Citrus the Diner

Our family of six went to Citrus the Diner because of the vast variety of menu options. A lot of us got breakfast. I had the shrimp and grits which were creamy and absolutely delicious! The staff is very knowledgeable about the gluten free options available. My son said the gluten- free toast was amazing, which is something you can’t usually say about gluten-free bread. I can’t wait to go back to this charming little restaurant with a fresh menu and great service! Thanks to Jersey and management for making it so enjoyable!

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

— Somewhat

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?

— Excellent

Citrus Diner in Denver advertises Gluten Free foods on their menu, but is very selective about when they actually accommodate your GF order. We have given them a few tries and yesterday was our last visit.

My daughter has been there with friends and one time they accommodated her GF French Toast order and prepared it in a separate skillet. Another time she was there and the kitchen refused so she sat there with friends who ate and only had a drink.

We went one other time and initially they said no accommodation until I insisted on speaking with the manager/owner. He quickly reversed the servers refusal and spoke to the kitchen. My daughter ate her meal and had no repercussions.

We only returned because the owner made a concerted effort that time. Yesterday was our last and final visit.

We went for lunch during a non-busy time and placed our order with one of them being GF. As usual we requested a separate skillet for the French Toast preparation. We were told that was ok, but that they dip the GF bread into the same egg wash as the Gluten bread.

We requested no eggwash and just butter in the skillet and topped with Nutella. The kitchen said no.

Clearly this establishment is not safe for anyone with Celiac Disease and is only willing to provide what they offer on their menu based on who is in the kitchen.

We cancelled all our food and paid for our drinks which were outrageously expensive. $13 for 3 drinks! These were not specialty drinks or smoothies. I tipped the waitress a few dollars since she was just the messenger and we left.

Not a good experience, but a lesson learned. We thought we had covered cross contamination issues, but are lucky our server informed us about the eggwash.

If they really wanted to provide a true GF meal they could have mixed up an egg and some milk in a separate bowl, but there was no way I was going to request that after their refusal to do the bread with just butter in the skillet.

Citrus either doesn’t understand or care about providing safe GF meals and should note on their menu that no items are safe for individuals with Celiac Disease.

Not to mention the temperamental kitchen staff and the over priced drinks!

So we left feeling disappointed and scalped for a few drinks.

Celiac friendly?

No

Great options for the GF diner. Please ask questions though. While they would cut the gf bread with a different knife and prep area, they said it would be toasted in same place as their regular bread, so I ordered my turkey salad sandwich w/o toasting the bread and I had no problem. Very tasty and look forward to dining there again.

Had the gluten free toast.. and a cheese omelet great food!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Love it here. Staff is very knowledgeable. Able to adjust items to make gluten free. Offer gluten free bread.

Celiac friendly?

Yes