Review of Portage Bay Cafe

Emailed restaurant in advance. General manager replied with the following, which I found to be helpful and accurate:

“Thank you for reaching out!

We pride ourselves in being able to accommodate those with severe allergies. When a server notifies the kitchen that a customer has an allergy, the kitchen will clean the cooking surfaces and will use fresh cooking utensils. The food will also be marked with an allergy flag so that the plate doesn’t get confused with any others by the food runner.

There are a number of items on our menu that are gluten free, and a number of others that can be modified to be gluten free. I recommend you check out our menu online here: https://www.portagebaycafe.com/brunch-menu. Any item marked “gf” is gluten free by default. Items like our omelettes and scrambles that usually come with wheat toast can be gluten free by substituting our gluten free bread. You can also check out our allergy book, which breaks down our menu and highlights the major allergens in each dish:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/544ab456e4b0f3ba72eb800a/t/60b0690a08aa190da562a44e/1622173962901/Allergy+Cards+Summer+2021.pdf.

I hope this info is helpful. Your server should be very knowledgeable about the menu and will also be able to answer any questions you have. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any other questions.”

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

— Somewhat

Safety Feature Ratings

• Staff is knowledgeable and can answer questions
• Staff will clean kitchen space or change gloves if asked
• Food comes out flagged or marked gluten-free

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Most/All

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

— Excellent