I had dinner at Milestones this week and had a sub-par experience. They have a gluten free menu that I ordered off of, but my meal was still served with a breadstick on the side. Below is a letter I sent to the restaurant chain to alert them to their error, as it wasn’t addressed while I was at the restaurant. I’m posting this because when I order off a gluten free menu I assume that what I am getting is actually gluten free, and this time it was not. I don’t want someone else to order off this menu and get unintentionally glutened. Just because they have a gluten free menu doesn’t mean we have to stop being diligent about our food.
I had dinner at the Burnaby Milestones on November 4th and had a problem with my meal that was not addressed by my server or by any other staff member. I have Celiac Disease and was in need of a gluten free meal. While I applaud the efforts of your restaurant for having a gluten free menu, I don’t believe that the severity of this disease and the need of completely gluten free meals has been communicated with the staff at Milestone’s. I asked to see the gluten free menu, ordered the tomato basil brown rice spaghettini and let my server know I needed a gluten free meal. I couldn’t have been clearer.
When my meal came it was served with a breadstick. Not gluten free. I questioned the food runner and she said, that yes my meal was gluten free, with rice pasta. I asked about the breadstick and she didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. I asked if the breadstick was gluten free, she admitted it wasn’t and took my meal away. She promptly returned less than two minutes later, in which time I’m assuming the breadstick was simply taken off of my plate, instead of re-making my meal.
My server didn’t mention the mistake, nor was it spoken of by any other member of the staff. When I order off a gluten free menu at a restaurant I assume that what I am served is in fact gluten free. Unfortunately this was not the case in your establishment.
If I receive a response from the chain I will post it here and keep you all informed!
**UPDATE- I received a phone call from the manager at the Burnaby Milestones a few minutes ago. He was very apologetic for what had happened and explained their policy for dealing with allergies. He seemed very disappointed in his staff that were working that night for the over-site and explained that a mistake like this with an allergy shouldn’t have happened. Although a phone call doesn’t make up for a possible glutening I really appreciate that the manager contacted me so promptly and seemed very eager to make up for the incident.
**UPDATE x2- About a half hour after this phone call I received a phone call from the Milestones area manager wanting to address the problem. He was very understanding and eager to solve the issue. I was very impressed by the follow up I received from both Milestones managers; it shows that they take these issues very seriously and don’t just brush them under the rug like many other restaurants might.
Lame balls!
It’s nice that you received two phone calls, but if my staff disappointed a customer and almost poisoned them, I’d be working my ass off to get them sitting back at one of my tables again.
They should have apologized, let you know that they would issue bulletins addressing what celiac disease is to their staff, told them that they have to remake stuff instead of sending it back out like that, and send you a gift certificate to prove to you that they can get things right, when you finally decide to visit again. One bad experience that was paid for deserves a great experience for free!
The managers both said that they would be addressing the issue with the staff members involved that night, and they are going to send me a gift card. The store manager also said that if I do return I should introduce myself to him so that he can apologize in person. All in all I was very impressed with both of the managers reactions and how quickly and throughly they dealt with my complaint.
They explained their policy for when people come in with allergies and both of the managers seemed very disappointed that their policy wasn’t completely followed. One of them said it’s possible there was another dish of the same pasta being made when they brought mine back and they took that one, but I doubt it. That would have been some crazy coincidental timing!
I definitely agree with you, “one bad experience that was paid for deserves a great experience for free!”