La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant

Our first time at this Mexican restaurant we are very careful about gluten free as my wife has celiac disease. We have had pretty good luck at Mexican restaurants but not here the food and drinks were excellent as was the service and the place looked very well taken care of. Unfortunately whoever is in charge of gluten free doesn’t know what they are doing as I just read reviews of people getting gluten. My wife and I cook gluten free everyday it is not that tough if you make sure of your products being gluten free. We were very surprised when we got home and my wife was sick. Management needs to get someone who can manage the gluten free much better than this. Again it is not that tough to do. Safety issues like this are what really separates good restaurants and poorly managed restaurants. What it takes is someone keeping track of quality issues and they are not doing that when it comes to GLUTEN!!! When we see gluten free that’s what we expect.

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

— Not at all

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main 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?

— Excellent

I had been eating here a while not knowing their chips were fried in oil all contaminated. I know they are corn and of course they have the best queso. I have learned to bring in my own chips. The tacos are usually what I get every time and they appear to be safe as well as the rice. It is just frustrating as they are truly not aware of how bad some of our allergies are so I chose to barely go there anymore.

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

— Not very

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main 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?

— Good

I have silent celiac (no digestive symptoms) and ate here often believing I was safe. Then I bought a Nima sensor and tested the supposedly gluten free Enchiladas San Miguel. Gluten was quickly detected. I won’t ever eat there again! This was in September 2019. Their food is delicious but not celiac safe!

Celiac friendly?

No

I called ahead and asked about the gf items and fryers. We decided to try it out. My 8yo son (celiac) ordered the quesadilla. When ordering his side we asked if the French fries were gf and if they would use the gf fryer for them. We were told they were gf and they would use the other fryer. My son had 1 bite of the French fry and I noticed it looked like they had a coating on them. I stopped him from eating anymore and called over the waiter. I asked him to look at the box to be sure they were gf. The manager came over and said they just had the clear bag that they were in and that he would think they are not safe. WHY WERE WE TOLD THEY WERE SAFE?! To make matters even better, they did not take it off the bill.... but did bring a small side of rice out. My son has now been vomiting for an hour.

Celiac friendly?

No

The staff seemed to understand that cross contamination was important, however after reassuring me my meal would be safe I have been glutenEd.

I only do 2 stars as the food tasted good, but isn’t safe.

Celiac friendly?

No

Celiac friendly?

Yes

La Fiesta is by far the best Mexican restaurant I have found. The food is so delicious and the staff is incredible. I probably eat here about once a week and have never had any issues. The staff has always been accommodating and are willing to alter menu items for dietary restrictions. Since their recent remodeling they have updated their excellent menu and have noted what items can be prepared gluten free. They have corn tortillas, which already come with some meal items, but can always be substituted in place of wheat tortillas.

Also as an update they do have a dedicated fryer for corn chips.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

They now have a fryer just for corn products. Was able to eat the house nachos and cheese nachos. There pork tacos were good. I have no tolerance for gluten at all. I get deathly sick. I did not get sick at all.

They use shared fryers so they are not exactly celiac friendly. They did pan fry a dish for my wife which was very nice. There is a language barrier and it was difficult to express our concerns. If they only had a dedicated fryer. Great food.

Celiac friendly?

No