Sometime in late December Splitt, a local restaurant that advertises itself as an 'extreme sports pub' that also caters to gluten-free and lactose intolerant folks, closed unexpectedly. The note below was received by an Edmonton blogger from the management at Splitt restaurant in Calgary. Splitt has been a bit of a godsend for celiacs and lactose intolerant people in Calgary and area. It made national news upon it's opening and has made more of an effort than any other restaurant or food service to provide celiacs with safe restaurant food options - often so rare. Not only was the food great, but it was 'normal' and kept the whole family happy. Please forward this note to anyone you know who has eaten there for themselves or so their friend or family member could enjoy a great meal too.

Hello Celiac friends.

Dave from Splitt here. Yes it is true Splitt is done and it is very unfortunate. We definitely want Splitt to come back but I need all of your help. We are currently in a legal battle for defamation and I need to build as strong of case as possible. In order for this to happen I need to show that Splitt was a destination for allot of people not just a neighborhood pub/restaurant. So if at all possible can each person on this list please send me there postal code with there name so I can show that people travel to come here and either NW / NE / SW / SE. Believe me this information will go no further than myself and my lawyer and possible the court if it goes that far I need to put a geographical representation of our patrons.

I would appreciate all of your help....Please....

Thanks,

dave

If you want to support SPLITT, please email your name, postal code, city to splittclosure@hotmail.com.

This is unbelievable because I was there in December and talked to them about being open on Boxing day. A friend and I went there just after Christmas. I am sickend. That place was always full and the food was outstanding. We were planning on going back this week to there to celebrate our birthdays. I am broken hearted.

Wow... That is really too bad

Splitt was the ONLY restaurant that I would eat at and I never got sick. That place was amazing. In the evenings, you could barely find a place to sit! The last time I was there was in November. I really hope they re-open.

I will e-mail the address. I moved to Northern Alberta in October, so my new postal code should help!

I was there at 11:30 in the morning, 2 pm and in the evening and that place was always full. I am so heartbroken, I was hoping they would put a bigger and better one in the NW with lower tables and chairs. I sent them a very long letter telling them how my family who are not diagnosed Celiacs enjoyed the food also. Plus sent it to my brother and sister-in-law as they are not Celiac but loved the food.

Does anyone know why they are closing? I was there a few times in the middle of the afternoon when there was barely anyone there. However, they seemed to be always busy at night. Lunch time seemed busy too.

I've forwarded this forum thread to the splittclosure@hotmail.com email address and asked that the guys keep me posted as I have not heard from them since I originally asked what happened (which was before I found that email address when googling it).

I don't think they had any shortage of customers... indeed I can only imagine that some other tenant in the mall/area had an issue with them being there. You know, like when a strip mall has a rule about not having more than one type of store in the mall... though other than that I can't think of how defamation comes into this. One gluten-free friend of mine suggested someone may have sued due to illness, but we're simply running on rumors until Dave from Splitt says anything more.

If anything at least the word is out there that there is a market for a well-run gluten-free restaurant!

Cheers,
-Rea

Anyone heard anymore about Splitt? I really hope that they re-opened because that was the only place I ate out at!

I really hope they get things worked out. I know I went there with my family every time we were in town. I recommended it to a cousin of mine in Calgary and found out from her that it was closed. She didn't even get the chance to eat there after all the good I said about it. I'm hoping it's not to late to pass along the email to my family that went with me there. That's the only place I'd eat out at. I have yet to find anything like it anywhere. I've had too many bad experiences with restaurants claiming to be able to make gluten free meals and getting sick after to want to risk eating out anywhere.