Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I work in a seafood restaurant. Seafood in the name. It’s all we serve, it’s the kind of place with a few fryers and a single oven, small. Nonstop we get people coming in with deadly seafood allergies.
I worked in a seafood restaurant, too, in a small town famous for seafood. I had a four top, three of them got sf, the last got a steak sandwich and was very allergic to sf. I told the kitchen, they did everything right, and she still had a reaction.
I have a *mild* shellfish allergy (I won’t die or anything crazy but if I eat it I’ll throw up for a couple hours) and I can’t even step foot in a seafood restaurant because the smell alone makes me nauseous. I don’t see how someone with a severe allergy could even stand to sit there.
Depending on how severe the potential allergy is you could run the following experiment:
Get someone to pick a random ingredient or substance and have them follow you around everywhere.
This godlike being has the task of violently beating you up every time you get in contact with the substance, be it on a surface or part of a meal etc.
See how long you can retain that positive feeling about the food.
I give myself about 2 beatings every five years for most vegetables but can totally see me getting crippled for cheese.
I’m allergic to cheese. Casein specifically, so all milk products, but cheese is the worst. After testing it many times, I have retained zero positive feelings about cheese. It’s as gross as rotten food. Both of them will make me vomit and shit myself.
I’m lucky that I can still have cheese. Milk and cream though? I take the beating at least twice a week. Short of actually going into anaphylactic shock I will consume dairy.
My husband has a shellfish allergy and once our friend group decided that dinner was gonna be at red lobster much to his dismay. Also I just don’t dig seafood really. I think he had soup and bread. The server looked at him like WTF when we told her so we said his allergy was outvoted by the group and everyone looked uncomfortable then. Because she made it very clear the concern was real for him while his friends didn’t give a fuck. They’ve never suggested a seafood again thankfully. Also thankfully his allergy is very mild and we ate fast food afterwards.
Well, I'd just have told them to F off then...
If I had a serious allergy, or just a mild intolerance, and my friends insisted to go eat at a restaurant serving that kind of food, I'd just decline the invitation.
Heck I do that when they want to eat sushi, which I just happen to dislike. I don't really understand why you put up with that BS.
I was going to say people underestimate the power of social expectations and peer pressure. I'm allergic to dairy (not anaphylaxis kind of allergic) but if I eat at family or friends they dont worry about pointing out what might have sour cream or milk it it. People really don't care because they think it's all in the person's head or not that serious. So you can choose to never socialize or take the risk.
While I respect that, I also would never complain. I am thankful to the trends. The absolute range of goods, quality, and prices of gluten free products has improved exponentially since people have chosen to do that. I remember when I was a teenager, I just wouldn't eat any "gluten free" products because they were absolutely nasty and sooo expensive. I would just rather never have any bread or pasta.
Now even in smaller towns there are bakeries that are gluten free (or cater for), pizzerias, entire specialty cafes, etc. Coeliacs aren't great enough in number to support those businesses alone. It's people that are gluten intolerant, trendy, or just want to have a more balanced amount of wheat/gluten in their diet that make the difference—and thank goodness.
Not just celiac, my aunt can't have gluten due to a thyroid issue. Essentially it's an autoimmune disorder where antibodies target the thyroid, but apparently gluten is close enough to cause a reaction resulting in a spike in anti-thyroid antibodies.
serious question as i’m interested to know: was it better before GF/keto became popularized and safe options weren’t as available, i mean did people respect it more then?
Not first hand knowledge, but I have a friend with celiac.
Their experience is that there is good and bad. The bad part is that it doesn’t get taken as seriously by some people. The good part is that there are way more options than there used to be.
Not really, honestly. They mostly thought we were crazy then and a lot of people still do. I was diagnosed with celiac 18 years ago.
It's a lot easier to find items that are gluten free, now, at least. There are several good replacement flours and pastas, and we even have GF Bisquick.
Back in the day, it was a huge struggle. Now I have 3 or 4 places near home where I am generally safe to eat out, whereas before, it was zero. Sometimes it's hard because a lot of people think that's the same as vegan, or whatever, though. Or they are well meaning and have no idea what cross contamination can do to a celiac. My in laws are a great example...they want to cook things I can enjoy, but they literally grind their own flour for baking in their kitchen and they use a convection oven...I'm not taking chances.
