Dear Restaurants

Dear Restaurants,

Please note that those of you who have a gluten-free menu - you are awesome. Taking the extra time to cater to those patrons who have a hard time finding tasty food is much appreciated and trust me I have gone out of my way to promote you to everyone I know (as well as eat at your establishment very often).

For those restaurants without a gluten-free menu, a solid email response with menu items that are safe for me to eat is so helpful and I thank YOU as well. The problem I have is when restaurants respond to my email inquiry with the following, "hello we will cater to your every need with your dinner choices and can substitute side dishes that will be gluten free. just let your server know and we will take care of it."

This is not okay. First of all, I'm very concerned about the risk of eating something, so when you are leaving the responsibility in the hands of a random waiter (who probably doesn't not care at all if I spend the next 48 hours in the bathroom) it worries me. Secondly, without any specific menu items listed it makes me think that I will starve if I come to your establishment so I'm going to eat beforehand and not give you my business. All you have to do is take a couple of minutes, sit down with the kitchen manager and give me one or two dishes that I can ask for specifically.

With the instances of Celiac Disease and other food allergies growing all of the time, it is worth knowing these details for your own menu...for the health of your business and your customers. Please, please, please throw me a bone here and give me some help. I only write this to help you!

In a city such as Austin where we are way ahead of the curve when it comes to specific diets and eating habits you would benefit greatly. Thanks for listening and good luck working on your g-free menus :)

Jaime