GF Dining at Primo's - Oshkosh, WI

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Primo Logo
Our friend Maggie told us that Primo's in Oshkosh could accommodate the gluten-free diet.

That type of news is always good to hear, but I tend to reserve final judgment until I've done my own investigative work. However, if there's one person I trust as much as Peg when it comes to gluten-free, it's our friend Maggie.

Today was the day we gave Primo's a try. Wow, we shouldn't have waited this long!

I get a bit nervous going to a restaurant for the first time. I don't like going in "cold". I normally do my detective work ahead of time to get a feel for what the place is like. However this time, it was on the spur of the moment - there was no time for a fact finding mission - I'd have to make my decision on site. I made sure we were early enough to avoid a busy lunch time crowd.

As the hostess greeted us, I inquired about a gluten-free menu.

We don't have a gluten-free menu, but there are menu items that can be made gluten-free - just ask your server.

This is a positive response. 1) she didn't ask "gluten-what?!?!" or look at me as if I had three heads...


When our server arrived I asked her what gluten-free options were available to me.

Well, any of our sandwiches, except the meatball sandwich [due to bread crumbs] can be made gluten-free with gluten-free bread. Any of our pasta sauces are gluten-free. We do have gluten-free pastas, but I need to find out what type we have today. We also have gluten-free pizzas.



I asked if they boiled the gluten-free pasta in fresh water or the gluten pasta water. I asked if the prep of the gluten-free sandwiches were done at a separate location.

I tell them that this is gluten-free order so they know. The kitchen is very good about keeping things clean. The pasta is boiled in fresh water, the sandwiches are prepared separately. All of our food is prepared fresh and to order, we are able do these things



I asked my ever popular question: "Why do you have gluten-free options?"

We have some very loyal customers that required gluten-free options. In order to accommodate them we started looking in to it. We are finding more and more people need this. I also have in in-law that has celiac disease.



All the answers were to my satisfaction, so I decided order the Italian Bomber sandwich [Italian beef, Italian sausage, red sauce & Provolone cheese] with gluten-free white bread. It did take some extra time for our meals to come out, but this is standard operating procedure when it comes to GF meals.

When my sandwich came out, she apologized as they did not have any GF bread. No worries, this sandwich was huge without bread! There were plenty of side options I could've gotten, I almost got the grilled asparagus, but chose GF pasta with red sauce.

The sandwich and the pasta/red sauce were very good! I would definitely order them again.

I decided to save room for some gluten-free dessert, so I was able to bring half of my lunch home. They had 3 desserts to choose from. I opted for the flour-less chocolate cake. Wow - it was very good! It had the texture of a cheesecake.

Overall, I was impressed with the knowledge, the service and food at Primo's.

Sadly, my camera was sitting at home, so I have no pictures to share. Guess I'll just have to go back...

Stay tuned!


GF Dining at The Bar in Oshkosh

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ECWGFG's Website will no longer be updated. Any new updates will be found here:






thebarlogo
Last Sunday we decided to stop by The Bar in Oshkosh to check out their gluten-free menu. (see page 7 of their full menu to find their GF options) Peg had heard about it from one of her co-workers.

Since they don't explain much on their website, I had several questions. Their GF menu talks about french fries, this concerned me. In most places deep fryers are also used to fry breaded/floured items. This process will contaminate any gluten-free food that is placed in the deep fryer. I was also curious about the knowledge level of the staff.

We walked in and grabbed a table. The waitress came over and dropped off menus. I looked at it and didn't see the GF menu, so I asked her for one. She said "Oh sure, I'll be right back!". Already this is a good sign. Sometimes the wait staff doesn't have a clue when you ask for such things.

I decided to look over the menu, then ask my usual batch of questions. Upon perusal, I noticed in the lower right corner of the menu, some text. That text explained they have dedicated friers for their fries and fresh chips. It also explain that their meats can be cooked on the char-broil grill where gluten items are not placed. Being able to get fries outside of my own home is a real treat!

"Wow, these guys get it!" I said to Peg.

The GF selections are not numerous, but it covers just about all items in the bar-food food group. Burgers, fries, pizza, Booyah, wings - what more could you want? Yes, they also serve Red Bridge!

Our server said "It will take just a bit longer for your food because the kitchen has to get things cleaned up first". Cool!

I had the burger with GF bun and fries. It was good! The bun pretty good as GF buns go. It was soft, pliable - but had typical GF bread "chew" factor.

We when waitress came back with the check, I asked a few more questions...

Q - How long have you had a GF menu?
A - About 6 months.

Q - Are you getting a lot of GF diners?
A - Yes, as the word gets out, we are seeing more and more.

Q - Did you have to have some type of training on handling the GF orders?
A - Yes, we all had to come in for special training.

Q - Do you know why there's a GF menu?
A - One of the owner's sister has celiac disease.
*We've found, in most cases there's a family or friend that has celiac disease.


Overall, I was happy with the service and quality of the food. Peg had the wings. I'm not sure if the wings from the non-GF menu are the same as the GF wings. That's one question I didn't ask! We will be going back. I don't know if I want to try the 'za or the Booyah...

The Bar has
6 locations around the state!