Subway, a mediocre 3.4 AllergyEats allergy-friendliness chain, seems to be taking gluten-free quite seriously and is now expanding a test of gluten-free rolls and brownies started in January.  That test, successfully run in the Dallas market, where Subway leadership includes individuals with Celiac disease, has now been expanded to some units in the Portland, OR market.  Subway hopes to get all Portland units into the trial by the end of this month.  According to Mark Christiano, the chain’s Baking Specialist in the R&D Department, “the possibility of Subway’s gluten-free tests expanding even further is real, but the process will be slow and meticulous.”

Slow and meticulous?  But why?  This is where I really like what the chain has to say.

First of all, Subway spent about three years developing the gluten-free offerings, but that seemed to be the easy part!  More challenging was training the staff, which QSRweb.com says included “extensive instructions, presentations and demonstrations, as well as montly meetings to reiterate the adapted operational process.”  Or as Christiano put it, “Having these items on the menu changes the entire way of doing things.”

How?  Read the rest of this entry »

Dining Out with Food Allergies & Intolerances: Now There’s an App for That

AllergyEats, the Biggest & Fastest Growing Source for Finding Allergy-Friendly Restaurants,
Goes Mobile, Offering Valuable Information Anytime, From Anywhere

BOSTON, MA (August 31, 2011) – Millions of people with food allergies and intolerances struggle to find restaurants that will accommodate their dietary requirements. Now, there’s an app for that. AllergyEats (www.allergyeats.com), the biggest and fastest growing online source for finding allergy-friendly restaurants, has just launched a free app for the iPhone and Android smartphones, allowing users to access this valuable, peer-based resource anytime, from anywhere.

“The new AllergyEats app builds off the outstanding success of the core AllergyEats website, which has a tremendous – and rapidly expanding – number of users finding and rating restaurants based on their level of food allergy-friendliness. Our new mobile app offers all of the same benefits as the original AllergyEats website, with the added convenience of portability,” explained Paul Antico, Founder of AllergyEats. “Now, users have on-demand access to this wealth of information right at their fingertips.”

“The AllergyEats app offers peer-based allergy-friendliness ratings as well as restaurants’ websites, menus, directions and more, conveniently accessible from users’ iPhone and Android smartphones. Users can search by city or zip code – or from wherever they find themselves – making it even easier for busy, on-the-go families to find accommodating restaurants, whether they’re researching options in advance or grabbing a last-minute meal while out and about,” Antico continued.

Read the rest of this entry »

So I clicked the attached link to see their menus and… WOW!  Individual menus for dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, shellfish-free, seafood-free, and soy-free!  All created with the same care and graphics as their main menu!  These are not computer printouts kept in a binder - these are a demonstration of care for the community!  Sure, they don’t have menus for all major allergies, and yes someone with multiple allergies would have to cross-check the menus, but I’ve got to assume that Lulu’s will do whatever they can to accommodate if they are this outwardly welcoming to food-allergic guests.

So, without teasing you further, here are a few sample pages.  Read the rest of this entry »

Every week, it seems I see another restaurant chain add or expand their gluten-free menu, another new bakery sensitive to food allergies open, or another consumer products company add gluten-free versions of their popular foods.  Rarely do I recall a company “backtracking” on food allergies or gluten-free.

So I was quite surprised when I saw Texas Roadhouse state on their website that they can no longer offer a gluten-free menu!  The problem, according to the statement, is not that they can’t make gluten-free dishes, but that they can’t assure diners that cross-contamination or a change in ingredients won’t occur.
 

Texas Roadhouse is already “unfriendly” to those with a peanut allergy, Read the rest of this entry »

We thought we’d share this exciting news from BJ’s Brewhouse.  BJ’s Brewhouse has an amazing 4.35 AllergyEats allergy-friendliness rating.

We are very excited to announce that BJ’s Gluten-Free Party for Two is back – and it’s better than ever! We now have a gluten-free version of our often-imitated, never duplicated, one and only BJ’s Famous Pizookie®, the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pizookie, debuting in restaurants on August 2nd, 2011. Our Gluten-Free Party for Two now includes: two Small House, Caesar or Wedge Salads (without the croutons), a Gluten-Free Thin Crust Pizza and our NEW! Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pizookie. The Gluten-Free Party for Two is just $19.95 and will be available August 7th through September 30th, 2011.

We are thrilled to be expanding our gluten-free menu options and providing Read the rest of this entry »

AllergyEats is proud to announce that Stone Hearth Pizza, a gluten-free-friendly Massachusetts pizza chain has joined the AllergyEats Great Gift Card Giveaway.
 

