Category: Restaurants

I was ecstatic to see that Boston Pizza now has a gluten-free section in their menu. Cue the heavenly music…I can order pizza again!! I don’t eat “junk” food often, but when I do I like to know there is a safe option for me.

So this past weekend I decided to order some delivery from my local Boston Pizza – a caesar salad and a gluten free peperoni pizza. I used their new online ordering system and made a note on the salad: “wheat allergy – no croutons please”. Type in my delivery information and click send. A nice little email is sent telling me the estimated time my food will arrive at my door. I think, “Great! A gluten free feast of yumminess is on it’s way!”

The delivery driver arrives exactly when the email told me they would. I pay for my order. I dance into the kitchen eager to open the paper-bag wrapped packages of sweet gluten free goodness. I take the salad out (because even though I’m eating “junk” tonight, I still want to eat my greens first!), and this is what I see…

I called back to the restaurant and explained to them the situation. That I cannot eat this salad. The girl on the other end sighed and said a new one would be sent out to my house asap. Another 30 min. after I hung up, my salad arrived and I gave the driver back the original salad along with the receipt. Not a single apology from either the girl on the phone or the driver. While I understand that this was a mistake, that mistakes happen…for anyone with a gluten intolerance/allergy that salad was dangerous.

The staff that prepare the gluten free pizza have had training on how to deal with cross-contact. So, in theory, those of us who can’t eat gluten should be able to dine from there worry-free. In fact, I’ve eaten salad and GF pizza from this exact Boston Pizza before…without a problem. My problem is with the lack of knowledge that many people working in the food industry still have regarding food allergies. If each of us could educate just one person about it…imagine where the Gluten Free “movement” could reach?

On a more positive note…the pizza was divine. It was cold by the time I was ready to eat it and I had to re-heat it…but it was delicious. The GF crusts are from Kinnikinnick and have a very sweet taste compared to traditional pizza crusts. Regardless of my poor experience this weekend, I will most definitely order gluten free pizza from them again. My only real complaint about the pizza itself is that I wish they came in bigger sizes (currently they only offer personal sized GF pizza). It would be nice to have a GF pizza party with The Wheat Free Family!

{Brought to you by Erin}