Review of Cate's Italian Garden

Before we left for our Lake George vacation, I researched restaurants in the area that seemed safe for celiacs (there aren’t a ton, unfortunately) and if there was any question on the website, I called and spoke with the manager just to be sure. I spoke with Cate’s manager at length. She was very sweet and put me on hold to confirm everything with the head chef to make sure she was giving me the right info. I decided to keep them on my dinner list for the trip.

Unfortunately, they don’t take reservations. It’s first come, first serve. So we went there one night around 6:45 with our party of six, including my six year old (my son with celiac) and my two year old daughter. I asked how long the wait was. They said about an hour and a half to two hours. My face immediately fell. That was far too long to wait - my kids especially were starving - and as we all know, it’s not like we could just head to the restaurant next door. No spontaneity with celiac.

The hostess saw my disappointed face and my two kids and said, Hang on. She and her colleague scanned the table chart to see where they could possibly put us. At this point, another woman who worked there swung by and asked what they were doing. The hostess explained she was trying to find a way to seat us without having to wait two hours for a table. I then chimed in and said, “My son has celiac and there aren’t very many options for dinner around here that are safe for him. Yours is one of the few.” The woman immediately looked up at me and said, “Wait - were you the one who called last week?? I’m the woman who spoke with you!!” At that, we both grinned and started chatting as if we were old buddies while the rest of my family looked at us, puzzled lol. She then glanced at a family about our size who was just getting up to leave after their meal. She looked at me and said, “We can seat you right there. Just give us a minute to get the table ready.”

It was insanely sweet of her to do that, as I know there were other people waiting ahead of us. But she knew the situation with my son’s disease and understood it would be a pain in the butt for us to find somewhere else to eat at that point that was safe for him, so she went above and beyond to accommodate us. And - my son’s pizza was delicious and he ended up eating the whole thing, with no illness afterwards. Highly recommend!

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

— 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?

— Excellent