NOTE: As of January 3, 2013, this information is outdated. Here is a link to the blog with more recent information.
I am a social person. I like going out to eat with my family and friends. This means, in my recent eating adjustments, learning how to eat at just about any restaurant. Because of my desire to be there, it doesn't really matter if I think the gluten free options are excellent, so long as there is just one protein, non-fish, gluten free item on the menu for me to order. (You would be amazed at how many restaurants' gluten free menus consist solely of "steamed broccoli and water" and sometimes even the steamed broccoli has been steamed in spaghetti water...)
Yesterday was my brother Derek's birthday, so on Saturday, my parents took the family out to the restaurant of his choice: The Elephant Bar. This choice sent me flying to google, to scour blogs of the more adventurous celiacs. I discovered that the Elephant Bar now has a temporary gluten-free menu available until they develop a more concrete gluten free menu. You have to ask for it at the front desk, and there have been many who have found they had to wait a long time because the staff had to go print it off of the manager's computer. Having read this, I asked for the gluten free menu upon checking in. I was expecting a 3 dish menu, where one of the dishes was "steamed broccoli" so, while the actual GF menu was not extensive, its size surprised me. This blog is about to get long, as I'm going to type up the menu provided to me. Brace yourselves, blogfriends.
Elephant Bar Gluten Free Selections
Appetizers
-Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls, exclude the Oriental Slaw, Tamarind Macadamia Nut Sauce, Thai Peanut Sauce.
-Seared Ahi, exclude the soy sauce ponzu sauce, wasabi.
-Whole Milk Mozzarella with Bruschetta Tomatoes, exclude the pita chips.
Side items
-Steamed vegetables
-Sauteed Spinach
-Sliced tomatoes
-Steamed white or brown rice
Dressing
-Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
-Oil and Vinaigrette
-Mojo dressing
-Citrus Dressing
Large Salads
-Cobb Salad, substitute plain grilled chicken for the BBQ chicken, make sure the dressing you choose is gluten free
-Ahi Tuna Salad, exclude the water chestnuts, soy glaze, fried wontons, and substitute the red ginger sesame dressing with balsamic mustard vinaigrette (or GF dressing of choice)
-Oriental Chicken Salad, with plain grilled chicken instead of the teriyaki chicken, exclude the fried won tons and the sesame-teriyaki dressing
Low Cal/Lite 700
-Fire grilled lemon garlic chicken
-Fire grilled rainbow trout
Soup/side salads
-Macua shrimp noodle soup
-Side organic field greens salad
-Side citrus salad
-side garden salad, exclude the croutons
Sandwich(A laughable moment, indeed)
-NY steak sandwich, exclude the fried onion strings and garlic bread(which you can have them substitute for a side salad with gf dressing), also exclude the french fries(pouty face), which you can substitute for any of the gluten free side items listed above.
Global
-Center cut NY steak, exclude the fried onion strings and garlic mashed potatoes(which can be substituted for with a gf side item, they suggest rice)
-NY steak and coconut shrimp, exclude the mashed potatoes(substitute with rice), exclude the coconut shrimp( substitute with plain grilled shrimp or lemon herb shrimp), and exclude the zesty pineapple sauce
Dessert
-Creme Brulee
And that's the entire gluten free menu as provided to me by the Elephant Bar on Stockdale Highway.
If you actually read the menu, it will be clear to you that they are not quite up to actually making gluten free food, but we will have to applaud them for making an effort to let us know which foods are just naturally gluten free. I ordered the cobb salad with plain grilled chicken and the balsamic mustard vinaigrette. They accidentally brought out the cobb salad with the BBQ chicken on it, so I explained that I have an allergy, and I needed a new salad, without the BBQ chicken. The servers, though while very kind, and giving their very best efforts, really had no education in gluten. After mentioning an allergy however, they whisked the wrong dish away, and I was shortly after greeted by someone from the kitchen staff, who did her best to clarify what the allergy was, apologize and took directions as to how the food should come out. I don't think she knew what gluten was either, but was willing to be coached. The correct salad was brought to me. It tasted fine, not spectacular, because the chicken really is plain. I then had the creme brulee, which was delightful.
Conclusion: The Elephant Bar has a long way to go from being one of those "gluten-free havens" like PF Changs is, however, if you find that you're going to the Elephant Bar and you can't eat gluten, you will not be forced to eat granola bars and drink water while the rest of your party eats. I appreciate that. The staff is not thoroughly educated in gluten, so it would be best at this establishment to announce your presence like royalty at the front gate! Tell the waiter when you order that you have an allergy. Be one of those annoying people who won't shut up about their allergies. Explain that you are allergic to gluten, which means you're allergic to wheat, bread, soy sauce, teriyaki and, apparently, BBQ sauce. When they bring you your food, inspect it, because the staff is not likely to notice the error.
I give the wait staff an A for effort, the menu a C, and the staff education of gluten an F. All in all, it's not horrible, if you have to eat there, you'll likely survive, but you probably won't choose to eat there of your own free will very often. (Though, their steak might really be the right way to go)
This blog was posted for those in my life who also cannot eat gluten. So, if this blog bores you, I'm sorry. There will be other blogs that will not be so boring.
NOTE: I am not a medical professional. I am not an official gluten detector, I have no guarantees of the actual gluten freeness of the food. I am only relaying what I have experienced, and I am only relaying the information that has been relayed to me at the time of this post. You need to do your own research on whether the food will be safe for you if you have an allergy. I am not responsible for what you eat, or how that turns out. Also, I have been informed that the Elephant Bar makes frequent changes to their recipes, and some restaurants do things differently depending on where they are. The menu I have provided is merely to give people an idea of what they might find in gluten-free availability. Do not use my list to order your food. Always ask the restaurant for their current gluten-free menu.
