Five Palms Beach Grill, Kihei, Maui

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In Brief: The Five Palms gave us a GF meal but it took a lot of work to pull it off. The wait staff made an effort to help us but if we hadn't stuck to our guns the meal may have not been a success. The bottom line is we had a GF meal but plan on putting in some time with the staff to make it so.



The sunset view from the Five Palms the night we visited was awesome. However that was the only part of our meal that came easily. Our waitress was pleasant and accommodating but clearly had in her mind that cileac was 'a food allergy', like the allergy her niece has to dust; translation: "yeah you'll sneeze some but you'll live through it". To her credit she took the GF card and disappeared into the kitchen to talk with the chef. She returned to tell us that anything but the bread and pasta would be safe for us to order and asked the telling question: "can you eat rice and mashed potatoes?". We explained that plain white or brown rice would be fine and inquired about the mashed potatoes; did they have a broth in them? She replied that she didn't think so but she'd check. Upon her return we were told that the mashed potatoes would be safe.



To play it safe my wife decided to order the Mahi-mahi, cooked with butter in a pan, and asked for white rice. This was similar to a meal on the menu except that Mahi-mahi came sauteed in a pan in a sauce and included mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. The waitress said that leaving off the sauce and skipping the mashed potatoes would be no problem. She returned to tell us that she had taken some time to explain the change to the chef and he replied with; "do you want to cook this meal?"



The meal arrived and one look told us that something had been lost in translation... the Mahi-mahi was covered with sauce, placed on top of mashed potatoes with roasted vegetables on the side; the garnish look suspiciously like deep fried tortilla strips. We asked the waitress what were the tortilla like items on the menu; she said "I don't know, is there a problem?" we replied that they looked like tortilla strips her reply: "I don't think they are; taste them and tell me what's in them..." my reply was "tasting them won't tell me what's in them..." can we have this meal like we ordered it? Mahi-mahi, cooked plain in a pan with white rice and no roasted vegetables? She agreed and took the meal away. She returned later to tell us that the deep fried garnish was made from potato... at this point we thanked her for the information and decided to skip asking her if it was a clean fryer or explain (again) cross contamination.



After a bit a new meal arrived complete with pan cooked Mahi-mahi, yellow rice pilaf and roasted vegetables. We decided at this point not to press our luck and ask again for plain white rice and no roasted vegetables and just eat the fish with a smile on our face. ;-)



This experience was a case-book example of how an experienced wait staff and cooperative chef/kitchen can make a huge difference towards a relaxing GF dining experience. Had our waitress listened to our explanation of cileac (no it's not like an allergy to dust...), had she been better informed as to garnish and sauce ingredients prior to our ordering and explained the kitchen's process for making both and lastly, since either of the above were to be, had the kitchen actually prepared what we ordered the first time around this would have easily been a relaxing experience.



It isn't too much to ask for an experienced and knowledgeable wait staff. If you've read through the blog you can tell that these types of individuals can go a long way to making your meal GF safe and relaxing. While the Five Palms Beach Grill did pull off a GF meal they really made us work for it.

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.

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.