Below is my review for Syrup Denver. It’s a breakfast place with two locations throughout the Denver area.

Their website is www.syrupdenver.com

Address: 999 18th street, Denver, CO 80202 Suite 105

Telephone: 720.708.5957

They have a gluten-free menu, in fact, that’s what drew me into it. Here’s what it looks like online:

That’s right- we have gluten free pancakes and more. Enjoy our delicious Syrup selection with all of these items (well maybe noit the burger buns!) and more:

• Pancakes
• French Toast
• Waffles
• English Muffins
•  and Burger Buns

However, they aren’t doing anything right when it comes to gluten-free.

If you just want to eat sans gluten as a trend, or a fad – cool, then go here and have amazing food. However, if you are sensitive, you need to question their kitchen practices. I was excited to see about the pancakes, they sounded amazing. But I was more excited when I saw the english muffins because I’m a sucker for breakfast sandwiches. And then I made a mistake – I asked them how it was prepared.

They toast the muffins in the same toaster as gluten bread.

They make the waffles in the same waffle maker as the gluten waffles.

They make the pancakes on the same griddle as the gluten ones.

Seriously?!?

Although my waitress was SO nice, she really knew nothing about what needs to happen when dining out gluten-free. When I asked her about ingredients in the syrup, she admitted she didn’t really know what gluten was. She said that she had heard so many different ideas of what gluten was and what was really gluten-free from all of her customers. I literally said the first thing that came out of my mouth “that’s scary.” She went back to her manager and talked to her a little more and assured me that all the syrups but one was gluten-free and that they could prepare my gluten-free pancakes in a separate and new pan that was off the griddle.

Should I have left immediately? Yes. However, I was on the injured reserve list and didn’t want to wobble around downtown Denver looking for another gluten-free place to eat. So, I hoped for the best and asked her to follow the right protocals.

After that, it seemed like the staff knew I was serious about not getting sick. I took a few minutes and explained that there were people that just ordered gluten-free because they think it’s healthier, and that I had a serious condition that I couldn’t eat anything, and that by using the same griddle or toaster that wasn’t really gluten-free.

I have no idea how other gluten-free people haven’t complained about getting sick here. I don’t know how they couldn’t get sick there with using the same toaster, etc.

The taste, however, was great. I liked the pancakes – although I was scared to death to ask what was in them. The syrups were great – so many different kinds. They have a great opportunity to DO IT RIGHT – but they’re not taking it seriously and taking time to educate their staff on how to serve customers like us. I would really recommend them based on food – but I can’t, because I don’t want to risk your safety by telling you to go here.

If you do, make sure that the manager and waitress knows exactly how to prepare your food. Skip anything that needs to be toasted and just stick to pancakes made in a separate pan.

It’s not like it tasted like crap, the pancakes and syrups were great. The OJ I had was so tasty. The new location is really great looking, in an upscale mall-ish building. But c’mon…educate your staff if you are going to pride yourself in a gluten-free menu, please!This is why I adore people like Ken Scheer – people that dedicate their GF personas to help restaurants truly understand GF consumers and then publicize those restaurants that do it right!

[ratings wheat=”1.5″]

You can find their locations on Find Me Gluten Free here.

Tagged: celiac, celiac disease, Colorado, Denver, Denver Gluten Free, gluten free, Pancakes, Syrup, Syrup Denver