Without Wheat

Swiss Chalet is a restaurant staple

Since being diagnosed with a gluten intollerance, Swiss Chalet has become my go-to restuarant. It’s familiar, it’s comfortable, and I know I can always get something to eat there. And who doesn’t love chicken?

(Also, the chalet sauce has super, magic healing abilities, but that’s another story.)

When ordering from their site tonight, I discovered a link at the bottom to an allergen guide. Really? They have one? Oh yes, AND it has wheat/gluten listed on it. Here’s a summary of what you can have:

Starters

Garden Salad, Greek Salad.

Personally, I still get the Caeser salad, and just pick out the croutons; I’m not sensitive enough to have to avoid having wheat touch stuff, I just can’t eat it in huge amounts.

Wraps, Sandwiches & Burgers

Nada. Not surprising.

Rotisserie Chicken

Quarter Chicken Breast (with or without skin), Quarter Chicken Leg (with or without skin), Half Chicken, Double Leg.

From the Grill

BBQ Ribs (Feature, Regular and Large Cuts), Grilled Chicken Breast (without rice or flatbread).

Side Servings

Fresh Cut Fries, Baked Potato, Mashed Potatoes, Side Garden Salad, Side Greek Salad, Traditional Coleslaw, Corn, Sautéed Mushrooms, Fresh Vegetables.

Note that Rice Pilaf is marked as having wheat or gluten. Also, they warn that anything fried (i.e. the fries) may come in contact with wheat, but don’t mark it as containing wheat/gluten.

Side Servings

Nada. Not even their corn chips.

Salad Dressings & Dips

Chalet Sauce, Raspberry Vinaigrette, Ranch, Chalet Dressing, Light Italian, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Light Mayonnaise, Blue Cheese Dip, Cajun Dip, Plum Sauce, Salsa.

Note that you cannot have Greek dressing on your Greek salad. Nor Caeser or Asian Sesame. The important thing is that you can have Chalet sauce.

Wholesome Choices

Garden Fresh Quarter Chicken Breast Dinner, Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Salad (without flatbread).

Kids Meals

Just the chicken thigh and drumstick. Sorry kids.

Desserts

Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream, Cranberry Raspberry Frozen Yogurt, Butterscoth, Chocolate and Strawberry sauces.

The guide also includes columns for allergies to peanut and peanut products, tree nuts and derivatives, sesame, milk products, eggs and egg sources, fish, shellfish, soy, and sulphite. There is a notice that almonds are present on site, so if you have a tree-nut allergy you’ll have to be careful. Overall, it was pretty thorough, and I was impressed to find it. Way to go, Swiss Chalet

If you want to download the guide yourself, you can access it here: Download Allergen Guide.

And if you live in Ontario, check out Gluten-Free Ontario for a list of other restaurants that provide gluten-free foods.