Gluten-Free: Romano's Macaroni Grill

Bill, Liberty, & I were in Burlington for Celebrate Burlington Day recently.  I know, I know, yuk it up -- but the last 25 years has made Burlington an increasingly wealthy town.  All of the (impressive) rides at the fair are free due to corporate donations, it ends with a concert and a spectacular fireworks display, and the food is heavily discounted.  (Thanks again to Boston Events Insider, my go-to site for local events, for the tip to this one.)

Unfortunately, the auspices of wealth are now found within the selection of restaurants in town as well and the gluten-free food at the fair was limited to boxes of popcorn and cotton candy.  Liberty and I were *starving* by the time it was dinner.  I had seen from Find Me Gluten Free searches that Romano's Macaroni Grill offered a gluten-free menu and was reasonably priced for Burlington so we we went to check it out.  Upon looking at their slightly hard-to-read allergy menu -- which reminded me more of the allergy menu on the wall at Wendy's than it did any similar restaurant to Romano's -- we decided to stay.  This may have been a mistake.



The first sign of a potential error was that our server Marco started off his interaction with us by putting a huge bottle of wine on the table as an attempt to up-sell.  Worse, despite already knowing Liberty and I are required to be gluten-free, he then placed bread on the table and pressured us to keep it there even when I asked that it be removed despite my obvious discomfort, seemingly because he had already mixed the oils to dip the bread.  This resulted in us having to play gluten keep away from the toddler our entire meal... never a fun game.

See? All gone. Yum.

I'm a big fan of Spanish tapas and it's unusual to be able to order even a single appetizer when eating gluten-free; we decided to order their "2 for $9" deal of Italian tapas.  I ordered the baked prosciutto & mozzarella; Bill ordered the glutenous spicy ricotta meatballs.  In retrospect, we should have gotten two orders of the baked prosciutto & mozzarella instead.  Bill enjoyed his meatballs and I have to admit they were presented very well, but it was difficult for him to not be able to share it with Liberty, and it only contained 3 or 4 small meatballs with about 60% sauce.  On the other hand, the baked prosciutto & mozzarella was easily the best part of my (and Liberty's) meal.  Surrounded by a thick and chunky red sauce, there were five or six pieces of not-too-salty prosciutto wrapped around fresh mozzarella topped with more mozzarella.  It disappeared too quickly for me to even take a picture.

However, there was an important caveat with the baked prosciutto & mozzarella.  Again having been very clear about my celiac medical necessity and specifically ordering a gluten-free appetizer, Marco decided on his own -- and worryingly the kitchen staff followed his instructions -- to place the pita-like bread that normally comes with it around all of the plate that was under the hot baked prosciutto & mozzarella dish.  The gluten-filled bread contaminated that plate up to the very edges of the dish containing my gf tapas ensuring that I had to be extremely careful while eating not to touch that plate, not allow Liberty to touch it and ensuring that neither of us could eat anything dropped on that plate.  Marco's explanation for this was that one of the three people at the table doesn't have to be gluten-free and it was a sharing appetizer; ultimately, in case Bill wanted it.  It showed a complete lack of understanding about dietary restrictions (and Bill not only didn't want it but was just as horrified as I was).

For main dishes, there are limited options for a gluten-free patron of Romano's.  There are no gf pizzas.  The "principale" requires leaving out potatoes, vegetables and risotto; it concerns me they put gluten in those naturally gluten-free side dishes and makes ordering a pricier entree pointless.  The only choice is one of their gluten-free penne pasta dishes but at least there are quite a few of those.  Specifically, there is the "create your own pasta" option, which both Bill and I chose.

My pasta.

They provide a piece of paper somewhat similar to ordering sushi -- you need to have your own writing utensil on hand since they don't give you one, but luckily I always carry at least one pen  -- to check off your own choices of pasta, sauce (including the rare options of alfredo and garlic cream), meats and up to three vegetables.  I ordered gluten-free penne with alfredo sauce, roasted mushrooms, asparagus and fresh spinach.  Bill wasn't going to risk ordering a glutenous main to have a worse problem with my or Liberty's food than we'd had already regardless of only being allowed to eat any gluten when out of our home.  He got the gf penne with pomodoro sauce, roasted peppers, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, roasted chicken and Italian sausage.  Romano's is currently running a special deal of two meats for $5; this is good value when it's $3 sausage and $4 shrimp.

Both Bill and I were in complete agreement that the Italian sausage overwhelmed all other smells and tastes in both of our dishes.  The meat was far too spicy and was stuffed with way too much fennel.  In my dish, there were perilously few shrimp (only four or five) and a surprisingly low amount of mushrooms and asparagus.  I'm not even sure there was any spinach in my meal at all, but I wouldn't have known with the overpowering sausage.  Bill also found his dish to be low on roasted peppers but with too much garlic and a reasonable of onion.  Both of us enjoyed our sauces, especially my alfredo, although it made me sad that the sausage prevented me from fully enjoying its rich and creamy flavor.

Bill's pasta.

Thankfully I was able to try the alfredo sauce on its own with Liberty's kids meal.  I appreciated the children's menu selections being more extensive than most restaurants.  Romano's offers "fettuccine" alfredo as well as homemade "mac" & cheese (read: more gf penne) in addition to the more standard fare of grilled chicken or pasta with a red sauce.  Knowing Liberty can be picky about her mac & cheese we ordered her the gf penne alfredo.  I could truly taste the light and soft yet thick and full-bodied nature of the alfredo sauce, and most importantly, Liberty liked it.

As for drinks, Bill ordered a Sorrento Lemonade, made with Absolut vodka, Il Tramonto limoncello, and fresh lemonade.  He said it was strong and tasty, and may have been the best part of his meal.  Liberty was given a fresh lemonade as part of her kids meal; I say given because neither Bill or I remember being given any options for her.  I love Italian soda and ordered one in peach; it was good, but it was supposed to have free refills.  Free refills only work if the server comes to the table periodically to check on the drinks or at least be available to be waved over -- and that was not the case here.

Burlington storefront.

The servings of food are small; too small for the expensive prices.  I found the service to be bad right up until the end, when Marco presented me with a bill which charged us full price for our two meats each on our made-your-own pastas instead of the special deal.  If it wasn't for my eagle-eyes I would have paid over $5 more than I should have.  Even though he knew we were in a rush to make it to the fireworks before they started (we failed because of this), he had to get the manager to sort out the bill for in excess of five minutes.  Despite discounts we still overpaid for sub-par food and a mediocre experience at best, and only at home later did I realize that our receipt wasn't itemized correctly and nothing on it said gluten-free.  Given the multiple instances with Marco's infuriating lack of gf knowledge or training, how can I be sure the kitchen or any other staff took appropriate precautions with our food?

If you do choose to dine at Romano's Macaroni Grill, there is a deal on Foursquare for $15 off $50 if American Express is used following a check-in and syncing the offer to the registered Amex card.  Please note that the tip is charged to the credit card separately so the tip cannot be included in the $50 spend.

But for those who need to be gluten-free -- and probably those who don't -- I don't recommend eating here.

Romano's can be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.