"My Must Try Restaurants TPA" Food Tour 2024: Toastique GOURMET TOAST & JUICE BAR | Multi Lunch Date | Denim Outfit Replay

Happy long weekend loves! Here we are on my next stop of this food tour featuring the Tampa Bay area not to be confused with just Tampa only.

As you all can see I spend a lot of time downtown because I live 5 minutes away from this area. The Water Street area is nice, it's new and it's clean. There are a lot of new restaurants there as well as condos and although it's about two blocks there is a lot to see and do.

I had been wanting to go to Toastique for a long time, but every time I am down there I go to some of my favorite places for gluten-free food. I was never sure if Toastique even had gluten-free bread and this place basically makes open faced sandwiches.

This look is an outfit replay so nothing is recent.

Dress: Red Dress Boutique, similar here

Headband: Vintage

Heels: Jimmy Choo

Bag: Louis Vuitton Alma

"My Must Try Restaurants TPA" Food Tour 2024

1.RAKKI

2.THE LURE

3.Calida Kitchen and Wine

4.BIN 6 SOUTH

5. COPA

6.The Brother Trattoria

7.Lajuwab Indian Cuisine

8.Florida Cracker Fish Company

9. The Salty Donut

10.Bamboozle Cafe

11. Toastique

So, it is no surprise that I am not going to like every place I visit while on these food tours. I really wanted to like Toastique, but to me it's coming off as over hyped and overrated. Simply...I can make a better open faced sandwich at home with fresher organic ingredients and guarantee it is gluten-free.

3 Cheese Italian: Prosciutto, melted swiss and fontina with roasted garlic onion jam, topped with dressed arugula on jalapeño cheddar toast.

Spicy Crab: Lump crab, melted swiss and fontina, sriracha

aioli, tomato, bibb lettuce, jalapeño, microgreens, lemon twist on toast.

So, we tried two different toasts. One was a crab sandwich and the other was kind of like a classic charcuterie styled sandwich which had a white cheese and prosciutto which we love.

The ingredients on both to us didn't taste fresh. It more or less seemed like they took meat/crab out of a package in the fridge and ran it through a toaster and served it to us. If that's OK with you then this place is OK. For me, it's not enough for the money when I can do it myself; and I don't like pre-shelled pre-packaged crab meat. Like, Blue Crab is in abundance in Tampa!!!

The next issue I have which is the most important one is that while placing my order I explained that I had Celiac Disease and was allergic to gluten. I asked all the questions I needed to ask like "Can you guys change gloves to limit cross contamination?

Will it be heated on its own tray or paper to limit cross contamination

Which items are gluten-free etc etc.

So, imagine my surprise when they straight up served me 1 gluten-free toast (the crab) and one regular toast on regular bread.

I am sitting here cutting it and I notice the bread and I say to my husband, this is not gluten-free bread. Then I look at the other one and that bread is obviously gluten-free. So, despite the full conversation I had while placing my order they still served me the wrong bread.

To our chagrin when my husband tried to get them to make the correct sandwich the person who took the order tried to argue with him and and say I ordered one gluten-free and one regular.

My husband was like "why would she even do that when she can't eat gluten?"

Then they tried saying "well you ordered it then and he was like No, I was standing right next to her and I never opened my mouth. You served her the wrong thing".

Now keep in mind I am recording all of this because I was filming my food video. So, luckily I didn't eat any of that first sandwich because as soon as I touched the bread and sliced it with the knife I knew it wasn't gluten-free bread because gluten-free bread is usually made of rice and it is rarely soft with movement.

But it was rhe fact that the woman just tried to argue with my husband and just not admit that she messed up the order.

Crazy.

So, this wasn't my best stop because it's overhyped and you can pretty much make this yourself for a fraction of the money and two, it's probably just not the best for Celiacs because there are way too many chances to get glutened.