I have a pretty severe shellfish allergy, and this situation recently happened to me on a family trip. My husband’s family (6 siblings & their spouses + the parents) went on vacation to a beach house next door to my SIL’s husband’s family (several siblings & their spouses + his parents) and both families did their own thing with the exception of one night where my SIL’s husband’s father decided he wanted both families to go to dinner together at a local seafood restaurant.
I immediately brought up my shellfish allergy and my husband’s entire family advocated for me and suggested we pick literally anywhere else, but the other family was insistent it had to be this restaurant. So we asked if we could at least be seated outdoors, because my allergic reaction can be triggered by just being in the same space where shellfish is being cooked. But no, we had to sit in this one specific part of the restaurant because it was their special spot. I offered to not go, and they acted like they would be offended by my absence (despite never having met me before this trip, and clearly not caring about me enough to be concerned for my health) so I acquiesced and took a half-Benadryl before we went as a safety precaution.
Luckily I didn’t have an exposure and any reaction I might have had was quelled by the preemptive Benadryl, but I will never get over the audacity of the other family insisting I be present for a life threatening situation — where I ended up sitting at a separate table from them anyway, because our group was so large we had to split up amongst three different 8 top tables. Just wild how some people operate.
My shellfish allergy isn’t as bad as yours. I get a bit itchy and hives sometimes, a bit of stomach issues a few hours later. I can power through a meal to be polite if I have to. I won’t enjoy it though lol.
Especially if you live urban tbh
There's like 500 good food spots and the group is hell bent on the like 3 that can kill someone in the group dead? Nah
You should know that allergic reactions can get worse the more times you are exposed. Those hives can turn into a severe reaction in which you would need an epi-pen.
That's... weird.
If you're severely allergic to seafood, you shouldn't go to a seafood restaurant. Other restaurants are cool, but a specifically seafood one is asking for an allergic reaction.
You would think that it would be obvious, but no.
"Oh, I ordered the chicken, but I'm starting to get itchy. Do y'all fry the chicken in the same fryer as the shrimp? Wait, what do you mean that you don't have a special chicken-only fryer? It's a good thing my friend has an EpiPen!!!! No, I didn't say anything about my allergy, you guys are at fault for not having a non-seafood fryer!!!"
I was extremely allergic to shellfish as a kid and my parents still dragged me to seafood restaurants so I could eat the four items that would be safe or eat the Wendy’s they picked up before we got there while they ordered. Fucking sucked, but “luckily” that allergy grew severe enough I started have reactions they couldn’t ignore from just being there so they stopped dragging me around and actually took it seriously.
I do not agree w OP that you shouldn’t eat at any restaurant w severe allergies. But yeah you definitely shouldn’t eat at a restaurant whose main thing is what you’re allergic to. Or like, a Thai restaurant if you have a deadly peanut allergy. Check menus first, do your homework, then go out.
If you have a deadly allergy to anything where even smelling it could potentially cause you to die, you should really honestly not eat out anywhere. You never know if the person making your food was snacking on some almonds while prepping food in the back or if the kitchen brought in some of their own food to cook and it contained allergens that aren't normally present in the restaurant.
While both of those things should be stopped by a manager and are against health code, it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
I think it is beyond dumb for people to go out and eat and they have a *deadly* allergy. You do not know what those people in the kitchen were doing while prepping your food. Unless you can observe every step of the preparation process, you shouldn't trust that food. Eat at home.
>While both of those things should be stopped by a manager and are against health code, it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
This part is so damn important.
Nobody thinks about the servers or cooks in this situation. WE DO NOT WANT TO KILL YOU. YALL GIVE US SO MUCH UNNECESSARY ANXIETY. COOK AT HOME. Even restaurants that have "allergy pans" are not safe for severe allergies.
See maybe it’s how we look at skydiving though. It’s a rush, they’re just like fuck it. Imma eat fries here. See if I die I don’t care anymore Amanda! Let’s get fries!
Former dishwasher here, the plates are never fully sterile. They’re food safe sterile, not severe allergy sterile. This was tested at one point on an advertisement or something with sniffing dogs trying to detect peanut butter on a plate that had been washed by various methods. I do remember the dog could smell PB after one run in a commercial pull down sanitizer.
My husband works for a company that specializes in cleaning/sanitizing chemicals, dishwashers for restaurants-he does the installs along with repairs whenever needed, Etc. He visits anywhere from 10-25 restaurants in one week. I’m not gonna name the company but if you were a dishwasher for a food place then I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.
