Getting Easier to Eat at Restaurants with Food Allergies!

"We've come a long way, baby!" was my thought recently when we settled in to a lunch at a nearby Red Robin. As soon as we said "food allergy", we were given an electronic tablet with their fully customizable Allergen Menu. 

Awesome!

I couldn't help thinking back to another lunch with my food allergic child 12 years earlier. A lunch we walked out of before our food was served. This was after the waitress came back to our table and burst into tears, saying the kitchen staff was making fun of food allergies and hinting that they may "do something" to the meal we ordered. 

Seriously, this really happened.

Now, restaurants are on the hook for taking food allergies seriously. Legislation in several states, such

as Virginia, Rhode Island and Massachusetts require food allergy training for restaurant employees. While there is not a national mandate for restaurants, work continues on the local and state levels to make restaurants accountable when notified of food allergies. Right now, it's still often a hit-or-miss prospect when eating out.

That's why I am so happy to see that  AllergyEats, has released its 2015 list of Most Allergy-Friendly Restaurant Chains nationwide.  These chains have the highest ratings on the AllergyEats’ website and smartphone app, which is based on feedback from the food allergy community about how restaurants accommodated food-allergic diners. 

And the winners are:

Most allergy-friendly large chains (50 or more restaurants):

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (4.41 rating)
• P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (4.39 rating)
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (4.39 rating)
• Outback Steakhouse (4.32 rating)
• Mellow Mushroom (4.29 rating)

 

Most allergy-friendly small chains (fewer than 50 restaurants):

• Maggiano’s Little Italy (4.74 rating)
• Burtons Grill (4.69 rating)
• Legal Sea Foods (4.64 rating)
• Joe’s American Bar & Grill (4.63 rating)
• Not Your Average Joe’s (4.63 rating)

I'm thrilled to see some of our favorites on here. Overall, though, we've found that with proper planning- talking to manager/chef in advance, bringing a chef card to the restaurant and clearly explaining what is needed for a safe meal- many restaurants today are quite accommodating and well-educated. 

Where have you eaten recently?

For more information, or to rate or search restaurants, please visit www.AllergyEats.com. 

Please note that I am not endorsing any particular restaurant and I encourage those with food allergies to talk to their doctor about the risks of dining in restaurants.

Food Allergies and Universal Studios Florida

We've known that Walt Disney World is great when it comes to dealing with food allergies. I wasn't sure about the other Orlando area parks.

Recently our family went to Universal Studios Orlando with dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut and shellfish allergies. I contacted Universal by e-mail before we went and I got both a voice mail and e-mail response. Each messages assured me that the chefs and managers at the Universal parks, City Walk and Universal hotels were well-equipped to handle food allergy concerns. I was told that eating at a full-service restaurant where we can talk to the chef directly might be our best choice.

So, how did we make out, you ask? Very successfully, I'm happy to report.

• We had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrinp Co. on Universal's City Walk We spoke to our server and then the manager about food allergies. They brought out packages for us to read labels and talked to us about preparation. They communicated with the chef throughout. My son had a burger, jell-o and orange wedges. He had to pass on the fries as they are fried with shellfish items.
• We had dinner at the Buger King Whopper Bar on CityWalk at Universal Studios. We knew Whoppers were safe, so I just confirmed their cooking practices and ingredients and informed the staff of the food allergies.
• We had a wonderful lunch poolside at our Universal hotel, Loew's Royal Pacific. The chef and manager talked to us, along with our server. The chef said he could make anything from scratch for our food allergic son and would use a separate kitchen to ensure there was no cross-contamination. He chose chicken tenders and french fries. Both were freshly made and served in a huge quantity. We all picked off my son's plate. It was fun for his menu choice to be the favorite.

Universal made this an easy vacation for us. I only brought snacks for our two days there and our family was really able to practice talking to the right people and making sure that everyone understood what we needed. This was a good lesson for my food allergic tween who will need to manage his allergies at restaurants on his own in the coming years.

Great job Universal Studios Orlando!