The Food Market

I have celiac disease, so I research menus before dining. The menu at The Food Market very clearly states that certain menu items may be made "gluten free." We reserved a table and I attempted to order items that were marked as being able to be made gluten free, informing the server that I had celiac disease. Later he returned saying that they couldn't be made for me because they were just "gluten-friendly." The manager came to talk to me (at my request) and said they distinguish between some foods being "gluten-free" and some being "gluten-friendly." That is not acceptable. No where on the menu is this distinction made, and it shouldn't have to be. If a restaurant is going to make foods for people who can't have gluten, they shouldn't make them "gluten-lite". There's plenty of training available for chefs to learn how to appropriately create and serve safe and interesting dishes for people who can't have gluten or other dietary restrictions; MenuTrinfo/Allertrain is the most well-respected. They should get trained. As it was, I was left with little choice on the menu and the dish I was served was bland and over-cooked. The manager did bring us free wine to make up for the disappointment, so I appreciate their efforts in that regard, but they can and should do better with the menu labeling and recipe creation.

I was so excited about eating brunch here because they have gluten free options on the menu. I was so disappointed. I ordered the salmon bacon and scrambled eggs that was supposed to come with an English muffin. Well, to make my dish gluten free, they simple subtracted the muffin. I was left with the salmon bacon (not very nice as it turns out), scrambled eggs and hollandaise (fine), and a side salad that was covered in cheese (despite zero mention of cheese on the menu). I can’t eat cheese, so I couldn’t eat the greens. If your answer to gluten free is just to take the gluten out of the dish and charge the same price, don’t advertise gluten free. Just say that modifications are OK and call it a day. So disappointed.

Our first time here and we drove all the way from Bel Air. Met our best friends for brunch, There were nine of us in total. They have a little bit of everything for everyone. Vegetarian options and gluten free cooked foods. Their cocktails were very much tasty and I was very pleased with the food. My wife was not able to finish her dish, and took the rest home, I ate it this morning and it tasted just as good as if I would have had it at the restaurant, that’s when you know they use quality ingredients. I was really in the mood for pancakes, but they did not have a full dish option. They did have an appetizer option for pancakes. If we’re by Columbia for brunch, I will recommend this place to meet.