I am a social person. I like going out to eat with my family and friends. This means, in my recent eating adjustments, learning how to eat at just about any restaurant. Because of my desire to be there, it doesn't really matter if I think the gluten free options are excellent, so long as there is just one protein, non-fish, gluten free item on the menu for me to order. (You would be amazed at how many restaurants' gluten free menus consist solely of "steamed broccoli and water" and sometimes even the steamed broccoli has been steamed in spaghetti water...)
Yesterday was my brother Derek's birthday, so on Saturday, my parents took the family out to the restaurant of his choice: The Elephant Bar. This choice sent me flying to google, to scour blogs of the more adventurous celiacs. I discovered that the Elephant Bar now has a temporary gluten-free menu available until they develop a more concrete gluten free menu. You have to ask for it at the front desk, and there have been many who have found they had to wait a long time because the staff had to go print it off of the manager's computer. Having read this, I asked for the gluten free menu upon checking in. I was expecting a 3 dish menu, where one of the dishes was "steamed broccoli" so, while the actual GF menu was not extensive, its size surprised me. This blog is about to get long, as I'm going to type up the menu provided to me. Brace yourselves, blogfriends.
Elephant Bar Gluten Free Selections
Appetizers
-Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls, exclude the Oriental Slaw, Tamarind Macadamia Nut Sauce, Thai Peanut Sauce.
-Seared Ahi, exclude the soy sauce ponzu sauce, wasabi.
-Whole Milk Mozzarella with Bruschetta Tomatoes, exclude the pita chips.
Side items
-Steamed vegetables
-Sauteed Spinach
-Sliced tomatoes
-Steamed white or brown rice
Dressing
-Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
-Oil and Vinaigrette
-Mojo dressing
-Citrus Dressing
Large Salads
-Cobb Salad, substitute plain grilled chicken for the BBQ chicken, make sure the dressing you choose is gluten free
-Ahi Tuna Salad, exclude the water chestnuts, soy glaze, fried wontons, and substitute the red ginger sesame dressing with balsamic mustard vinaigrette (or GF dressing of choice)
-Oriental Chicken Salad, with plain grilled chicken instead of the teriyaki chicken, exclude the fried won tons and the sesame-teriyaki dressing
Low Cal/Lite 700
-Fire grilled lemon garlic chicken
-Fire grilled rainbow trout
Soup/side salads
-Macua shrimp noodle soup
-Side organic field greens salad
-Side citrus salad
-side garden salad, exclude the croutons
Sandwich(A laughable moment, indeed)
-NY steak sandwich, exclude the fried onion strings and garlic bread(which you can have them substitute for a side salad with gf dressing), also exclude the french fries(pouty face), which you can substitute for any of the gluten free side items listed above.
Global
-Center cut NY steak, exclude the fried onion strings and garlic mashed potatoes(which can be substituted for with a gf side item, they suggest rice)
-NY steak and coconut shrimp, exclude the mashed potatoes(substitute with rice), exclude the coconut shrimp( substitute with plain grilled shrimp or lemon herb shrimp), and exclude the zesty pineapple sauce
Dessert
-Creme Brulee
And that's the entire gluten free menu as provided to me by the Elephant Bar on Stockdale Highway.
If you actually read the menu, it will be clear to you that they are not quite up to actually making gluten free food, but we will have to applaud them for making an effort to let us know which foods are just naturally gluten free. I ordered the cobb salad with plain grilled chicken and the balsamic mustard vinaigrette. They accidentally brought out the cobb salad with the BBQ chicken on it, so I explained that I have an allergy, and I needed a new salad, without the BBQ chicken. The servers, though while very kind, and giving their very best efforts, really had no education in gluten. After mentioning an allergy however, they whisked the wrong dish away, and I was shortly after greeted by someone from the kitchen staff, who did her best to clarify what the allergy was, apologize and took directions as to how the food should come out. I don't think she knew what gluten was either, but was willing to be coached. The correct salad was brought to me. It tasted fine, not spectacular, because the chicken really is plain. I then had the creme brulee, which was delightful.
Conclusion: The Elephant Bar has a long way to go from being one of those "gluten-free havens" like PF Changs is, however, if you find that you're going to the Elephant Bar and you can't eat gluten, you will not be forced to eat granola bars and drink water while the rest of your party eats. I appreciate that. The staff is not thoroughly educated in gluten, so it would be best at this establishment to announce your presence like royalty at the front gate! Tell the waiter when you order that you have an allergy. Be one of those annoying people who won't shut up about their allergies. Explain that you are allergic to gluten, which means you're allergic to wheat, bread, soy sauce, teriyaki and, apparently, BBQ sauce. When they bring you your food, inspect it, because the staff is not likely to notice the error.
I give the wait staff an A for effort, the menu a C, and the staff education of gluten an F. All in all, it's not horrible, if you have to eat there, you'll likely survive, but you probably won't choose to eat there of your own free will very often. (Though, their steak might really be the right way to go)
This blog was posted for those in my life who also cannot eat gluten. So, if this blog bores you, I'm sorry. There will be other blogs that will not be so boring.
NOTE: I am not a medical professional. I am not an official gluten detector, I have no guarantees of the actual gluten freeness of the food. I am only relaying what I have experienced, and I am only relaying the information that has been relayed to me at the time of this post. You need to do your own research on whether the food will be safe for you if you have an allergy. I am not responsible for what you eat, or how that turns out. Also, I have been informed that the Elephant Bar makes frequent changes to their recipes, and some restaurants do things differently depending on where they are. The menu I have provided is merely to give people an idea of what they might find in gluten-free availability. Do not use my list to order your food. Always ask the restaurant for their current gluten-free menu.
