I rarely eat out anymore. So when I do; I just go ahead and splurge personally.

I might say, personally, that asking them to hold the bread or potato is one thing but I don't think restaurants have anything but vegetable oils.

IN MY OPINION, the answer really depends how sensitive to SAD you are. If you are like me and have an iron stomach than make the best choices you can (sans grains or my favorite, ask for double the veggies and no potato.... no one has ever turned that request down for me)

Otherwise, you may need to avoid restaurants a little more and bring down to an every few weeks thing. (Crockpots are our friends) and if you are using it for socializing a simple weekly potluck can help a lot!

Not strict at all. I still avoid wheat as much as I can. I'll usually opt for whatever is made from rice or corn as opposed to wheat, though a burger demands a real bun. I don't sweat the oils either. I'm highly tolerant of non-paleo food as well as very resistant to nocebo effects (i.e. thinking one has ingested canola oil and then psychosomatically having explosive diarrhea.)

I'm celiac, so gluten is not something I will take a chance on - I ask every time. I also don't do dairy or soy, and mention this as well. I very rarely go out, and if I do request a salad and grilled, unseasoned, unmarinated protein. I have gone so far as to bring my salt grinder and some coconut oil in case I want it. I try and choose something like wild salmon, and request extra avocado.

If it's my choice and we are going out, I choose a sushi place where I can get some good sashimi and a green salad.

Luckily for me, my bf is celiac as well and super understanding. My coworkers, not so much, but I usually decline lunch invites with a smile and a friendly "you guys know how complicated things can be for me in restaurants based on my restrictions- and I brought lunch. Thanks for the invitation!".

I avoid restaurants if at all possible. If it's a must, I bring EVOO, butter, etc. for the meal unless I declare it a neo-splurge.

I think what made me give up on restaurants as frequent options was when I ordered steak and salad and STILL got sick. That was only a few months in, though, while my gut was still healing and I seem to be much stronger now.

Anxiety isn't good either, so I either avoid eating out or relax and enjoy my food. Lately I haven't had bad symptoms so I think I'm in pretty good shape overall and just need to avoid constantly abusing my gut.

Very strict-order the grilled meat and ask about the oil. Then tip a lot.

I live in France, so it's not a problem. I could choose my menu randomly and it would probably be paleo.

I tend to only go to restaurants that don't use veggie oils.

I'm just too sensitive & my bowels can't handle canola oil anymore.

If you tolerate the oils, then you could take a krill oil cap to balance out the Omega 3s.

Gluten actually makes me nutty and I'm just as happy not having it, so I'm strict about wheat being an actual ingredient. Not so much about any cross-contamination concerns though. Since I really don't eat out that much, like twice a month tops, I call 80/20 and don't stress the rest. Might even have some rice or corn since they don't affect me in an obvious way. Whatever!

I am absolutely, utterly strict about no grains or sugars, beans, fruit, or sauces.

The restaurants I go to use vegetable oils for cooking, so eating out means a bit of PUFA and Omega 6. I don't fret about that as I'm very strict with my own food plan and I don't eat out often.

I find it fairly easy to find some kind of meat and a plain vegetable, or I eat eggs.

I ask for no salt, as the restaurants I go to do not use good salt. I don't have the budget for restaurants that use that wonderful, coarse, grey sea salt.

I drink a good deal of water before I go, so that I don't need to drink the water at the restaurant. I use a Berkey water purifier with the extra cartridges to remove fluoride and chlorine.

Whenever possible, I prefer going on a picnic, or to a potluck, so that I can take my own food.

Being this strict has improved my health quite markedly. :)

I eat at very few restaurants and the ones I know use real ingredients but oils will always be tough. On road trips, I find fasting works much better than giving in to a fast food joint on the highway and the golden strip of commerical TGIFs and red lobsters are NO better. Learn to cook- it is the best thing you can do for your heralth- you know the rest.

I seldom eat out nowadays, but when I do, I do what I always did: Hold the bun, no cheese, this on the side, no special sauce, ask does this contain dairy/gluten, this dry, I know it's not the same as cooking yourself in your own kitchen and will never be as clean, but I try my best

I hardly ever go out, when I do I just try and stick to paleoish options, which are gluten free because I have celiacs.

But I must have an iron stomach too, because I have eaten gluten since being celiac and nothing happened, although, I had a veery high antibody reading when I was diagnoised so it was not a mistake (and I did not self-diagnoise).

I also have type1 diabetes and so thats annoying as when I go out I also have to know how many carbs are in my food too, have had a few suuuper high readings after estimating way too low. Seriously I don't know where they hide the carbs in some meals, but my blood sugars definetly showed them when I got home!!

I enjoy a lot eating outside so I do one to two times per week. How strict will I be depends a lot on my current goals and the context: have I trained that day? did I move at least? Was I sitting all day at desk? Will I be eating too soon after this one meal? Do I deserve some relief and just enjoy things?

But as time goes on and I know more about nutrition the tendency is to go more and more strict. Some time ago I could binge a little bit on sugary things because I only saw them as a stall in my dieting but not so much of a threat to health. But since I started to correlate sugars and grains more with health and how can mess with you over the time and all the insulin sensitivity stuff and metabolic syndrome... now I do really try to avoid crap and try to eat it only once in a really long time with the idea to never do again.

