Denny's

I have Refractory Celiac Disease and therefore must be extremely careful what I eat. I came here with family and was planning on not eating. However, the waitress convinced me to give their GF items a shot. The GF items/options are clearly marked on the menu. However, I was still nervous so I turned into the customer that most servers probably hate and heavily questioned their cooking and food safety practices. (But, hey - when getting glutened could potentially mean a hospital stay, you do what you gotta do.) The good news - they are supposed to use separate grills for gluten containing items (such as pancakes) and GF items (such as eggs). Now, when I pushed it they said it may or may not always happen that way. But, they would clean the grill and ensure there was no cross-contamination. BUT, here's the bad news, and where they are probably making a lot of people sick... The English Muffin is clearly labeled as GF on the menu. But, when I questioned them on how it is prepared - it goes in the SAME TOASTER as all the other bread. There is no other option for the English Muffin. So, it will be cross-contaminated 100% of the time. So, if you have Celiac Disease do NOT get the English Muffin even though it is labeled as GF.

So, if you question them and make them do the right thing, and don't eat the English Muffin, you should be safe. Just don't expect to order items labeled as GF with no follow up and expect to not get glutened.

Celiac friendly?

No

Ordered the Fit Fare Veggie Skillet and specified gluten free (the menu says GF, I just wanted to stress the point). Should have realized there was a problem when she asked if I wanted toast with that. 20 minutes later I knew I had been glutened.

Do not visit this Dennys location with Celiac under any circumstance!! They have gluten free English muffins, but it doesn’t seem like the cooks understand what the difference is between a gluten and gluten free muffin. They gave me a gluten muffin on my takeaway order and I didn’t find out until I got home. The grill and fryer are also not dedicated gluten-free despite the fries being labeled as gluten-free.

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

— Not at all

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

Other Characteristics

• Good for dairy-free

Once I arrived I asked if they have a Gluten Free menu like I was told, they said they didn’t. They managed to compromise with a burger with no bun. Wouldn’t recommend for a meal

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?

— Some

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

— Good

Denny’s has gluten free options, but the servers do not seem to understand anything about out how stuff is prepped at this one, but the server brought the chef out to talk to me about how things are prepared. He sad each thing like eggs, bacon and sausage, and hash browns all have their own station. The gluten free English muffins are done in the same toaster though and he offered to clean it out but I told him not to worry about it.

He cleaned all the surfaces just in case something happened and he was happy to do it. Even came out to check on me and see how things were and make sure I knew he cleaned everything before even though those surfaces shouldn’t have had anything with gluten made on them.

I waited for 18 hours before doing this review to make sure I didn’t get sick and I have not. I usually get very sick very fast even from cross contamination.

Food was delicious. I got 2 linked sausages, 2 eggs over easy and hash browns

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

— Somewhat

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

Let’s face it. We don’t go to Denny’s for the cuisine. Yet they are always my travel back up plan. I’ve never ever gotten sick from their naturally GF eggs, breakfast meat, hash browns or fruit. Always tell my server my allergy and apologize about needing extra care taken that my food is on a freshly cleaned section of the grill. Reliable food when on a road trip.

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

If you’re gluten free keep driving.

The GF english muffin that I’ve had at other Dennys and is advertised all over the menu isn’t carried here. There are still other basic options but a lot involve substituting a GF english muffin.

The place feels dirty as well

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?

— Not Much/None

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

— Below Average