Eating out with food allergies can be quite nerve-racking; even more-so when you’re not eating out in the comfort of your hometown. You are literally trusting someone else to handle and cook food that is safe for yourself or your loved one to consume. It can be such a personal and intense thing to do.
Why, then, even take the risk of eating out?
For starters, sometimes it’s the only option. When you’re sleeping in your own bed at night, it’s a lot easier to ensure you’re eating nothing but food from home too. Food that’s safe and doesn’t cause stress. But when you’re on the road, in a different state, or even a different country, that ease of eating safe food isn’t always there.
Other times, it’s not the only option, but those with food allergies want to enjoy the luxuries of restaurants as well. They want to eat out with family and friends, join in on birthday celebrations, or grab something on the way home after a long day. They want to experience this part of life just like everyone else.
This past week was Leo’s birthday, and part of his birthday celebration was us eating out. He loves to eat out, always ordering chicken tenders or a burger. Knowing they are safe to consume, he orders one of these two items because they don’t stress him out. We are also teaching him to declare his severe peanut allergy every time we eat out. We told the server it was his birthday and she brought him out a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a waffle cone cookie. A slow progression of an allergic reaction happened, and Leo ended up having to epi himself. We realized it must have been cross-contamination from taro that they serve at the restaurant. Something we suspected, but wasn’t completely sure, he had had a reaction to before.
We’ve made many mistakes over the years when it comes to Leo’s food allergies, and by the grace of God, he’s recovered from all his reactions. So learn from our mistakes and know that you’re doing the best you can.
5 Food Allergy Safety Questions to Ask a Server at a Restaurant
1. Do you serve … here?
Don’t be afraid to ask for specifics, even if your food allergy list is as long as ours used to be. We honestly just started this practice, and I don’t know why we didn’t sooner. We used to just look at the menu to see what they had or didn’t have that was on Leo’s allergy list. But in recent months, we’ve noticed that menu’s change or ingredients are not always listed in their common name. We asked at the restaurant we went to for Leo’s birthday if they served peanuts. We looked at the menu, noticed none, and verified. The server said they did not have any on the menu, but she would make a note because sometimes they change the menu and they could have had a dish on their as early as yesterday with peanuts.
Bottom line – it’s always worth asking just to be sure.
2. Is your restaurant used to accommodating severe food allergies?
With so many people claiming food allergies simply because they want to avoid eating things like gluten or dairy, it’s created a nonchalant attitudes in restaurants across the US (not sure if it has globally or not). So many servers and cooks don’t take it seriously and it can cause serious medical issues.
Case in point, when Leo was about 6 years old we went out to eat at BJ’s. He wanted the burger with no cheese since he still had his dairy allergy at that point. We ordered, and when the food came out, somehow Gerardo noticed a speck of cheese on Leo’s bun. We sent the food back to the kitchen and didn’t order him anything else. We realized they put cheese on the burger then took it off after they had remembered we had a dairy allergy at our table.
Had we known back then what we do now, we would have asked if they were used to dealing with severe food allergies. It’s such a specific, direct and unusual question that most of the time you’ll get a direct and specific answer back.
3. Do you have a separate cooking station for gluten free menu items?
Lucky for us, we don’t have celiac in our family. Though Laura does have to avoid it, cross contamination is not an issue.
However, we do have a dear friend who has celiac disease and has an incredibly hard time eating out because of it. On vacations, road trips, cruises, etc., she has to know how or where she will get food because she literally cannot eat just anywhere.
Don’t be afraid to ask if a restaurant has gluten free menu items how and where they both prepare and cook them. It’s the servers job to converse about these things with you, serve you, and communicate with you any concerns they may have. And if they are unsure or uncomfortable confirming, it’s okay for them or you to ask for a manager’s input.
4. Is it possible to get an extra plate?
We have used this question since the beginning of time. Okay, maybe not the actual beginning of time, but you get our point. We have been bringing food for Leo EVERYWHERE we go since he was about a year old, and sometimes you just need a plate.
Not all restaurants are cool right away with you bringing food in. However, we’ve found that once we explain the length of Leo’s food allergy list, the severity, and the fact that we are still paying for a lot of other food, we’ve never had a restaurant deny us allowing Leo to consume his outside food. Most restaurants would rather not take the risk themselves when they realize how severe the allergies really are.
5. Can you please wash your ice cream scooper?
This one is very specific to ice cream shops and not really restaurants, but it’s still a relevant question to ask. If you notice, many ice cream shops share ice cream scoops amongst all the flavors. They simply rinse the scoopers off in water in between servings. It’s okay to ask them to actually wash the ice cream scoopers in between each use. Sometimes it can seem like an inconvenience to ask, but it’s truly not. Do what is needed to keep yourself or your loved one safe!
Sometimes there is no avoiding your allergen at certain restaurants (hello Texas Roadhouse!), so it’s just not worth even trying to eat out. But that doesn’t mean you never should because of food allergies.
It just means, know how to be safe, know how to reduce stress, and know where to go. Google makes it so easy to pre-determine many safe eating spots in locations and destinations you are unfamiliar with. Just remember to ask the questions and do what you need to in order to double and triple check that your food allergies will be accommodated correctly.
And as an added reminder, always, always carry your emergency medications, such as your epi-pens, wherever you go, no matter how safe you feel.
