The Greek Bistro - Kihei, Maui

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In Brief: The Greek Bistro handled our GF requests in style. Three of our party have cileac and all three received meals to their liking (two adults and one eight year old little boy - he did bring his own noodles... :)). The wait staff and kitchen seemed to know their stuff and provided us with GF meals.

Since 1988, The Greek Bistro has serving tasty Greek dishes in Kihei. We visited this restaurant on many occasions before my wife learned she had cileac. We hoped to be able to visit this charming little restaurant tucked away in Kihei but were worried that they may not be able to address a GF diet. We were pleasantly surprised when the wait staff quickly grasped our GF requirements and worked closely with the kitchen to provide us with tasty GF dishes.

My wife had their calamari steak strips. They prepared the calamari without flour, checked the sauce and aioli to be sure they were GF. The wait staff handled the requests effortlessly and was pleased to double check with the kitchen anything they were unsure of.

This was a great dining experience; we came away satisfied and enjoyed some GF meals! I hope you have the same experience if you dine here.

Maalaea Grill, Maui - Kihei

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In Brief: Maalaea Grill came through with a GF meal for us. After a day of whale watching we had planned on eating a packed lunch. But after looking at the menu, and speaking to the wait staff we decided to give them a whirl. The end result was a good GF meal. I'm giving them four stars since they didn't follow through with our request to leave off a part of the salad.

We were a bit nervous to dine here for lunch. The chef-owners are the same as Cafe O'Lei in Kihei and we got 'glutened' at that restaurant. However, the wait staff and kitchen handled our special requests in style and mostly without a hitch.

It was our first time to visit this restaurant and we had planned on just eating a packed lunch but when we saw a Quinoa salad on the menu we thought "hey, maybe they get it!", and we were right. We did ask them to leave off the roasted vegetables since in the past they have presented a problem (probably cross contamination) and they neglected to meet our request. It could have been that the kitchen staff understood the risk of cross contamination and knew there would be none or, the more likely scenario, they didn't get the message somewhere along the way.

The bottom line with Mallaea Grill, you'll need to be specific in your requests but they will do their best to assist you.

Spago, Maui, Wailea

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In Brief: Spago gave us a very good GF meal, however a friend received a non-GF meal the week before so we were extra careful thus the four star rating...

Some close friends asked us to dine with them on Christmas day at Spago. My wife's sister had eaten there the week before and the wait staff assured her that she would receive a GF meal. To be on the safe side she ordered the steak and was careful to explain her dietary needs. In spite of her efforts her meal was not GF and she suffered the consequences.

Due to my wife's sister's bad experience, on our visit to Spago we decided to order off of the menu. The wait staff was cooperative but seemed to down play the GF diet a bit. When we explained the dietary requirements for cileac her response was "oh, so you're very sensitive..." this was a bit of a mixed blessing. I read it to mean that their first approach would be to treat this as an allergy. Sending the message that they didn't really know the difference between cileac and a food allergy. Now I admit, I'm probably overly sensitive to this subject but after awhile I tend to pick up on the small differences between wait staff and those signals can make me nervous... :)

To their credit, the wait staff and the kitchen produced a simple 'made to order' diner that was tasty and GF. My wife decided to pass on the vegetables just in case there was some 'unknown spice' (this often is the case... a lesson hard learned) and go with a pan fried fish "opakapaka" and plain white rice.

The good news is that the meal was GF and the wait staff worked within our special request parameters. We had a safe dining experience. If you're careful you may have the same...

By the way, I had the lamb (from Colorado) and it was almost as good as the lamb at Ferraro's (same hotel... different kitchen).

Seawatch - Wailea, Maui

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In Brief: My wife's sister got 'glutened' at this restaurant just a week before we visited so we were extra cautious and chose not to order off of the menu. I am giving this restaurant four stars because they did give us an excellent GF meal and they made it look easy. However, I'm not sure what the experience would have been if we had ordered off of the menu so - be careful and explain what your dietary needs.

