Fifty's Restaurant in Cambridge

A few weeks ago my wife and I visited Fifty's restaurant in Cambridge on Hespeler Road. It's a diner, with a menu that's typically tough for a Celiac to find options on - burgers, sandwiches, etc. But we thought we'd give it a try as sometimes you can find hidden gems in places like this.

I was hopeful, but I can honestly say it was a disaster. Although their menu was rather large (you could almost have anything: sandwiches, salads, ribs, chicken, fish, etc.) most didn't look appetizing or definitely contained gluten.

Firstly, the server didn't really know too much about eating gluten free, but she did offer to check with the kitchen staff. So I asked about the burgers (of course without the bun) but they contain wheat. The fries are cooked in the same oil as chicken fingers and other gluten-products. So that was out.

I ended up choosing the chicken breast sandwich without the bun, and coleslaw. I got the meal about 20 minutes later and the chicken was on a bun. I mentioned this to the waitress and she went back to the kitchen and returned in 2 minutes with a 'new' plate - she said this one was cooked fresh and didn't touch any bread.

I'm not sure what to think of that. Maybe their chicken breasts are already cooked and they could produce another one in 2 minutes, but it seemed awfully quick considering the first try took almost 20 minutes.

Anyway, the meal came with a mustard-mayo condiment on the side, which I asked about and the waitress said: "well the kitchen wouldn't have served you it because I marked 'no wheat' on your order...so it must be ok". I thanked her politely but didn't eat it. About 5 minutes later she came back and said that it probably did have wheat in it after all.

Finally, my coleslaw had a few chunks of chicken in it. And my wife's didn't and that concerned me. How did a couple pieces of chicken get in the coleslaw? It just makes me think that the kitchen isn't being very careful in their preparation.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I won't be going back to Fifty's any time soon. In fact, my wife's dinner wasn't very good either (just a simple club sandwich)...so even if you're not a Celiac, I wouldn't recommend Fifty's.