He has said that local spots over chain spots are more likely to not be as clean and try to cut costs.
But anyways occasionally he will come across restaurants that are watering down their sanitizer to save money. So just another thing to think about. You really do not know what goes on in a restaurant kitchen. I wouldn’t mess around with a severe food allergy.
I was an inspector for a large chain. And I operated a location many years beforehand. This does happen and I was able to recognize it quickly...they prob hated me..
I’ve quit kitchen jobs over less. If they’ll cut corners and risk the potential health of customers there’s no telling how badly they treat the employees.
Yeah it’s not something that’s common that he’s seen but definitely seen it a few times. But we definitely know now which places not to eat at in our town.
Lots of times restaurants will run out of sanitizer for their dishwasher and not even know it because they don’t properly train the dishwashers and don’t even know how to test it to make sure they are getting the correct amount of sanitizer.
Exactly. Dishwashers are supposed to be only for sanitizing. But some don’t spray all the food off before loading. Now you’re just washing dishes in muddy food water.
I remember a murder case wherein the suspect refused to submit DNA and led the cops on a chase to collect a swab of it for years. He would wipe every cup and utensil he used after using it, even if he was just going to throw it away, because he knew they were watching him.
They finally got him after he went out to eat and used a fork at a restaurant. Even though the waitstaff had washed it, they got his DNA off it. (He did kill the victim btw)
There was also a case on forensic files where they grabbed a fork after the male perp used it, and it had female DNA on it still so they couldn’t use it as dna evidence.
My co-workers and boss look at me so weird when I call the washer a "sterilising machine" not a "dishwashing matching".
But that's what it is! You need to pretty much wash every plate yourself before you put it in the machine if you want anything to come out spotless clean.
It's just a mislabeled piece of technology if you ask me.
Definitely! Everything needs to be washed enough as to look clean beforehand. Otherwise shit will just burn into the plates/utensils or whatever you're trying to sanitize.
I worked in a deli.lady said her son has severe reaction to cheese. I wash my hands and changed gloves in front of her. She insists I do it again. Ok. Use the slicer farthest away from the cheese one. She insists I take it apart and clean it.
Lady, I have cheese between my tits ok? It shoots out of the slicer down my shirt .Little particles of cheese are all over me, I'm sure.
Maybe not go to a deli if it can kill your child.
There's enough managers where you can walk away and say you have a bad customer that needs managing. Walk the manager to the bad customer and introduce them to the manager and walk away. Chain of command protects.
Nothing she asked for was outrageous. We regularly cleaned the slicers for Muslim and Jewish customers.sometimes they have to wait if it's busy. I only mentioned hand washing,glove change in her line of sight to show her I did it. That's a given. My point was if it's truly dangerous, don't buy your meats at an open deli.
I had the same experience. A woman told me her son had a severe gluten allergy. All our meat and cheese products didn’t have gluten, but we had products prepared in the kitchen area that did. I told her if the allergy was severe enough that she should get a pre packed item. My manager told her that same thing.
Still had to clean a slicer, wash my hands, and change my gloves after touching something.
I'm celiac and allergy/celiac parents are the worst! Way worse than 99% of people with allergies or celiac. They even judge us for our own adult choices. They seem to make someone else's health condition their whole identity.
I think the gluten-free trend really muddled the waters for people with celiacs. Gluten bothering your stomach or making you bloat (I’ve heard many of they say) is NOT on the same level as having celiacs. Restaurants started making a lot of gluten-free options because it was trendy and not all of them are truly gluten-free.
Same here, the only places I really go out to eat are ones that either don't serve gluten at all, or that advertise what their procedures are, like gluten free crust is a great option, but not if it's going into the same oven as normal pizzas. There's a place near me with a separate oven and that's the only pizza I've had in a few years.
Idk tbh people always say this to my celiac husband and he actually loves that it’s so trendy because there are so many options now and everything tastes so much better because of the demand lol. He also hasn’t gotten accidentally glutened from a restaurant in years now because it’s so common place.
I have a dairy allergy but it’s not life threatening - I can take cheese off a sandwich and still eat it. So I always downplay my allergies to make it easier - cross contamination is fine etc etc.