The Seawatch is in a beautiful setting and has a very good seafood menu. Our waitress was very accommodating and attentive to the GF dietary requirements that my wife and I shared with her. Using her GF dietary warning card, my wife explained her diet and the issue of cross-contamination. The waitress took the card to the kitchen and returned assuring us that they could accommodate her needs.

Since my wife's sister had been 'glutened' the prior week at this same restaurant we decided to ask for Mahi-mahi in a pan with plain white rice. The kitchen staff was more than happy to meet her request. The fish did come seasoned (which worried me... I offered to play the 'bad guy' and have them re-do the meal... my wife decided to risk it and eat it anyway - she hates to cause a scene. :) ) to our delight there was no gluten in the seasoning; the kitchen assured us that they wouldn't use an 'off the self' seasoning and it appears they didn't!

As far as dessert goes... to be fair we didn't ask since my wife and I were stuffed and figured we just wouldn't risk it since there was nothing on the menu (short of fruit) that was clearly GF.

To wrap this up we received a good GF meal but we were extra careful due to previous reports we'd heard about this restaurant.

Fred's Mexican Cafe - Kihei, Maui

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In Brief: A Mexican restaurant with a GF menu?! Yes! We dinned safely at Fred's.

I don't usually expect a Mexican restaurant to have great GF experience or sensibilities. This isn't a slam against Mexico, it's just been our experience that we need to be very selective about what to order when visiting this type of restaurant.

For this meal we had two adults and one eight year old little boy who require a GF menu. One adult ate before we left for lunch and the little boy was expecting to eat a lunch that his mom packed for him. Wow, were we ever surprised when the waiter responded to a GF question (it was decided to try and get corn tortillas) with; "Oh, wait a minute, you need our wheat free menu". We all looked at each other and said, "Uh, yeah, that would be nice."

These guys have their act together! Their menu is actually a list of items that they think are safe and things they don't think are GF. They offer a few suggestions, tell you what items that make up a meal you should substitute and in the end remind you that they can only do their best.

Now get this; Fred's had a staff meeting to address the GF menu requirements they are constantly getting. The output of that meeting was this GF menu/guide. This is something that other restaurants could really learn from. Our waiter thinks that this guide exists at all of their affiliated restaurants too... well we plan to find out! :)

To top it all off, as my wife was ordering her lunch, the waiter said, "You better not get the black beans, they're made with a broth that contains wheat." Now that's the kind of experience that puts you at ease.

A GF Mexican restaurant named Fred's on Maui, we dinned there safely!

Lahaina Grill (fka David Paul's Lahaina Grill) - Kihie, Maui

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In Brief: The staff acts like GF meals are a daily occurrence. They did have one misstep, and it was clear they didn't know everything about GF diets, but their misstep was remedied quickly and with a lot of class. It's clear that the chef and the waitstaff work as a team. We had a safe experience. Four stars only because the wait staff was a bit inexperienced with GF diets.

Previously this restaurant was named David Paul's Lahaina Grill. Its been in business since 1990. The name changed in December 2007, but the owner, Jurg Munch and the exceptional food and service are still the same. The exceptional service came through loud and clear for us.

The night we visited this fine restaurant we had two adults who require a GF diet. The wait staff was more than attentive and was quite knowledgeable however, he admitted that he didn't know everything about celiac and it was clear that he had more to learn. We did hear the classic "So, you can't eat potatoes, right?" and this did worry us a bit (and thus the four stars) however, it soon became clear that he was going to do whatever it took to make our dining experience as smooth as possible.

Our waiter showed the signs of someone who was very interested in our needs. He: 1) made a list of what looked good to us to double check with the chef, 2) offered suggestions that he felt would be safe, 3) knew for a FACT that the broth base was made on-site and contained only vegetables.

