Cha Cha Cha Taqueria

There are two things that seriously piss me off--wasting my time and attempting to gluten me. These guys managed to do both.

I have Celiac Disease and haven't had a burrito in six years. Someone in a gluten-free group mentioned that Cha Cha Cha had gf teff tortillas and would make burritos out of them upon request (apparently this is only true for the Broadway location as I found out later). Sweet! My burrito-lust was stoked. I live in Sellwood, so I called the SW Waterfront location to see if they had the same offering.

I called and asked if they had gluten-free burrito shells and the employee who picked up the phone said, "yes, we have burritos." I repeated my question and she said that they did have gf shells. I drove down, paid for parking (it's a minimum of $2, all hours) and went inside. I repeated my question about gf burritos shells and she again answered in the affirmative. My I'm-about-to-get-gluten-poisoned spidey sense kicked in and I asked her what the gf burrito shells were made of and she replied, "whole wheat."

Seriously?

I told her that wasn't going to work for me and left.

I understand that Cha Cha Cha is not a dedicated GF restaurant, and as a result, I did everything on my part to make dining at that restaurant a reasonably safe experience--I called ahead, asked questions, and went in person (and asked those questions again) and the employee's complete ignorance of gluten/gluten-free almost resulted in my getting sick. This is unacceptable in 2021, in Portland, OR. I'm out $2, time on Sunday, and trust in any of the Cha Cha Cha restaurants.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not at all

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Poor