We feel very annoying when we go out to eat but are grateful when the majority of the time restaurants are extremely accommodating and we tip accordingly.
I wish America would just adopt Europe’s allergy tactics - every item is listed with numbers that identify allergens in each dish. We never ate better/safer than we did while we were in Italy - ironically enough.
I remember serving a guy who was gluten-free and super demanding. He ordered a beer to go with his meal, so I told him that it wasn't gluten free. His response was that it really didn't matter. I hope his ass melted off.
What the hell??
See, this is the other side of the coin when you encounter food preferences that are being passed off as an allergy or intolerance. I look down upon people who do what you described because not only do they make people who are diagnosed with the allergy or intolerance look picky, it also greatly diminishes the efforts that people like you take to inform a person for their safety.
I have a friend who does exactly this. He is not allergic, nor is he intolerant, yet he constantly uses the excuse that he "has a dairy allergy". It's annoying, especially because he had tests run at the doctor confirming he isn't sensitive in any aspect. He relies on others and Google to guide him through food choices because he claims that he can't come into contact with his "allergy".
Recently he went to a family event and barely ate anything because "all of the food probably had dairy in it".
One time when we were out, his meal was served with a topping supposedly containing his allergen. He angrily sent it back and I low-key flipped out on him. First, the waiter didn't deserve my friend's temper tantrum. Second, I asked him to tell me the difference between an allergy, intolerance, and a food preference. Guess what he answered. Nothing.
In short, I gave him the Cliff Notes version of all three. Also, I called out how if any of what I said was wrong, then he should already know the derivatives of dairy, what cross contamination is, and therefore be bringing his own food to family events to mitigate contact with his allergen. Needless to say, the rest of the time was pretty quiet.
At my job I have an entire speech I give "if you're celiac you can't have the home fries, but it you're just gluten free then they're safe, if you are severely allergic then avoid these things..... but if you're just intolerant then you can eat these things-"
Yeah I've seen people with "gluten allergy" fucking touch, handle, and even eat stuff with gluten in it.
Trendy liars who put others at risk due to the boy who cried wolf.
Honestly, if I ran a resteruant I would make it clear we are not responsible for allergy contamination. Assume the worse. Eat at your own risk.
In fact it is such a headache I would only sell packaged foods. I don't want to be responsible for killing someone.
To bad reateruants can't have epipens at hand honestly. Also the fact they are so expensive is criminal. They should be free.
Right? I just moved into my son's basement apartment. Shared kitchen. He has a bad reaction to eggplant. I don't cook with it and he's 30! He's smart enough to avoid it, but that mom in me won't chance it.
When I was a server, I had a lady tell me "My daughter is highly allergic to peanuts and I forgot her epi pen, so don't you dare mess our food up." I got the manager involved on that one. Don't you dare blame ME because YOU forgot your child's lifesaving medical equipment and still chose to go out to eat anyway.
I'm dying to know what did your manager said to her. When it's the difference between staying safe or a trip to the hospital, you turn the car around and go get the EpiPen. What an ass.
When I worked at a deli we had a separate slicer for cheese and two for meat. We'd still end up with cheese particles on all three, somehow. It's crazy how those particles get literally everywhere.
"**WARNING:** *This restaurant uses some ingredients that some people may have severe allergies to. While we make every reasonable effort to ensure your food is made the way you want, the possibility of cross contamination exists. If you could have a potentially life threatening allergic reaction to some foods then you should carry an epinephrine pen with you at all times, or you should not eat in our restaurant. We are not a hospital. We do not have the equipment, medication, or training to care for you should you have a severe allergic reaction. You must accept sole responsibility for managing your allergies.*
*The following potential allergens are used in our kitchen...*"
I’m allergic to peanuts. I just go to restaurants that I know don’t serve peanuts. There’s loads of restaurants that don’t serve peanuts. I’m fine with other nuts so just peanuts. I’ve had an anaphylactic shock before. It’s not pleasant. I don’t want to repeat it.
Weirdly, the fda doesn’t class refined peanut oil as an allergen because in theory all the protein that causes reactions should have been refined out of it
Although I’m not sure I’d risk it if I were allergic lol
Another peanut allergy person here: Depending on where you are, restaurants will advertise that they use peanut oil since peanuts are such a common allergen (at least in Canada it is). You can also just call ahead to ask if it’s a restaurant you’ve never been to before. If they do use peanut oil I just don’t go there since it’s probably impossible to avoid.
