Came in with a group of 5 celiacs, and 2 others willing to eat gluten free. Spruce said they could do the quinoa bowl and Brussels sprouts safely for celiacs and that’s it. Even the steak frites (labeled gf) came with a warning from the wait staff.
Wait staff said they still carry gluten free buns and have a gluten free and vegetarian dedicated fryer, but that they’re walking back their claims that they are celiac safe. They said it’s a small kitchen and a shared grill and that they weren’t willing to clean pans/the grill sufficiently to cater to celiacs. They said they’re catering to people who gluten free by choice only, not celiacs. Didn’t talk to anyone from the kitchen but it didn’t seem like a welcoming nor accommodating environment so we decided not to stay.
Stopped in prior to catching the ferry and asked the hostess if I could get a Celiac safe GF to-go order order and she directed me straight to the very knowledgeable manager at the bar. Dedicated fryer for fries, gluten free buns for burgers and pulled pork sandwiches….very concerned about dietary needs. The manager was understanding and helpful. Although this is not a dedicated GF kitchen and it’s small, they made an effort to provide a safe to-go meal in time for my ferry. So fast, I had time to eat it at the bar! The pork was a little tough, but the bun was good and I would return for the friendliness, great service and attention to detail. Charming place.
We came to Port Angeles very excited to try this place out, but we were disappointed. The menu was very confusing to me because they said they had lots of gluten free options for me, but the burger was marked on the menu as “celiac safe”. That made me confused as to why the other GF options were not marked that way too. They were also very rude to my mom when she asked if they could do low salt food, which made eating there pretty awkward. I did not feel glutened from the burger, but our overall experience eating there was not good.
Staff was knowledgeable about cross contamination. They do have a dedicated fryer but the waitress explained it is right next to their regular fryer and there is a small chance that batter from that fryer might pop into the dedicated fryer. I think this is probably the case with most dedicated fryers but I appreciated the time she took to explain it and let me decide my level of risk I was comfortable with. There are gluten free items marked and one is even listed as celiac safe. I did take a chance on the fries and they were delicious. I don’t know where they source their gluten free buns (maybe in house? It smelled very fresh) but the bun for my burger was very very good.
Best burger of my life! Brussel Sprouts are amazing too! Dedicated fryer for fries and Brussels!