Why I won't be eating at Chiquito any time soon

You may remember me telling you recently about the new extension to the Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley with 6 new restaurants and a 9-screen Cineworld Cinema? In case you missed it, my review of the first Coeliac-friendly eatery I tried - Gourmet Burger Kitchen - is here

My second visit to the new restaurant complex was not quite so successful. We decided to try Chiquito, as regular readers of this blog will know that I love all types of Mexican food, and spicy food in general. 

However when we sat down in Chiquito and I was faced with their menu, I was really disappointed to see that they only had a "Gluten Intolerant Menu". I quizzed the waiter on what this actually meant and he said that the dishes contained on this menu were suitable for gluten intolerant diners, but like with many restaurants, they couldn't guarantee that the food served was 100% gluten free, leaving me to make the decision as to whether to stay and risk the food being cross-contaminated, or leave. This was a really tricky decision because I had been so looking forward to the meal and I just really wanted Mexican food! But we have to be really careful with places like this, I mean, it's really not worth risking making yourself ill, just for something you really want to eat. If there's any chance of cross-contamination I try to avoid it. 

I also checked the small print in their menu and saw that they advised that they don't cook their "gluten-intolerant" menu in a separate fryer, meaning obviously the chance of cross-contamination was really high. Here's what their website says:-

Wheat and gluten ingredients which are deep fried will use the same fryers in our kitchens as dishes not containing these ingredients - there may be risk of cross contamination which may therefore affect extremely sensitive sufferers.

You can read more about their menu's here

We actually got up and left, before even ordering. What a complete disappointment! If other restaurants can make the effort to have controls in their kitchens to minimise the risk of cross-contamination with nasty gluten, why can't a big chain like Chiquito do the same thing?

Cue angry/grumpy face from me! 

If you are gluten-intolerant and not as sensitive to a small amount of gluten, then you may just be OK here at Chiquito, but for Coeliacs who need to completely avoid gluten, Chiquito really isn't the place for us. 

Shame!