Never be afraid to ask your wait staff about how the food is prepared, what specifically is in the dish including the different sauces, and whether or not the food comes into contact with any gluten, especially if you have a very high sensitivity or celiac disease. If the chefs or wait staff can't tell you if a dish is gluten free or not, pick something else. A little investigating on your part will save you from the after effects of ingesting a known allergen after your meal.
Help With Cross Contamination
No matter how careful you are in selecting a tasty dish to eat, it is wise to use gluten and casein digesting (dipeptidyl peptidase IV or DPP IV) enzymes at the beginning of your meal. Why you may ask and the reason is the food you eat at a non-gluten free restaurant will likely have gluten cross contamination. Taking an enzyme with high activity units of DPP-IV go a long way towards mitigating the effects of accidentally ingested gluten cross-contaminated foods. I recommend either Apex Energetics GlutenFlam or Integrative Therapeutics Similase GFCF. I have used both personally and find them very effective. They are available at my office.
Educate Your Friends
Your food sensitivity is not just a matter of taste. Living GF takes diligence, effort, patience and a lot of self education. People don't choose this diet simply because they woke up one day and decided they didn't like bread. But sometimes, our social circle, particularly those without dietary restrictions, simply can't understand why we have to be so careful about what goes in our mouths. Taking the time to teach your friends about your autoimmune illness, how it affects you and the long term damage gluten can do to your body will go a long way toward making dining out with friends easier. When your friends understand your challenges, they will be less likely to blow off your concerns about where you choose to eat.
Living with a gluten sensitivity takes some hard work, but you can still enjoy the pleasures of dining out with friends by planning ahead. Happy eating.