Bungalows

If you have a food allergy I wouldn’t trust eating here and you may want to consider if this is the right resort for you since you are paying for all inclusive. I have celiac and we came here for our honeymoon. I assumed a resort at this price level and one which asks you during the reservation process if you have a food allergy and gluten is an option to select that your allergy would be addressed when checking in or when you go to dine. I did see some reviews after we booked about food allergies not being accommodated the way someone with celiac would want to be able to eat safely. At breakfast I asked for an omelette with no potatoes or toast and asked the waitress if it could be made separately in the back due to my allergy. The response was “ya maybe they could”. I immediately didn’t feel comfortable the omelette that time was ok so I ate it with no issues. The second day I asked for the same exact thing but we had a new waitress. They brought my omelette out with crumbs of the fried potatoes all over the plate and on top of the omelette itself. It appears when the kitchen realized that the order said no potatoes they just wiped it off the plate but I can get sick from cross contamination. The waitress NEVER came over to check on us and when I lost all trust in the kitchen and servers I never touched my food and she finally came by and picked up my plate never asking if everything was all right seeing I didn’t touch the omelette. We went off property to The Fish House each night and I bought bagels, toaster and luncheon meat to eat in my room. It sucks paying for all inclusive and not being able to eat safely.

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?

— Not Much/None

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

— Poor

The Bungalows is an all-inclusive adults-only resort in Key Largo, FL. They CLAIM to be knowledgeable about gluten-free and Celiac-safe cooking, and several of their menus are marked. We REALLY wanted to like this place, but sadly our experience was sub-par.

There are four locations at the resort which serve food. However, only two menus have GF items marked, and many of those actually include ingredients cooked in a common fryer so they are not really gluten-free. We had servers who knew a LOT about the food and how it was prepared, but we also had servers who knew so little that they were insisting that non-GF items (like certain desserts) actually WERE GF. The food-service manager was condescending and insisted he had all the knowledge that the main chef would have regarding food prep and ingredients, but there were things even the CHEF had to look up so we KNOW the manager would have either had to guess, lie, or go get the chef anyway. One server addressed my wife as "you're the one with the Celiac problem!" which did not help my wife's anxiety or self-esteem at all.

While some breakfast items could be ordered al la carte, most people were expected to eat off a buffet, which mixed GF and non-GF items (and often put breads right above GF things like fruit, so crumbs would dribble down). While there were a number of GF dessert offerings in one restaurant, they too were mixed in with non-GF items on the dessert buffet and often shared serving utensils.

When we made our initial reservation, there was a dropbox for food allergies that included gluten-free; we expected a similar treatment to how Sandals works, where the restaurants would know our requirements along with our meal reservation times. However, that information did not appear to go ANYWHERE but the main reservation form and there was no acknowledgement at each restaurant unless we pointed it our ourselves. Even then, a server would always try to give us bread or common-fryer corn chips, and we got funny looks when we refused. Not one ever asked if we wanted GF bread instead; it wasn't until almost the end of our stay that we found it was even an option. On the plus side, that bread was grilled rather than toasted, so it was warm and crispy without being unsafe.

This is not a cheap resort, and for what we paid, we really had expected a better level of service. We wound up going elsewhere to eat several meals, despite them being included in the price.

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

— Not at all

Safety Feature Ratings

• Staff will clean kitchen space or change gloves if asked

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Not Much

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

— Good