Review of Local 22 Kitchen And Bar

Had a pleasant lunch with work colleagues. There are *some* GF options, and wait staff is really willing to help.

But be warned: much of what they present as GF is definitely **NOT** gluten free, by any stretch of the imagination. On their carry-out menu, they even label salads with barley as GF. Worse yet, they do that unconscionable thing that so many places do: label food as "gluten free" that is actually fried in a non-GF fryer! One wait person told me that they do use a dedicated GF fryer, and that the risotto was not GF -- but was corrected on both accounts by another member of the staff, who is GF sensitive (but not celiac). That person is trying to enlighten the management about the seriousness of this kind of mislabeling. So maybe things will be better in the future...?

That said, it looks like about 50% of the items can be made GF if you trust them. (There are a *lot* of fried items.) And I trusted them. I had some excellent grilled asparagus, and a very good lamb burger without the bun. They were nice enough to substitute extra salad greens, which was wonderful. So far, no sign of any serious cross-contamination.

So in sum, this looks like a place that has good intentions, is failing to meet them completely, but might do so in the future. I certainly cannot call them Celiac Friendly, but neither can I call them Unfriendly.