safe here?’ 

Whether you’re newly gluten-free or a seasoned label-reader, eating out can still be stressful. In today’s episode, I’ll walk you through exactly how I read menus like a gluten-free detective—so you can eat out with more confidence and less guesswork. 

I’ll even share a simple sentence I use with servers that instantly changes the tone of the conversation. And don’t miss my bonus tip at the end—something I always do before we even leave the house that has saved us so many times.


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Episode Transcript

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Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
Ever stared at a restaurantmenu and thought, okay, is there
anything actually safe here?
Whether you're a newlygluten-free or a seasoned label
reader, eating out can still bestressful.
In today's episode, I'll walkyou through exactly how I read

(00:22):
menus, like a gluten-freedetective, so you can eat out
with more confidence and lessguesswork.
I'll even share a simplesentence I use with servers that
instantly changes the tone ofthe conversation.
And don't miss my bonus tip atthe end, something I always do
before we even leave the house.
That has saved us so many times.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.

(00:44):
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply

(01:11):
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we're talking about how toread a restaurant menu like a
gluten-free pro, because what wecan run into is that we can end
up going somewhere and notbeing able to eat.
Dining out can be one of thebiggest stress points for

(01:31):
gluten-free people and for thosewith certain allergies that
have trouble finding theinformation on the website.
I know for us, one of thethings we run into is several of
us in our family are alsosoy-free, like I talk about here
on this podcast, and you willbe surprised at how little
information there is on soy inmenus, even though it's one of

(01:53):
the top eight allergens.
So even if you are not celiacand you're just gluten
intolerant, sometimes you mighthave other food issues that are
actually really hard todetermine when you go out to eat
too.
So dining out can be a prettybig stressor for gluten-free
folks as well as those who havefood allergies.
And one of the things you needto just keep remembering over

(02:14):
and over again and I know I hadto remind myself of this because
I felt like such a burden inthe beginning was that you're
not being picky.
I'm not being picky, I'm tryingto be safe.
I'm trying to help my body out.
So just try to really reframeit and remember in your brain
that this is a medical condition.
This is a medical reason thatyou are eating gluten-free, or

(02:36):
it just really makes you feelbetter and you're doing it for
your health.
Otherwise, restaurant menuswhen I was originally diagnosed
celiac and gluten-free weren'tdesigned with gluten-free people
in mind.
But you can decode them with afew key tools and I'm finding
that a lot more menus are wayeasier to decode now than they

(02:56):
used to be like over 10 yearsago.
So we are getting better as asociety finally, at helping
those with food issues is what Ilike to call it.
I have food issues, you know, Ihave celiac as well, as I can't
eat a whole bunch of otherthings, so I have food issues.
My actually little side tangenthere my youngest child likes to

(03:17):
say that I'm allergic tochlorophyll as a joke, because I
can't eat a lot of the plantsout there.
So he thinks that's reallyfunny.
So we just need to, you know,be prepared ahead of time, and
I'm going to give you some tipsfor that here in this episode.
So step one is we want to scanthe headings.
First, we want to look forsections that say gluten-free

(03:38):
menu, healthy options or allergyfriendly.
And I also ask, whenever I goup to a restaurant, if they have
a separate gluten-free menu,because many times about 50% of
the time, I'd say anymore theykind of do, especially if you're
in a big city, and thesesections like gluten-free menu,
healthy options and allergyfriendly can be clues to which

(03:59):
restaurants actually try toaccommodate people who have food
sensitivities.
Gluten sensitive may not mean,though, safe for celiac, so just
be really careful along thoselines if you are celiac and it
says gluten sensitive people.
And then we want to learn thelanguage of hidden gluten.