As for restaurants and cooking oils and all this, I don't look at it. I simply try to do the best nutritional choices 'on paper' and that's all. I like Wok-style restaurants a lot because they have so much different stuff to eat that I can choose between raw veggies, grilled, seafood, sushi if I can afford the carbs that day, the same with fruit for a dessert, etc. and friends can just have their pasta, ultra-processed meats and ice-cream if they want. Some go my route though :)

Going out for dinner is a big deal for our family, we do it a lot and we enjoy it. However I unfortunately now have a hard time ordering and eating at most restaurants. I have been Paleo about a year and while I might have the occasional minor cheat such as a piece of Halloween candy or even a cookie (I'm sensitive to gluten but can have small amounts of it), and I eat dairy, otherwise I'm pretty strict.

There is something in restaurant foods that completely destroys my digestion though, I assume it is either some kind of oil that they cook everything in or that goes into every sauce, or some kind of flavor enhancer like MSG. I have found I'm very sensitive to certain oils (vegetable, canola) so suspect it is that, but have never nailed it down.

I suspect that the olive oil in a lot of restaurants isn't really olive oil, or is maybe 20% olive oil and 80% vegetable oil, so most of the dressings and even oil and vinegar made at the table are problematic.

I always try to order some kind of grilled protein and cooked vegetables, but even them my stomach is often rumbling on the trip home.

I don't like to make a big deal of it and ask a lot of questions of the servers, and they often don't know how things are cooked anyway, but I have occasionally. There is a diner in our neighborhood where we have breakfast almost every Sunday and I finally asked them what they cook their eggs in, and she said it was a mixture of butter and oil. Which I assume means some kind of commercial griddle grease. This is too bad because it affects my stomach and pretty much every Paleo breakfast item on their menu is cooked in it.

One option that I've found to be reliably ok is Outback, their grilled steaks don't cause any problems and their sides often come to the table undressed so I can control what goes on them, and there doesn't seem to be any bad mojo in the kitchen. Another is kebab places, not sure if it is the halaal meat or something in the prep but no problems there.

I try and stay at close to my diet as I can. Absolutely no wheat, legumes, or sauce if it can be avoided. If vinegar and oil aren't available I will occasionally use a small amount of their balsamic dressing because it's not going to kill me! If there is a grilled/steamed option I usually go for that. After trying some recently I learned I can't do rice at all unfortunately but I might eat potatoes if I feel like it.

I don't eat out very often at nice "sitdown" resturants but do occasionally pop into chipotle or as I did yesterday Which Wich. Which Wich has a lettucewich that's fully customizable. I haven't the faintet idea where their meat comes from and have no intention on asking. Once every few months isn't going to kill me either! Sometimes you jut have to eat what's available!

I have a gluten sensitivity, so I am very careful when eating out. I live in a small town, so I have a limited number of places I can go. I eat only at restaurants with specific gluten free menus and am very careful when ordering (I tip well, most servers are very accommodating and understanding). I always get grilled protein and steamed veggies to be safe.

It was very tough in the beginning figuring out the hard way which restaurants I was able to eat at before the menus became available. When traveling, I plan ahead and look up the restaurants in the city and call ahead to double/triple check that it will be safe for me to eat there. As I have progressed through paleo, eating out has gotten easier, especially with the heightened awareness of food sensitivities.

I rarely go, and when co-workers ask me for lunch I remind them of my limited options and stick to the lunch I prepared.

When in doubt, phone ahead.

I don't bother being strict at restaurants because I have no food sensitivities that require it, and I seldom eat out anyway. I aim for meat and veggies, but I don't worry about what oils may be lurking and whatnot.

I stick to things that I feel would be relatively innocuous, steak with potato, a salad with chicken or fish & avocados (hold the dressing, olive oil & vinegar please). No bread, sub veggies for any starches that aren't a plain potato or unseasoned white rice. I assume I'm getting some industrial vegetable oils and don't sweat it.

I never, ever EVER eat soups or stews at restaurants anymore. 90% of what you get is either going to be premade processed dreck or a good soup made with a broth based on processed dreck. I find the whole idea pretty disgusting, so I just avoid that kind of meal option. (With the exception of an amazing Colombian place near my house where the soup is so good it HAS to be home cooked, and if it's not I don't care because it's a very worthy lapse in good eating.)

I'm still doing okay with a twice-a-month sushi dinner with minimal issues. Didn't realize the spicy tuna had tempura flakes in it the first couple times, though. That wasn't so much fun. I bring my own tamari and sometimes ask for kimchi sauce. I stick to individual sashimi/sushi mostly and if I get any kind of roll besides the basic types, then I make sure to ask for no sesame and no eel sauce. I still eat at the same restaurant for over 2 years now after trying a dozen or so in town over the years. It's still farmed fish I'm sure, but it's raw and delicious!

I'm also lucky to have an Indian restaurant by me that's not like the rest. The chef is an old guy from India who actually uses all fresh ingredients, real butter, etc. I still avoid the naan and a few of the sauces, and of course I stick with mildly-spiced everything. I've been there twice in four months, so it's a treat even though it's not as often as sushi.

Other than that, the only place I occasionally volunteer to eat at is Chipotle.

Beyond these, I've learned that I like my own cooking (and ongoing experiments) the best!

I am very strict - but then again me and my daughters are doing GAPS and the whole reason we started was our health, including several extreme reactions to foods.

I don't eat out very often, but when I do I try to choose the restaurant carefully - and when I can't (like if I'm eating out at with a group of people who have already decided on the restaurant) I try to contact them on beforehand, even sending e-mails to ask / inform.

I guess I am an idealist, but I just think that restaurants ought to meet the needs of guests on various diets. We shouldn't have to excuse ourselves, regardless of the reasons we may have to eating non-SAD.

I even made a post about this whole thing on my blog: http://www.wholenewview.com/2012/03/guests-with-special-dietary-needs.html - feel free to tell me if you disagree (or agree...)! :-)