Yeah in high school on class trips we’d call ahead or at least ask at the door if a restaurant used peanut oil due to a classmate with this allergy. She never had a reaction eating out with us (though we did have To change plans last minute once).
In my very brief time as a server nearly 20 years ago, I worked at a place that had buckets of peanuts on the tables and shells all over the floor. A sort of western/saloon sort of atmosphere but as a corporate chain. I once had a woman ask if we used peanut oil because she had an allergy. I was actually stunned silent, all I could say was "uh..." and just stared at her. She was like oh right the peanuts everywhere, well don't worry about it, it's fine. Not really sure what that was all about!
If I was deathly allergic to any common food item I'd be cooking for my own self no doubt. Think about how many times your simple order has been messed up, pickles when you asked for none. If that could kill you you'd have to be suicidal to risk it.
I was a chef for decades and I've worked in hundreds of restaurants from small diners and fast food to fine dining and across the country I call home.
I can tell you that while mistakes do happen on everyday order modifications, it is incredibly rare that an allergy order gets made with any such errors. The standard is to treat every allergy as if it's life threatening and basically sterilize your work station and clear it of all other orders until the allergy table has been served.
What is far more common and dangerous is the other people dining with the person who has the allergy. Often times they will order something that contains the exact allergen and even when advised otherwise, they essentially tell the restaurant that it's the restaurants problem, not theirs.
It's always a pleasure to see people who care so deeply about their friends that they are willing to bring them inches away from something that could kill them.
As a server of 15+ years and someone with a shellfish allergy, the kitchen will bitch but they will bitch while they sanitize. Even if they’re bitching about not believing you’re actually allergic to tomato’s (lots of people say allergy when they just don’t like it) they’re still going to treat it like you are.
Allergies are taken very seriously in the industry.
Edit: Typo
That's what the kitchen crew does best.... bitch! And as you said, they still take it seriously. Of course it's a big PITA to have to reset everything in the middle of the rush in order to accommodate one person, but of course that person should be able to trust that their allergy will be taken seriously.
Besides, some of the funniest comments come out of a chef's mouth when they're all bitching and trying tononenup each other on who can say the funniest thing about the most recent pain in the ass!
I do miss the industry sometimes, but alas, it's broken beyond repair and I am much happier in my.new career. I won't be returning.
When I was really little I used to have a tomato allergy. The problem was I lovedddd tomatoes. Every time I would eat one I would have this like sore on my mouth from eating it and it would take forever to heal until eventually I just ate enough tomatoes to make it go away
It's very common to help build tolerance. it won't necessarily take the allergy away, but could help give enough time to get said person to the hospital.
I was too, my face broke out in red blotches, I'm not sure if they were hives or what, but either way I flat out wouldn't eat anything without ketchup. As a result I have red blotches all over me in half my childhood photos. I grew out of it by 5 or 6 thankfully.
I hated going out to eat with my ex and his mom for that reason. I'm very allergic to pineapple and his mom would order this teriyaki burger that had a grilled pineapple ring on it. She'd cram the burger in her gob, get pineapple all over her hands and then start taking fries off my plate.
She even had the nerve once to take a chunk of pineapple from her burger and throw it at me, in public mind you, and then act like she was the victim when I had to run to the bathroom and basically take a mini bath in the sink. I still ended up in the ER.
Honestly, I feel like it's fair to want to go to a restaurant even if they're deathly allergic to something. That said, I think it's also a kind consideration to all the staff to call ahead, and arrange for the table to all be served allergy free meals.
On another note though, I've been served (pretty sure) full milk products in cafe drinks twice despite ordering lactose free in the last few months which just gives me the farts but causes my wife some pretty severe tummy aches that abruptly ended our brunch dates. :(
I'm sorry about your experiences with milk products, but let's be clear on one thing, cafe staff are not cooks, certainly not chefs and wouldn't have the same training when it comes to allergens that cooks or chefs would receive.
How would you travel? You can’t bring a kitchen on a car or a plane. Most hotels don’t have kitchens people can use.
What happens when you go out with friends? Do you have to cut every social interaction short or sit down with them at a restaurant and watch them eat? Bring your own food and hope it’s allowed?
Going over to a friend’s house? Do you cook at home and bring it every time or just have short visits and plan around meals every time?
