My Islands Gluten-Free Runaround
Decided to hit Islands Restaurant today craving burgers without the wheat drama. Grabbed their menu, scrolled straight to the gluten-free section feeling all hopeful. Looked pretty straightforward at first glance.
Step one: Spot the labeled items. Burgers? They have GF buns. Sweet! Marked clearly with “GF”. Tacos with corn tortillas? Also labeled. Cool cool. Chili caught my eye – saw no label, figured maybe they forgot. Bad move.
Step two: Asked the server. Friendly dude. Pointed at the chili. His face kinda went “oh…” Then he laid it out.
- Chili has flour as a thickener. Surprise gluten bomb.
- Fries? Forget it. Shared fryer with everything breaded. Cross-contamination city.
- Sauces? Most are okay except teriyaki – that sneaky soy sauce wheat.
Felt like my safe list shrunk by half. Seriously thought the fries were a maybe. Nope.
Step three: Played it stupid safe. Ended up ordering:
- Burger with GF bun (obviously)
- Side salad, dressing on the side – went with oil and vinegar
- Plain grilled chicken breast (no sauce, nada)
Step four: Enjoyed… cautiously. Food came, tasted fine. Burger decent. Salad basic but safe. Chicken? Dry as heck, but hey, my tummy felt okay later. Big win.
Bottom line? Their menu lies by omission. Just seeing “GF” next to burgers tricks you. You gotta:
- AVOID anything fried. Period. Shared fryer is death.
- ASK about sauces. Every. Single. Time.
- SUSPECT anything stewed or saucy not explicitly GF. Thickeners love flour.
- Go BORING often. Plain grilled protein, plain salad.
Left full but annoyed. Labeling isn’t enough Islands! Show the hidden traps. Real tired of playing detective just to eat. Bummer.