Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

I Ate At Pf Changs Last Night!


amber-rose

Recommended Posts

amber-rose Contributor

I highly recommend PF Changs! They have a great Gluten-free menu! For an appetizer i got Soothing Chicken Lettuce Wraps, which were delicious!! :P Then I got lemon chicken, and the gluten-free Singapore Street Noodles (like chow-meing). The dishes come in large servings so me, my mom, and my friend ate out of the same meal as me! They couldnt tell the difference. Then for dessert i got the Chocolate Dome w/ rasberry sauce and fresh berries! Oh my, it was soooooo delicious! I had a great experience there! the gluten-free soy sauce was very good too! thought i'd share!

-amber :P


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



TinkerbellSwt Collaborator

Glad to hear you had such a wonderful experience! I had a great experience there too a few months ago. Its so nice to be able to go out and have a "normal" restaurant experience.

and PS I loved those lettuce wraps too!!

jaimek Enthusiast

I just ate at PF Changs on Saturday night and got massive D afterwards. I wrote the manager an email stating that they need to be more careful about cross contamination. I was so disappointed cause I have never gotten sick from there before. Now I am afraid to go back :huh:

skinnyminny Enthusiast

I am not sure I get glutened there every time but I always feel sick I ate there saturday and felt just sick I guess its from it being heavier foods than I am use to

CarlaB Enthusiast

I've had an enjoyable experience every time I've eaten there. I eat very little of the rice, which is gluten-free, so I guess I stick to the lighter fare.

jaimek Enthusiast

Here is the email correspondence that I had with the manager of PF Changs:

From Me:

Hello, My husband and I had dinner at your restaurant this past

Saturday night. We sat at the bar upstairs, and ordered an

entire gluten free meal (lettuce wraps, Chang`s spicy chicken, and

lemon scallops). We frequent several PF Chang locations and have never had a

problem. Saturday night was a different story. Not too long after we

left the restaurant, I got violently ill. I am extremely disappointed

that this happened, as I am now afraid to eat at your location. My

fear stems from the fact that PF Changs offers a gluten free menu, and

obviously, there was a cross contamination issue. I greatly appreciate

the fact that the chain will cater to Celiacs, but I also believe that

if this is the case, then there should be a section of the kitchen that

is dedicated to cooking those gluten free items. I am writing this to

avoid the situation in the future for other fellow Celiacs. I understand that you are extremely

busy, but like I said before, if there is a gluten free menu offered,

then the restaurant should be able to deliver without any problems.

Thank you in advance for listening to my questions and concerns.

From the Manager:

I could not agree with you more and I am certainly sorry for any

discomfort we may have caused you and your husband this past weekend.

We are well aware of the issues that people with Celiac disease have

and work diligently to insure that they can enjoy a meal at PF Changs.

Needless to say, I am sorry that this did not occur.

I do want you to feel comfortable dining at our restaurant. As a

matter of fact, the Lemon scallops and the Changs chicken are always gluten

free. We do not need to modify the dish when someone is gluten

intolerance. The lettuce wraps however do have a small amount of soy

sauce in them and therefore we do need to use a wheat free soy sauce.

The only thing I can think of is that the wrong order was delivered to

your table? With that said, I know that we can do better and would ask

you to give us an opportunity to prove it to you. I would appreciate

it, if you would consider an invitation be my guest at our restaurant.

If you will forward me your address, I will send you some "Be Our

Guest" certificates along with my thanks.

Once again, I thank you for your feedback and hope that you will give

us another chance to win back your confidence.

Sincerely,

Mark Logan

PF Changs China Bistro

So, that is good to hear that they were very responsive and helpful. He answered me back the same day I wrote the original email.

Aurora2Borealis1 Newbie

One huge problem I have with people complaining about restaurants they've eaten at and been "glutened" at is that sometimes people just get sick after eating out. You know - NON-CELIAC people!!! Oh goodness what a thought! Maybe it's not the gluten that made you sick, it's just that your stomach did not agree with what you ate that particular day. I work in a restaurant so I know that there certainly is a possibility that there is gluten accidentally in your food, but instead of pointing fingers at restaurants that are actually trying to accomodate our disease we should be grateful that they're even trying to begin with. Every restaurant that has a gluten free menu has a disclaimer because some things are out of their control. If you REALLY are glutened, don't get mad at the restaurant, take into consideration that we take a chance everytime we go out to eat. It was YOUR choice to eat there, it was a chance YOU took after reading that disclaimer. Writing an email or letter to the restaurant is a good idea if you also want to thank the restaurant for trying, like jaimek did. As for restaurants who don't have gluten free menus and servers who don't know what gluten is, get as mad as you want.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



jaimek Enthusiast

I have to disagree with some of your post. If the restaurants that offer gluten free menus cannot follow through with it, and have some sort of designated area to cook those meals, then they should be notified that people are getting sick. I know for a fact that that meal was what made me sick. I have been gluten free for over 3 years now and know the difference between gluten sick and regular sick. I thought that they should be aware of the fact that I got sick, to try and correct any cross contamination issue that may have arised in order to avoid this in the future. I think it is great that he went back and discussed these issues with the staff so that they are more careful. I also made sure to tell him how much we appreciate the fact that they do offer a gluten free menu. He was very responsive and appreciative so I think it was a good thing that I made him aware of the situation.