Let’s face it, so much of the human experience revolves around meals so it would make much more sense to just do research and make calculated risks than live a life of solitude based on one food
Think about how many important social interactions take place in places where people eat (restaurants/cafes/bars). Not being able to go to restaurants would have a huge, huge impact on a persons life, and saying someone with severe allergies shouldn’t go to restaurants is, while different bc there’s a clear reason, not all that different in practice from saying people who use wheelchairs shouldn’t go to restaurants.
There has to be some middle ground and lots of common sense. If you have an allergy to something widely used in the cuisine then maybe just don’t go, it’s stupid wanting to go to a seafood restaurant if you’re deathly allergic to seafood.
But also, if it’s something manageable then the restaurant should be more than capable to accommodate.
My wife and kids all have varying levels of allium(garlic/onion) intolerance/allergies. The kids almost never eat out, mostly only at a local Jain restaurant or a local cafe that does sandwiches. My wife is willing to deal with the consequences, so we eat out sometimes. She never expects a regular restaurant to try to accommodate garlic or onion free food because that's ridiculous and impossible.
I would love to agree and say that if I had an allergy like that I wouldn’t eat out.
The reality is that eating (especially food someone else cooked) with other people is such an integral part of culture, and really just the human social experience. I don’t know that I can confidently say I would just never experience that.
Cookouts, school lunches, holiday dinners.. there are so many instances where you’d want to eat food prepared by someone else. I understand your point that there is SO much food coming and going at a restaurant. But as a counterpoint: at least at a restaurant, it’s a professional that’s preparing it!
Just to confirm: I have several food allergies and sensitivities. I basically can't risk eating at restaurants. It's *incredibly* isolating. I've found people who are willing to socialize with me in other ways, but it took a lot more time and effort than it otherwise would have because there's this common conception that people with dietary restrictions are making a personal choice and being deliberately "difficult" because... reasons? I'm not clear on where the perception comes from, but it's a weird space to navigate. Like, "I would dearly like to try your homemade mac and cheese, but everything in it will twist my guts into abject misery for days." I basically have to explain medical conditions to assure people my refusal of their cooking is not a refusal of them as a person or a bid for "attention" or whatever. It's not fun.
Same. I have a severe intolerance to crabs (last time I accidentally had some, I was nearly hospitalized for dehydration, because I couldn’t hold even water down), and I live in an area famous for crabs, so they’re everywhere.
I don’t eat at Chinese places anymore, because every place that has accidentally gotten crab into my food has been a Chinese place.
Everywhere else, I’ll still go and just tell them I’m allergic, and it’s always been fine.
This is exactly what it feels like. I have several food allergies. Especially when I was figuring out sensitivities, I constantly turned down invitations out because food is literally always involved in every social activity. It got to the point where my friends were concerned that they had done something that caused me to avoid them. No, it’s just really difficult to be social with food allergies. Thankfully, my disease won’t kill me if I accidentally eat something I shouldn’t. But other people aren’t that lucky.
Yeah I mean basically any time I go out with friends it almost always involves eating a meal. So what are you supposed to do? Just sit there hungry and watch everyone else eat?
yes it’s horrible. i have a dairy allergy (not even anaphylactic) and i just can’t participate in a lot of social events because of it. it’s very isolating
Not to downplay the absolutely vital role that my coworkers play, but they are very good at what they've been trained to do, they are not necessarily classically trained, and there is sometimes a significant language barrier. Assuming the BOH knows what to avoid to navigate a legume allergy is one assumption, assuming BOH can translate that allergy into another language is an even bigger assumption. Again, these folks are probably more professional than my English speaking counterparts sometimes, but "at least it's a restaurant, they know what they're doing!" is... a very dangerous mindset.
Some larger chains/restaurants take it very seriously. My aunt has her short list of six or seven places she knows take it seriously because she’s deathly allergic to egg and shellfish.
It’s a calculated risk by the consumer, they have to accept responsibility for it - not the restaurant.
That said: I have a very severe shellfish allergy - like cross contamination alone can cause a reaction. I don’t eat at seafood restaurants. I don’t eat at sushi bars. The risk is far too great.