Appetizers, salad all came to us safe and GF. So what was the misstep? The fish my wife ordered came with blue cheese crumbles, she knew to ask that these be left off of the fish since blue cheese is often started with bread (I don't claim to be a cheese expert but she avoids blue cheese). The wait staff checked with the chef and assured us that it would be no problem to leave the blue cheese off of the fish and that there would be no cross contamination issues.

The meal arrived and, you guessed it, blue cheese on the fish. Now here's the interesting part. The waiter noticed this at the same time my wife did; he promptly grabbed the dish, apologized and made a mad dash to the kitchen. He returned in a few minutes apologizing for the blue cheese. Now, this is a great sign but it can also be worrisome. Anyone with celiac who's experienced this knows that one of two things are probably going on in the kitchen 1) they're making a brand new meal (no risk that way of cross contamination) or 2) they are quickly scraping the blue cheese off of the fish and will return in a few minutes with a unsafe non-GF meal.

I am happy to report that option 2 is how the Lahaina Grill handled the matter. And as an additional plus; the dish was on the house. We ended the meal being able to select from a number of GF desserts too.

Yes, I would recommend Lahaina Grill; and no, it's not because the dish was free... :) it's because they really worked to give us a GF experience. I'm sure with more experience they could quickly earn five stars. Oh, and the non-GF meal I had? I had the veal and it was out of this world!

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar - Kihei Maui

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In Brief: Sansei gave us a GF meal but it was a bit of a work out for us. The wait staff worked hard to assist us but you can tell they aren't really used to this type of a request. NOTE: we called ahead and they confirmed they could accomodate a gluten free menu. I debated about giving them only three stars but decided that I need a way to communicate a level of experience for the chef and the wait staff. Three stars shows they tried and succeeded! However if we didn't spell out the entire meal VERY carefully for them they may have not provided us with a GF experience.

I LOVE sushi and Sansei is a great sushi place! The menu is very complete and their creations are amazing. We introduced the GF dietary requirements to our waitress; we gave her our Select Wisely lamented GF diet card and then heard the kind of response that makes us especially careful; "Oh, so you're allergic to rice, right?" :(

Regardless of that first misstep we had hope for our waitress; she seemed genuinely interested in ciliac and wanted to help us out. My wife carefully and thoughtfully explained ciliac, grains that contain gluten and the dangers of cross contamination. Our waitress listened carefully and then recommended a fried sushi roll. Yeah, we were worried...

As it worked out we asked lots of questions, carefully directed her attention to the menu items we were interested in and after four trips to the kitchen (by the way; our waitress never complained) it was decided that Mahi-mahi, white rice and a house salad without dressing would be safe. There probably would have been other options for us if the wait staff and kitchen would have been more experienced with GF diets but we came away with a GF meal so everyone was happy.

Will we go again? Hard to say... I do love their sushi but I'm not sure we're willing to risk it again. Maybe I'll go there sometime for happy hour and pu-pu's? :)

Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante - Kihei Maui

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In Brief: Ferraro's was a hit! While the menu is a bit pricey, they can boast gluten free pasta and a wait staff and kitchen (chef) that really went out of their way to make our meal GF (safe) and memorable.

At first blush an Italian restaurant is not often on the list of places that we seek out in the U.S for a GF meal (this is not the case in Northern Italy - but that's for another post). However, Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante in the Four Seasons in Kihei came through in a big way.

Tonight was a real test for this restaurant. Three folks with celiac were at the table; two adults and one eight year old little boy. Finding a GF meal for each of these tastes can be a challenge but not so at Ferraro's.

The wait staff seemed knowledgeable about celiac. But experience told us not to take his positive attitude at face value. However he proved that he really did get it when he offered up gluten free pasta, and a list of the entrees on the menu that would be safe. Just for good measure he asked the 'chef' (note, not just the 'kitchen') to verify a few questions we came up with about some fish entrees.

They even made sure that the dessert that our eight year old nephew ordered was made GF by removing a few ingredients; believe me he didn't mind one bit!