pegom1 Rookie

jaimek: I think your correspondence was worded perfectly! You politely made them aware of the cross contamination issue while thanking them for their efforts in accomodating celiacs. While in Las Vegas last month, I went to PF CHangs for the first time and I was thrilled with all the dishes I tried. However, about 8 hours later it was obvious I "got glutened". I was disappointed but accidents do happen. I went to a different PF Changs in Las Vegas and asked the server to be extra safe with my order and had an enjoyable meal. I think the way you went about notifying them was excellent. It will most likely prompt the manager to speak with the staff about the importance of ensuring the dishes are gluten-free for us. I for one thank you for writing!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - trents replied to MI-Hoosier's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Test uncertainty

    2. - MI-Hoosier replied to MI-Hoosier's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Test uncertainty

    3. - trents replied to MI-Hoosier's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Test uncertainty

    4. - MI-Hoosier posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Test uncertainty

    5. - Sunshine4 replied to Sunshine4's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      3

      Neurologic symptoms - Muscle Twitching and Hand Tremors


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      128,253
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    MI-Hoosier
    Newest Member
    MI-Hoosier
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.1k
    • Total Posts
      70.8k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):




  • Who's Online (See full list)


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      To put this in perspective, most recent pretest "gluten challenge" guidelines for those having already been eating reduced gluten or gluten free for a significant time period is the daily consumption of 10g of gluten (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks leading up to the day of testing (antibody or biopsy). And I would certainly give it more than two weeks to ensure a valid test experience. Short answer: If it were me, yes, I would assume I have celiac disease and launch full bore into gluten-free eating. I think the tTG-IGA is reliable enough and your score is solid enough to make that a reasonable conclusion. Here is an article to help you get off to a good start. It's easy to achieve a reduced gluten free state but much more difficult to achieve consistency in truly gluten-free eating. Gluten is hidden in so many ways and found in so many food products where you would never expect to find it. For example, soy sauce and canned tomato soup (most canned soups, actually), pills, medications, health supplements. It can be disguised in terminology. And then there is the whole issue of cross contamination where foods that are naturally gluten free become contaminated with gluten incidentally in agricultural activities and manufacturing processes: Eating out at restaurants is a mine field for those with celiac disease because you don't know how food is handled back in the kitchen. Gluten free noodles boiled in the same water that was used for wheat noodles, eggs cooked on the same griddle that French toast was, etc.  
    • MI-Hoosier
      Thank you for the response and article. I was placed on the Mediterranean diet and been on that now for about 3 weeks. While not gluten free I am eating very little bread or anything with gluten ie a slice of whole wheat bread every couple days so assume that would cause issues now with a biopsy.  With the condition my liver is in I am unsure moving back to higher bread consumption is ideal.  In this scenario would my test results be enough to assume positive Celiac and just move forward gluten free?
    • trents
      Welcome to the forum, @MI-Hoosier! You are operating on a misconception about your "mixed" test results. You only had two celiac disease diagnostic tests run out of six that could have been ordered if your doctor had opted for a complete celiac panel. It is perfectly normal to not test positive for all possible celiac disease diagnostic tests. That is why there is more than one test option. It is the same way with other diagnostic testing procedures for many or most other diseases. Generally, when diagnosing a condition, a number of different tests are run and a diagnosis is arrived at by looking at the total body of evidence. The tTG-IGA test is the centerpiece of celiac disease blood antibody testing and the one most commonly ordered by doctors. You were strongly positive for that test. It was not an unequivocal result, IMO.  Having said that, it is standard procedure to confirm a positive celiac disease blood antibody test result with an endoscopy/biopsy which is still considered the gold standard of celiac disease diagnosis. Had your tTG-IGA been 150 or greater, your doctor many have opted out of the endoscopy/biopsy. The absence of GI distress in the celiac disease population is very common. We call them "silent celiacs". That can change as damage to the lining of the small bowel worsens. Elevated liver enzymes/liver stress is very common in the celiac population. About 18% of celiacs experience it. I was one of them. Persistently elevated liver enzymes over a period of years in the absence of other typical causes such as hepatitis and alcohol abuse was what eventually led to my celiac disease diagnosis. But it took thirteen years to get that figured out. Within three months of going gluten free my liver enzymes were back into normal range. Thank goodness, there is more awareness these days about the many long fingers of celiac disease that are not found in the classic category of GI distress. Today, there have been over 200 symptoms/medical conditions identified as connected to celiac disease. It is critical that you not begin a gluten free diet until your endoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel is over. Doing so before that procedure will invalidate it because it will allow healing of the small bowel lining to begin. Here is a link to an article covering celiac disease blood antibody testing:  
    • MI-Hoosier
      Hi,  I was recently diagnosed with stage 3 NASH and doctor is concerned something is caused my disease to progress quicker than they would expect.   During blood tests a celiac screen was pulled as my mom is a celiac. My ttg was a 49.4 (normal >15) but my endomysial antibody was negative. I have never had gluten symptoms and no issues with bread and am 54. Do I need a biopsy to rule celiac in or out with this mixed test? Any thoughts are appreciated.  
    • Sunshine4
      Many apologies for somehow changing your first name Scott! 
×
×
  • Create New...