In town for a conference, so this wasn't my first choice of places to eat, but when you're with a group, you make concessions. \n\nBeing from California, I know that gluten-free menus are very easy to come by in the Golden State, but in the southeast, gluten-free still gets blank stares at many spots. Mortimer's was a good example of that. The host looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language when I asked about a gluten-free menu. No matter, I would figure something out. \n\nThe server was a little better (and actually, very friendly). She at least knew what gluten free was and knew to check with the cook about certain items (the fries and nachos, for example, are not gluten-free). \n\nA wine list? I didn't expect one, but she gladly brought one over after twenty minutes of looking for it. It had two house wines and five other wines. None of them were good. But that was to be expected.\n\nThe real problems came when dealing with my sandwich, which I figured could be made without bread to accommodate the gluten-free. It never came. The rest of the party ordered, got their appetizers, their dinners, their drinks - finished everything, and mine still hadn't arrived.\n\nI inquired and apparently (surprise) it was never made. They made it in about ten minutes and it was okay bar food with roast beef and melted cheese directly on the plate since there was no bread. (Most places that do gluten-free modifications for sandwiches put the meat, etc. on lettuce just to make it more visually appealing if nothing else.)\n\nI debated on two or three stars for this review. The rest of my party wasn't that impressed with their food, so I went with the lower rating of two stars, even though the server had a very friendly smile and seemed somewhat apologetic over the lack of their ability to accommodate my dining needs. \n\nBeing a bar, it's probably not in their best interest to develop a full gluten-free menu. That's not their real clientele. However, with the Convention Center so close and lots of hotels around with guests, it might make sense for them to at least educate the staff on what gluten is so that they can easily modify existing menu items to fit those needs.
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