The meal was great (the non-GF meal I had was great too), the view was awesome and everyone with celiac got away safe. In short, if you're looking for a good meal, great views and attentive staff along with a GF experience you're probably going to be okay at Ferraro's at least we were last time we ate there.

Cafe O'Lei - Kihei, Maui

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In brief: You'll probably want to avoid Cafe' O'Lei in Kihei if you want a GF experience. The wait staff tried to help us but we seemed to have fallen victim to cross contamination.

I was hoping that the first restaurant review on our blog would be a five star GF winner... unfortunately that was not to be the case.

For those of you who have visited Hawaii you know that there are some great restaurants on the islands. Some good friends ranked Cafe O'Lei on Maui in Kihei as a small but great place to eat so we decided, since it was within walking distance of our condo, to eat there the night we arrived in Maui.

My wife carries a few laminated cards that explain what her dietary needs are and the cards clearly lists the ingredients that can't be included in her meal. We ordered these cards from Select Wisely (http://www.selectwisely.com/). So, armed with our GF cards we were ready for our first dining experience on Maui.

The waiter listened attentively as she explained her dietary needs and when given the card he promptly took it to the kitchen to get some advice as to what they could prepare for her that would be safe. This was a great sign! From experience we've learned that a wait staff that is willing to engage the kitchen helps the odds go in our favor that the meal will be GF. However that was not to be the case tonight...

The waiter returned and suggested she order some sushi and that it would be GF. We know that we won't be able to eat the soy sauce from the table, but we are very happy to hear that the sushi and the sushi rice are GF! We explained about the dangers of 'cross contamination' and the waiter assured us that the sushi bar would be clean and not to worry.

Well, it turned out that the sushi was not GF and my wife had a rough night... We're guessing that it was a case of cross contamination.

Since the wait staff tried to help us out; I feel bad not giving them any stars. However, 'getting glutened' is the worst experience for those with celiac so no stars for Cafe' O'Lei in Kihei.

The reason...

I know there are other blog posts out there for families with gluten free needs but I decided to start my own blog to keep track of the places we've visited to share our experiences with others. I'll try to keep it up to date but we may not get back to some places so I can't promise that a certain restaurant will still be helpful or horrible but I feel compelled to share our good experiences and and those that aren't so good...

Over the years that my wife and I have been travelling we have visited some great restaurants who have gone out of their way to assist us. Sad to say we have also had our share of "I'm too busy to ask the kitchen..." waiters who appear to be too overworked to care about their customers. I hope to share on this site those places that really care about their customers and give them the praise they deserve. Those that don't seem to care about the needs of their customers; well I wish them all the best, I just don't want other families to have to go through a bad experience if they can avoid it, so we'll list those restaurants too.

Now for a little history. As a child I had a bunch of food allergies. Nothing really serious but nonetheless my parents worked hard to keep me away from what I was allergic to. Fortunately, as an adult I have very few allergies and can eat almost anything (except beets... and I don't like beets so this has worked to my benefit).

My wife has celiac disease, so does her sister and her nephew. I have learned that this is totally different from the food allergies I had as a kid. For those of you who have celiac or have someone in your family who has this disease you know all about it. For everyone else you can learn about the disease at: http://www.celiac.org/

My wife and I love to travel and it can be a challenge to find places who are truly considerate of a gluten free diet as we navigate new locations, cultures and foods. It's not that people aren't mostly willing to accommodate her needs its just that some places do better than others; and yes there are those few who just don't seem to care.

Over time I will be adding to this site restaurant reviews; with an eye to identifying those restaurants who create great food and provide a true Gluten Free (GF) experience. Since I'm not a food critic I'm not sure how useful my culinary opinion will be but I can tell you if the staff was helpful, if they have a gluten free menu, if in the end we enjoyed a truly GF experience.

I hope you find our postings useful and that our experiences can help you enjoy your travels a bit more.