I imagine it comes down to risk. Anecdotally I did food prep for my college dining hall and we had a decent number of people asking for sandwiches on gluten-fre

I imagine it comes down to risk. Anecdotally I did food prep for my college dining hall and we had a decent number of people asking for sandwiches on gluten-free bread, but we only had one who asked for a very strict protocol (had to be from a new bag of gluten-free bread, new gloves, sauces were squirted on only (no spatula that could have touched glutenous bread)). We knew the customer by sight so were used to going through the process - I'd guess it'd be tiresome to have to explain the whole process at every new restaurant. That said, I'm doubtful a fast food restaurant would do much better for a dietary restriction that severe. I too miss local and independent restaurants and am a little sad to have missed the "golden age" of road trips in the US.