Locally Gluten Free: Part 9

Posted onAuthorCeltic Celiac

Part of ‘Celiac Disease etiquette’, in my mind anyway, is not making your diet (and thus you) the highlight of every occasion. This is especially true when you are not the planner of an event or the event is not at your house. In this cases it is of course acceptable to ask “will there be anything there I can eat?”. For most people, if they are hosting, this will kindly remind them to have something there you can in fact it. This becomes more tricky when you are eating out for say someone birthday at their favorite restaurant. In these instances it is best to call ahead, see what a restaurants policy and potions are and go with the flow (by either eating there or eating before you go). Here is one such experience: 



Cozymels Coastal Mex
1177 Corporate Drive
Westbury, NY
http://www.cozymels.com/store_longisland.htm

I went here for a friend’s birthday and, like I said above, I had called ahead of time to see what they had for those gluten free diners. I was met when calling with a very inviting ‘go-ahead’ that they had a gluten free menu with a lot of variety which they would offer me when I got there. Upon arriving I had asked for the menu. It took about 10 minutes to get the stained, out of date gluten free menu print out (which was really their allergen document). The atmosphere and hospitality were too hustle and bustle for my tastes, they seemed to want to serve and get you out the door ASAP. They did not wait before rushing my friends to make their non-gluten free orders as I continued reviewed their print out. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with their options. Many of the options were the already gluten free products, such as their highly priced salads and entries. In addition, few of the sauces were gluten free so most of the seasoned items were out. Being that I love flavor this was a disappointment for me. When my food arrive it was okay, not spectacular, but there was enough to make the price worth it and to have left overs! The best part about the visit was this:

A delicious 5-flavor Margarita sampler. 
All in all Cozymels gets a .5 across the board in each area. They definately tried but were not spectacular in any are. A suggestion would be to take more care in offering a real gluten free menu and preparing gluten free food in a way that expands the options available! 

Gluten Free Options: .5 
Atmosphere: .5
Price: .5
Hospitality: .5
Food Quality: .5




TOTAL: 2.5

                             
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