(04:19):
Words that raise red flags arebreaded, crispy, battered, roux,
soy sauce, house sauce orgravies.
So we want to look for wordslike that when you're looking at
descriptions as to what thefood is like, what the dishes,
specific dishes are like, and weneed to be cautious of where

(04:40):
hidden gluten hides.
It can hide even in marinades,salad dressings, seasoning
blends and eggs.
Scrambled eggs sometimes havegluten in it.
In certain restaurants they adda little bit of flour or
pancake mix to it to make it alittle bit more fluffy.
So do be very aware that therecan be hidden gluten in all

(05:02):
these places and something thatsounds safe let's say grilled
chicken that could be not safe.
They could be pre-marinating itin a soy sauce or some sort of
sauce that has gluten in it.
So just be very careful andvery aware whenever you're going
to a restaurant where thesehidden places that gluten could

(05:23):
be found.
And then I want you to look onthe menu for step three, for
symbols or disclaimers.
Some restaurants use a GFmarker but always confirm, or
they use a wheat symbol with aline through it.
And look for disclaimers forwords like not safe for those
with celiac disease, becausethis is very important.

(05:44):
Some restaurants do market likethat because they're trying to
cover their butts.
We can just say it simply likethat and they actually can be
safe.
But you just need to talk withthe server, talk with the people
to see.
You know how much do theyactually try to prevent cross

(06:05):
contact and cross contamination.
I know there's one restaurant inColumbus Ohio.
They have the best gluten free.
One restaurant in Columbus Ohio.
They have the best gluten-freechicken strips in the entire
world.
I'm going to give a shout out,if you live in Ohio, to
Preston's, a burger joint.
They have great gluten-freebuns too.
You can get a gluten freeburger and they have gluten-free
chicken strips and their friesare fried safely as well, and we

(06:28):
like to go there a lot to eatwhenever we're in Columbus.
It's just one of my favoriteplaces and I usually don't eat,
you know, kind of junk foodquite like that Too much.
I try not to, but it's a realtreat.
Now they do caution you thatthere is gluten in the kitchen
and gluten in you knoweverything they do back there,

(06:48):
but they also have a disclaimerthat they prepare all the
gluten-free stuff in a separatesection of the kitchen.
So while they still need thatlegal cover their butts type of
phrase that says you knowthere's gluten in our kitchen,
they do actually do an excellentjob.
I don't think I've ever gottensick there when I eat, you know
there, my chicken strips or mycheeseburger or anything like

(07:11):
that, and my kids and my husbandhave never gotten sick there.
So, even though it might havethat little bit of a warning
label, go ahead and call therestaurant if you need to, or
stop by and ask them ahead oftime, because you might find a
good surprise in that theyactually are safe and are, you
know, reasonably safe enough forceliacs that you may be able to

(07:34):
still eat there, because theydo have to legally sometimes put
in words that gluten is intheir kitchen and that you need
to use extra precautions, oryour best judgment, basically,
when you decide to eat there.
Now, step number four is usethis go-to phrase with servers
and you can modify this to soundlike you, but here's one way

(07:57):
that you can do it Hi, I haveceliac disease, so I need to eat
100% gluten-free with no crosscontact.
Can you help me figure outwhat's safe, or should I speak
with a chef or manager thatgives your server the out?
If they're not comfortabletalking with you, they then
don't feel like they need to dotheir best job at helping you

(08:20):
out.
They can get their manager orchef you have just given them
their permission to do so.
So that's a really good way tobe very skilled in your words to
make sure that they understandwhat you need.
Plus, give them a way toescalate this.
So I'm going to repeat thatagain Hi, I have celiac disease,

(08:42):
so I need to eat a hundredpercent gluten-free with no
cross contact.
Can you help me figure outwhat's safe, or should I speak
with a chef or manager.
If you are in a place thatyou're a little bit more
familiar with, you could simplysay I have a gluten allergy.
What would be safest for me?
Sometimes people understandgluten allergy more than celiac.
So you could either have thatshort phrase if you're pretty

(09:04):
confident in the place andyou've been there before, or you
can use that longer one that Ijust read to you to let them
know that you actually have apretty serious issue with gluten
and that you need to be very,very, very cautious.
And then, step number five knowyour safer bets.
Know the places that are morelikely to be able to be

(09:26):
gluten-free.
So certain types of cuisinesthat tend to be safer
gluten-free options are Mexicanfood, because most of it's
corn-based.
Thai, because they don'tactually use soy sauce very
often.
Indian steakhouse-type menus.
Now I will caution yousomehouse places Do you put
wheat, for whatever reason, onthe outside of the steak.

