Calypso Bay Smokehouse

Expensive, but the meats are GF, not sides

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

— Somewhat

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the 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?

— Average

This is the only restaurant that Sea World recommended you eat at if you’re gluten free as the staff is supposed to be trained by FARE. That being said, they aren’t trained to know anything except “you can get meat without sauce.” After some back and forth I was able to find out that the fries are not gluten free because they use the same fryer for nuggets.

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

— Not very

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the 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?

— Poor

Super sad about the options at SeaWorld; they are poor, at best. Their website says they work with FARE and this is the restaurant they recommend - and every staff member will send you here. If you like meat, this is your place. You can’t eat the fries or anything else - only the meat. I have a kid who won’t eat meat so her lunch consisted of Dippin’ Dots (found a stand that had individual scoops per flavor) and cotton candy. They do search bags so up to you if you want to fight them on bringing food in. Legally, we’re covered by ADA so they shouldn’t stop us especially since their options are terrible.

PS - we even tried to get a yogurt parfait (granola is separated in the container so you can skip it) but even it had gluten, boo! You can eat a bag of expensive cuties (oranges).

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

Other Characteristics

• Good for takeout
• Offers outdoor seating

No reaction only had ribs with sauce and pickle (no bun or fries) it’s a good meal if drank with water it’s filling enough to get thru the day. It was pricy that’s only only reason for lacking stars

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

— Somewhat

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?

— Average

Do not come here. The employees are friendly and tried their best but this restaurant does NOT take gluten-free seriously. I payed way too much money for food that was [1] insubstantial (they charge full price for 1/4 a plate of the BBQ “meal” even though the vast majority of the plate is not GF and they are unwilling to substitute the food they don’t give you) and [2] obviously contaminated (there were bread crumbs from another customer’s bun littered across the very little amount of meat that they gave me).

I would pay someone $50 just to NOT go here and eat nothing.

I noticed that some of the reviews here claim that all of the meats and sauces are gluten free. I should note that I was explicitly told by employees that the BBQ sauce is NOT gluten free, and that the only GF options are the pulled pork and the brisket. After ordering the brisket, I was then informed by another employee (who asked her manager) that the brisket is NOT gluten free… it had to be taken back.

I think this inconsistent information regarding GF options speaks to the lack of understanding this restaurant has about GF requirements.

I should also note that I did explain that I needed to avoid cross-contamination for medical reasons. The gluten-littered bread crumbs came afterwards, and the employees did not take the care to use new gloves after touching gluten-containing items.

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

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

— Poor

About the only option for gluten free food. All the meats are gluten free as is the sauce, but that is it. Conflicting information about the fries so I did not risk it. Salad without dressing was available. They were out of fruit. The ribs were great. Got here at 11:15 and almost no wait to get in and get served. Calypso Bay Smokehouse is SeaWorld San Diego’s Designated Allergen Friendly Location. No published allergy guide is available.

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

— Very

Safety Feature Ratings

• Other dedicated kitchen equipment (oven, toaster, pots, pans, utensils, etc.)
• Staff is knowledgeable and can answer questions

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?

— Excellent

Other Characteristics

• Good for keto
• Good for kids
• Good for lunch
• Good for takeout
• Good with other allergies
• Offers outdoor seating

All meats were gf, they got mine from the back, and they subbed fruit for fries, and did pickles as the side. No dessert option here though.

Both my daughter and I are gluten intolerant and we ate here on our recent trip to Sea World. While I will say the BBQ chicken was tasty, the experience was not a great one. We had to wait a long time to talk to someone who knew how to handle our food. No one else could answer any questions, and we were holding up a long line of people which made us very uncomfortable. Also, when we did talk to someone I was not sure of how knowledgable they were. We did not get sick though. Also, the only sides we could have were fresh strawberries and pickles. So all in all just an ok experience.

GLUTEN & DAIRY FREE REVIEWMy daughter and I both have Hashimoto's and have to be both dairy & gluten free - or pay the price. :( We alerted one of the staff and she had a chef come out to talk to us. Chef Sheen, was extremely polite and helpful. He answered all our questions, asked a few of his own, never made us feel like freaks or pains in the tush. The food was amazing! Tender, moist, delicious spare ribs, salad and fruit. Great experience and will definitely eat here the next time we're in the park. Thank you Chef Sheen and Sea World for caring about us allergy folks.

Celiac friendly?

Yes