Restaurant Dining

[Mother of Jibril]

This morning I found out that my son is officially allergic to peanuts I just wanted to share an idea I got from "The Complete Peanut Allergy Handbook"...

"If someone ever makes a mistake and, for example, a salad comes out with nuts [croutons!] on top, you may well not feel comfortable eating anything in that restaurant. But if you decide that you are going to stay and eat, instead of sending the salad back, you should say to the server, 'We just talked about making sure there would not be any nuts in my food, and here are nuts . I'm going to hold on to this dish. I need to have a new one made that you can assure me does not have peanuts in it.' The reason for holding on to that dish is that there have been reactions from the restaurant staff just removing whatever the person is allergic to, and thinking that is good enough, even though small amounts of the offending food remain. Just picking off the nuts or taking off the top layer is obviously not good enough."

I thought that was really smart! Don't let the waiter disappear with your salad so he/she can just pick off the croutons and bring it back to your table... hang on to the evidence

[mattathayde]

This morning I found out that my son is officially allergic to peanuts I just wanted to share an idea I got from "The Complete Peanut Allergy Handbook"...

"If someone ever makes a mistake and, for example, a salad comes out with nuts [croutons!] on top, you may well not feel comfortable eating anything in that restaurant. But if you decide that you are going to stay and eat, instead of sending the salad back, you should say to the server, 'We just talked about making sure there would not be any nuts in my food, and here are nuts . I'm going to hold on to this dish. I need to have a new one made that you can assure me does not have peanuts in it.' The reason for holding on to that dish is that there have been reactions from the restaurant staff just removing whatever the person is allergic to, and thinking that is good enough, even though small amounts of the offending food remain. Just picking off the nuts or taking off the top layer is obviously not good enough."

I thought that was really smart! Don't let the waiter disappear with your salad so he/she can just pick off the croutons and bring it back to your table... hang on to the evidence

very good suggestion, there are a lot of places i know this type of stuff and its pretty bad, honestly though if a place doesnt even listen when you say you have an allergy, like you said, it probably means to leave

how ever a few weeks ago we went to outback and i followed the gluten-free menu and told the waiter and all and still got sick.

if i had an allergy that was to the point i could go in to anaphylactic shock or similar i would not eat any where that there was the item or at least that it had the chance of getting in my food.

i will grab fast food some times (5guys) and they are pretty good about building the burger sans bun off the line and swapping gloves (i did have one idiot that didnt switch gloves and didnt build it off the line and i got sick that night, maybe it was mental but idk)

thanks for the excerpt

-matt

[digmom1014]

I also go to five guys and have not had a problem but, could they at least give you a paper plate! I can't stand trying to cut up my burger on tin foil, it gives me a urpy feeling of getting tin foil in my food. I always think abut bitting down on the foil with my fillings-like nails on a blackboard!

I wrote the company and they will not offer plates. I told them my reasons and maybe if other's write they will listen. It is a good option for us-I've never had problems with their fries since they don't use the fryer for onion rings, chicken, etc. They only serve burgers, fries and hotdogs.

[Tim-n-VA]

I've actually had a waitress pick up my salad and start picking out croutons while standing by the table. She did do a little half-turn to try to conceal it so I guess it was okay.

[mattathayde]

I also go to five guys and have not had a problem but, could they at least give you a paper plate! I can't stand trying to cut up my burger on tin foil, it gives me a urpy feeling of getting tin foil in my food. I always think abut bitting down on the foil with my fillings-like nails on a blackboard!

I wrote the company and they will not offer plates. I told them my reasons and maybe if other's write they will listen. It is a good option for us-I've never had problems with their fries since they don't use the fryer for onion rings, chicken, etc. They only serve burgers, fries and hotdogs.

i honestly just peel back the foil and eat it like a burger with a bun, they were so drippy/juicy any way that i still did that before i went gluten free.

I've actually had a waitress pick up my salad and start picking out croutons while standing by the table. She did do a little half-turn to try to conceal it so I guess it was okay.

i would have to restrain my self from smacking her. at that point i would have asked for the manager and probably left

i have not had to do it but i think if you explained to them "how would you react if i put a piece of used toilet paper on your food and when you got mad i just took it off and handed it back to you" they would probably get the point by then (ya its gross but it gets a point across to those w/o allergies/sensitivities)

-matt

[Mrs. Smith]

This actually just happened to me at a Chilis! Even after the manager came out and assurred me that anytime they have a customer with an allergy they take it very seriously, the waitress brought me a salad with croutons! She assured me they made a new one. No reaction, but still. She was really not trying. I wasnt rude, either just clear. She was ok after that. I guess its just part of the struggle! In Elisabeth Hasselbecks Gluten-Free Diet theres a free allergy card in the back. Its very clear and basically says its dangerous to ingest gluten, even asks them to clean dishes. I dont know if it helps but I have used it when there is confusion and has served me well!!!