(09:50):
So do be cautious there.
The one that comes to my mindis Texas Roadhouse At least the
last time I went there which isnot a place I would normally go
to anyway.
It's just not my style of food,even though I love steak.
They add there's like some sortof wheat in their seasonings
they put on their steak.
So note that steaks aren'tnecessarily safe, but most of

(10:12):
the time they are.
Steakhouts are usually safe, andthen cuisines to be more
cautious with are like an Asianfusion, because they'll probably
use soy sauce unless they havea specific tamari gluten-free
soy sauce for you Italian,unless they have a dedicated
gluten-free prep area.
And then, obviously, pub food,where most everything is fried.

(10:32):
Now I do want to go back to theItalian, because there are some
Italian restaurants, at leastin Ohio Marcello's is one of
them that have a dedicatedgluten-free prep area.
They cook your gluten-freepasta in its own water.
Some pasta Italian places Iwant to caution you here some

(10:53):
Italian places that aren'treally that abreast as to what
needs to happen for gluten-freepeople, they will actually cook
your gluten-free pasta in thewater the gluten pasta was
cooked in already.
So if you're celiac or highlysensitive to gluten, that's a
huge no-no.
So if you try an Italianrestaurant, I highly, highly
suggest that you make sure thatthey are cooking your

(11:15):
gluten-free pasta separately ina safe vat of water.
And then at least Marcella'salso has gluten-free bread, you
know, make sure they're nottoasting it, just in case.
So if you go someplace that hasgluten-free, know, make sure
they're not toasting it, just incase.
So if you go someplace that hasgluten-free bread, make sure
they're not toasting it in thetoaster with other gluten stuff.
It's little things like this weneed to be cautious of,
especially when celiac.

(11:36):
And then step number six and wetalk about this several times
in the podcast is trust your gut, literally and figuratively.
If the server seems confused ordismissive, it's not worth the
risk.
Especially if you're celiac andvery sensitive.
You're never too much forprioritizing your health.
I know in the beginning of myceliac journey I felt like I was

(11:59):
such a burden and I felt like Iwas being too too much.
I mean, I don't know how elseto describe it, but too much,
and you're never too much.
This is your health, this isyour livelihood, this is
potentially your next couple ofdays, and how you're going to
feel is just not worth it.
So if your server seems confusedor dismissive, then you can ask

(12:19):
for a manager.
You can just choose not to eatand eat somewhere else, and you
just need to protect your ownhealth.
So if you've ever left arestaurant hangry because there
were no safe options, and I knowhave done that before or worse.
You were sick after trustingthe menu.
Then you'll love the tips thatI share in my every other week

(12:40):
gluten-free email.
I send out recipes, restauranthacks, safe product finds and
encouragement to help you feelconfident in living gluten-free.
Head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom and
sign up for my newsletter so younever miss a tip that could
make your gluten-free lifeeasier and way more enjoyable.
And before we wrap up, here'smy personal bonus tip I always

(13:04):
look up the menu online beforewe even leave the house and I
screenshot the items I mightthink safe whenever I feel like
I can't quite remember what theyare.
That way, even if I lose asignal at the restaurant, I
still have a reference for whatI thought was safe.
This is one little habit thathas saved me so much stress, and
I hope it helps you too.

(13:25):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun

(13:46):
and full of flavor, and don'tforget to subscribe so you never
miss out on an episode, and wewill see you next week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.

(14:08):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
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