Dining Out with Food Allergies

After Olivia was diagnosed with food allergies, our dining out routine changed dramatically.

Gone were the days where we could say "hey, let's try out that new restaurant" without a second thought about the menu.

Now we have a running list of where we can go and where we can't go. Olivia will never eat at Five Guys. She likely won't learn how amazing sushi can be. Hibachi restaurants are off limits. Chick-Fil-A is a no-go. Burger King is off the list.

Why so many "no" restaurants, you ask? Let me explain....

Five Guys fries in peanut oil and has boxes of peanuts at the door. It would be like walking through a mine field. Sushi = sesame seeds which = cross contact. Same with the hibachi restaurants. The last time we ate at one Olivia was sick the rest of the night (this was B.A. - before allergies). Chick-Fil-A also has a peanut oil issue. And have you seen the buns at Burger King? It's sesame seed heaven.

Nope. Nope. And nope.

Now our restaurant routine is more like "Hey, we should go here." To which I normally respond "I'm not sure if it's safe for Olivia. I'll have to call/check the menu."

I'm a big menu reader. And since Olivia's diagnosis my eyes immediately dart to words like "sesame seeds," "coconut shrimp," and "[insert peanut and/or tree nut] encrusted whatever."

Who would have thought that words as innocuous as "sesame," "coconut," "pecans," and "hazelnut" would become my red flag words? 

If we're dining somewhere new the first thing I do is tell the waitress "My daughter has a peanut, tree nut, and sesame seed allergy so please inform the kitchen of this so they can ensure there is no cross contact." I also make sure that the food isn't fried in peanut oil. And if I see things like coconut shrimp on the menu I know we can't order anything fried. The risk just isn't worth it.

Recently on vacation we stopped to dine at a Mexican restaurant in West Virginia and when I asked the waiter if the tortilla chips were fried in peanut oil his response was "Cheese dip?" It took several attempts at asking the same question (and getting the same "cheese dip?" answer) before we learned the chips were safe.

Sometimes food allergies are lost in translation.

We have a running list of "safe" places for Liv here in Toledo (and a list of "no way Jose!" places too). 

We love dining at Ciao! for special occasions like birthdays - they are always receptive to my "allergy instructions." The same is true of Mancy's Italian. Olive Garden is a good spot and Liv recently dined at Red Lobster with her dad and they gave her their "allergy menu" which was pretty awesome.

We frequent our local Fricker's for wings. Subway is a good bet for sandwiches (in turn we avoid the local bagel shop because there are sesame seeds everywhere).

Basically if I walk into a restaurant and tell the waitress/waiter about Olivia's food allergies and they (1) write it down and (2) come back with updates from the chef about what is safe/not safe I am willing to add that spot to our "safe to visit" list.

Of course menus can always change and ingredients can and do change so it's a good idea to ALWAYS tell the servers about Liv's allergies.

And sometimes I need to do some investigation before allowing Olivia to visit a restaurant - including reading the menu if it is online or even visiting in person to see what's what. 

Dining out with food allergies is challenging but it can be done. One of the things I'm going to do with this blog is short reviews of local restaurants with a good/bad rating when it comes to allergies.

Happy dining!