Prominent on their web page is the phrase: “At Stone Hearth, GF stands for good food, good friends, good fun and now GLUTEN FREE (GF).”  That, combined with the fact that they contacted us to join in our giveaway, demonstrates their commitment to the community.  I can tell you from my conversations with them that they take great pride in the quality of their gluten-free pizza.  And their chain-wide AllergyEats rating?  4.7/5.0!  Excellent!

shadesong wrote a nice review about Stone Harth’s Cambridge, MA unit on AllergyEats: “Stone Hearth can do almost all of their pizzas gluten-free, not just the ones marked GF! They also have great GF desserts.”  Jody added this about the Belmont, MA unit: “They have gluten free pizza and they only use rice flour to prevent sticking for ALL their pizzas so there is no flour in the air. Also they are very good with peanut allergies as well.”  And phgood summed up his thoughts about the Needham, MA unit simply enough: “Great tasting gluten-free pizza.”

The AllergyEats Great Gift Card Giveaway is a weekly contest which offers $20-50 allergy-friendly restaurant gift cards each to multiple winning participants.  Now in its 10th week, each contest starts on a Wednesday morning with a deadline to enter by the following Tuesday at noon.  Each week’s entry criteria is a little different , but always simple.  Please visit the giveaway web site at www.allergyeats.com/GiftCardGiveaway.php or click the “ad” on the AllergyEats home page.

Speaking of the AllergyEats home page, please visit it at www.allergyeats.com and rate any restaurants you’ve recently dined at.  Rating a restaurant is as simple as answering 3 multiple choice questions, and takes under a minute.  However, every time a member rates a restaurant, the value of AllergyEats as a tool for the food allergy and intolerance community increases.

[The main part of this AllergyEats Blog post submitted by community member Linda Brown]
 

Many of you read my 7-day AllergyEats Blog posts entitled The Disney Chronicles: Dining out with 3 food-allergic children.  (The first one is linked here, and all can be found by clicking on “March 2011″ in this blog.)  In those, I reviewed my family’s dining experiences on a 7-day trip to DisneyWorld in Florida.  It will likely come as no surprise that most of our experiences there were very positive – after all, DisneyWorld is justifiably considered pretty much the gold standard in accommodating food-allergic diners (especially children).

When I wrote those posts, one reader asked if I would take my family to Disneyland in California next!  Well, I haven’t fulfilled that request yet (though my children think it’s a great idea… purely for the edification of AllergyEats readers, of course), and so I have still never been to Disneyland.  However, I assumed it would be like everything else Disney: perfect… including the accommodations made for food-allergic diners.

So I was caught quite off guard when Linda Brown submitted the following for publication in this blog:  Read the rest of this entry »

[This AllergyEats Blog post co-authored by Adrienne Walkowiak]
 

As many of you know from experience, people with food allergies can often feel isolated.  Food-allergic children frequently can’t eat the cake at birthday parties or enjoy the same snacks as their friends. And until recently, many baseball fans with peanut allergies had to avoid ballparks because of the prevalance of peanuts, which – in severe cases – can be life-threatening.  Now, a growing number of baseball teams are hosting peanut-free seating at select games, ensuring that peanut-allergic fans can experience this popular summer ritual without the fear of encountering their trigger foods at the game.

The famous song says, “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,’’ but as fans with peanut allergies know, these snacks can trigger a serious allergic reaction.  My kids are huge sports enthusiasts, and luckily, their peanut allergies aren’t severe enough to keep us out of the ballpark.  But many people with more severe peanut allergies can’t even be in the proximity of peanuts without having a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.  At a typical baseball game, fans go through 3,000 bags of peanuts, scattering their shells throughout the stadium.  As a result, fans with severe peanut allergies have to watch the game from the safety of their own homes.

Now, peanut-allergic fans can have their day at the ballpark, Read the rest of this entry »

Hosting a Food Allergic Child?  Tips & Advice

From Founder of AllergyEats, Father of Three Food Allergic Children

Food Allergy Advocate Advises: Communicate, Prepare & Don’t Panic

BOSTON, MA (July 7, 2011) – Hosting a child with food allergies can be quite intimidating for a parent who is unfamiliar with this medical condition.  Contact with an offending allergen can cause physical reactions in a food allergic child, ranging from minor stomachaches and rashes to, in more extreme cases, life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Therefore, parents unfamiliar with food allergies are often – understandably – anxious about hosting a play date or other activity.  But Paul Antico, founder of AllergyEats (www.allergyeats.com), says hosting a food allergic child shouldn’t be nerve-wracking.  With proper communication, education and simple preparation, parents can feel confident that their upcoming play dates will be safe and successful.

“Food-allergic children shouldn’t miss out on the fun of socializing with their friends, and parents shouldn’t be intimidated about hosting a food-allergic child. As the host, you’ll need to take the child’s food allergies seriously, prepare accordingly and understand what to do in case of emergency, but there’s absolutely no need to panic,” said Antico, who is also a food allergy advocate and father of three food allergic children.  “With proper preparation, the food allergic child will be fine in your care.”
 

Antico’s recommendations include: Read the rest of this entry »

[The first part of the following blog entry was submitted by South Austin Mom and is published on her blog here]

Homeslice Dairy-Free Pizza (by South Austin Mom, whose son is allergic to dairy and nuts)