No peanuts or tree nuts
“Sin cacahuetes ni frutos secos.” Ask the same fryer follow-up — a shared fryer carries nuts as readily as gluten.
What to ask your server about gluten.
Say this: “I need this to be gluten-free — no cross-contact. Is it prepared that way, and is there a shared fryer or cross-contact I should know about?” One sentence, two questions — the recipe, and the kitchen’s actual practice. If anything on the plate could be fried, add: “Is this fried in a shared fryer? That matters for me.”
One question, doing two jobs.
“Is it gluten-free?” on its own usually gets you an answer about the recipe — whatever’s written on the menu or in the kitchen’s head. It doesn’t ask about cross-contact, which is the part that actually matters for celiac disease: flour in the air near a pizza station, a cutting board that isn’t swapped, a fryer that also handles breaded chicken. “Is it prepared that way, and is there a shared fryer or cross-contact I should know about?” asks for both in one breath, and gives the server room to actually tell you the thing that matters instead of just confirming the menu.
The same question, said back.
“Necesito que sea sin gluten, sin contaminación cruzada. ¿Se prepara así? ¿Hay una freidora compartida o contaminación cruzada que deba saber?” And the fryer follow-up: “¿Se fríe esto en una freidora compartida? Para mí es importante.”
The same structure covers more than gluten.
Swap the need, keep the shape — state what you need plainly, then ask whether the kitchen actually prepares it that way. These are the same short, server-legible phrasings our in-app Ask Card generates, in English and Spanish:
No dairy
“Sin lácteos.” Butter and cream hide in sauces and finishing steps more often than in the headline ingredients — worth naming explicitly.
Halal / Kosher
“Halal” and “Kosher” translate as themselves in Spanish. Ask whether the certification or sourcing is current — certifications lapse.
Vegan — no animal products
“Vegano — sin productos de origen animal.” Ask about stock, butter finishes, and shared grills, which is where a plant-based order most often picks up an animal product it didn’t list.
Sources worth trusting more than us.
- Celiac Disease Foundation — gluten-free foods →
- FDA — gluten-free labeling of foods →
- Gluten Intolerance Group →
Also in The Edit: are corn tortillas gluten-free? and eating out with celiac in the DMV.
Asked, answered.
01
What exactly should I say to a server about gluten?
“I need this to be gluten-free — no cross-contact. Is it prepared that way, and is there a shared fryer or cross-contact I should know about?” That single question does two jobs at once: it asks about the recipe and about the kitchen’s practice, which is the part an ingredient list can’t answer.
02
Why ask about a shared fryer specifically?
A shared fryer is the single most common way a genuinely gluten-free recipe reaches the table with gluten on it. Oil carries whatever was fried in it before — a breaded or battered item fried earlier in the same oil leaves gluten in everything fried after, even a food that is naturally gluten-free.
03
Is there a Spanish version of this question?
Yes: “Necesito que sea sin gluten, sin contaminación cruzada. ¿Se prepara así? ¿Hay una freidora compartida o contaminación cruzada que deba saber?” The fryer follow-up in Spanish is: “¿Se fríe esto en una freidora compartida? Para mí es importante.”
Where this is actually sourced
We’ve sourced this in DC, Maryland and Virginia. Here’s what cleared. More cities as we open them. This script works anywhere — the receipts behind it, so far, are DMV ones. Always confirm with the kitchen.
Washington
Bethesda
Silver Spring
Rockville
Arlington
Alexandria
Baltimore
DC, Maryland & Virginia · 2026