Review of Rachel's Restaurant & Bakery

Just wanted to share an experience last night that I had at Rachel’s on Ocean Beach, Fire Island. I went there for dinner based off of recommendations from this group. Their menu online did not have gf options, but after calling, they assured me their kitchen was safe and they said they can make any sandwich, wrap, or pasta gluten free. I was so excited. The waitress came and I ordered a gf pasta with grilled chicken and mozz. She wasn’t writing down the order, which made me nervous, but she repeated the entire order back and said gluten free pasta. It looked delicious when it came out. I confirmed that it was gf and the waitress said yes. I began to eat it and got an upset stomach almost immediately. I asked the waitress again if it was gluten free and she said “oh shoot.” She took the pasta back after I already ate probably 15-20 pieces. She brought me out a new pasta and said “sorry, but you couldn’t have eaten that much anyways.” The new pasta was so overcooked that it was like mush and my stomach hurt enough to the point where I couldn’t eat anyways. The waitress got extremely nasty with us. She didn’t ask if anyone else needed anything. She came over and threw the check down and said she took the pasta off. The manager eventually came over and we asked if she was aware about what had happened. She said “yes, but you should have ordered gluten free pasta if you had an allergy.” The waitress had told her manager that the mistake was mine. We explained what had happened and the manager responded with “so what do you want me to do about it?” She also said the waitress waits on parties of 8 and never writes anything down and never messes up. All I was trying to do was explain why what happened can be dangerous and they kept replying with “well it’s not like you have a peanut allergy or something” or “you didn’t eat that much anyways so you’ll be fine.” After arguing with them about their mistake, the manager said “just forget it. Don’t pay the entire bill. Just leave.” We our card was already out to pay the rest of the bill anyways so it’s not like we were trying to get a free meal out of it. We insisted on paying for the rest of the bill and she said “no, please just leave.” As we were leaving, she asked if I had celiac. She said her sister and niece both have it too so she understands... so why sit there and argue with me about the mess up? Do not go here if you have celiac!

Horrible customer service. So unprofessional

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the 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?

— Poor

Other Characteristics

• Good for breakfast/brunch