Our Kitchen Tour

    The Middletown Outback Steakhouse allowed the MyGlutenFreeNJ team into their kitchen during regular business hours. We were given a tour with the manager on duty, who explained all the precautions they take when handling a gluten free order. Now we can report this to you!

    The first thing we were shown was the order tickets. When a gluten free meal is ordered, the ticket will show in big red letters GLUTEN FREE across the bottom. This allows the kitchen staff to see right away that the meal needs special attention. Each staff member is educated on cross contamination issues by management, too. The protocol used to be that the managers themselves would prepare the gluten free meal, but when the business is very busy this is not always possible. The manager did tell us that, if ordered at the beginning of the meal, he can make Aussie Fries for the gluten free customer. He goes in the back and cuts the potatoes himself, with specially prepared (in a pot on the stove) oil that has never touched gluten. He stressed that this must be done in the beginning of the order, though, because it does take some time to prepare.

    Everything in the freezer was labeled with the name of the product and the date it was put in there. This helps the staff know what they are using, and how long it has been in there. All foods were contained properly, to avoid one food from contamination another. Vegetables that are prepped with flour-contaminated butters or other gluten-products are not used with gluten free meals. The staff is instructed to use vegetables that have not been prepped yet. Flour-based products were covered in flour using a big bin in the back of the kitchen. This helped prevent flour from being used around all of the food, as it had its own space in the back of the kitchen. This helps prevent cross contamination. 
    The manager did explain, however, that mistakes do happen. Please keep in mind that, although some restaurants do go to great measures to avoid cross contamination, human error can still happen. Unless you eat in a dedicated gluten free kitchen, you are always taking a chance when eating out.

This salad was very delicious.   Many flavors were present, including chicken, cheddar cheese, and toasted almonds.  We would definitely reccommend this to anybody who enjoys salad with all the fixings.

At first glance, this dish lacks any aesthetics and seems to be small in portion. But once you dig in, you can quickly ignore the lack of presentation, because of its great taste. Don't let the portion size fool you either. This dish will be enough to fill people up. If not you always can order a Thunder from Down Under to finish the job.

When the plate come to the table this looked like a real meal. Layers of sliced glazed pork next to mashed potatoes and green beans. The glaze is what truely makes this dish though. It provided the meat with an amazing flavor that is sure to make this an instant favorite with anyone who orders it.