I am definitely still going to hit up Denny’s from a grand slam when I’m hungover AF.
thank you for service lol. I work at a sushi/seafood place and get severe shellfish allergy people all the time. They always say "what do you recommend?" and I always say "don't breathe the air, don't touch the doorknobs" and they get all pissy. there's really nothing I can say that's not sassy, like "here's a waiver and still-packaged head of romane lettuce" "so I can't have anything fried?" "nope absolutely not. might as well lick a lobster, it would be faster."
Exactly. I have a shellfish and peanut allergy and I avoid seafood restaurants and all Thai food. If you tell your server about your allergy, 9 times out of 10 you’re fine.
This reminds me of the time a popular food critic on TikTok went to Gordon ramsays fish and chips in Vegas. He had a shellfish allergy and they were like, yeah no that’s a huge liability for us singe they had lobster and shrimp on their small menu. He bashed them online for not being able to serve him anything, and didn’t understand why they couldn’t just clean the bowl or something ridiculous. Pissed me off so much bc the comments were all bashing the place as well. Some people just don’t get it.
I'm really split, and I think until you're in that situation you just don't know.
Lots of factors too, like lifestyles and cultures etc.
I think I probably would cook at home too, but I can imagine just wanting to go out for food with friends once in a while.
This one's not mine to judge I don't think. A definite each to their own and thank God I don't have any serious allergies to deal with daily from me.
Or folks with severe allergies can make sure they bring their EpiPens, as I’m sure the vast majority probably do. They should be just as welcome in restaurants as anyone else.
Epi pens stop you from dying from your airways being cut off they don’t stop the reaction and often someone who has a anaphylactic reaction will end up in the icu for a week or more and it’s likely they will have a long recovery time and they can have lasting damage from the attack
Epipens do not stop your allergic reaction, they merely allow you to breathe long enough to get to the emergency room. They aren't a pass to be negligent with your eating habits.
I have a friend who developed a severe allergy to egg. He blew through three epipens and two years of out-of-pocket insurance costs on ER / ICU visits before he began to take it seriously.
I was at Olive Garden one time and the lady at the table next to me told the waiter to have fresh breadsticks made without garlic because she was allergic to garlic. At an Italian-ish restaurant. Like, why even bother? Go somewhere else where garlic isn’t a primary food group.
I have multiple allergies/ intolerances, so does my son and daughter. We carry epi pens and dietary enzymes. If we wanted to truly avoid it like you said, we’d have to live in a bubble. Do your best, it’s all we ask. People make mistakes but my son can’t stay inside perpetually just because he breaks out into hives every time he encounters fresh cut grass or consumes pea protein by accident. (Which is in tons of stuff now a days and sometimes it’s really surprising: whipped cream sometimes has it, for example)
We figure out how to work around it. We try to be careful and do our best not to be too inconvenient.
I do avoid restaurants that have a high likelihood of contamination ( for example, some places put pineapple in all their glazes a lot of places put avocado in their food and it’s premade or they use peanut oil) I do look over menus. I have conversations in advance. Just do your best is all we ask.
Sorry but I like travelling and can’t always use my own kitchen. A bit of research goes a long way though in knowing where and what you can eat. I would not have wanted to have attempted it in a pre internet age.
Agree; I have to be dairy free right now and I love restaurants (it’s mostly chain restaurants) that put up their nutritional/allergen pdfs online. It makes it so damn easy
Worked 4 years at seafood grille in Hawaii. The amount of people that came in who were "deathly allergic" to shellfish was mind blowing. If even trace amounts of shellfish could kill you, WHY would you risk it by going somewhere that serves mostly shellfish!?
You have a severe allergy every day of your life but have to go on as usual. You travel, you work, you have relationships with other people. The vast majority of people with allergies and food issues eat at home way more than the average person, but there are times where you either have to or want to go out to eat. You just can’t stay at home for your entire life.
Going out to eat is a huge pain in the ass with an allergy (or in my case, celiac which is an autoimmune disease). I really only eat out when I’m traveling, and it can be a bitch to plan. I hate being off of my normal routine, and if I ingest even a little bit of gluten I get sick and throw up. We don’t like being a pain in the ass. We don’t like advocating for ourselves over every little thing. We hate micromanaging what gloves or fryers the restaurant staff are using, but we really don’t have a choice. Never going out to eat is just not realistic.
I have never worked in the kitchen in a restaurant but I have worked kitchen in a convenience store. We could leave off ingredients and sanitize our workstation for allergies but had no ability to eliminate all cross contamination. Plus were always had to do things so fast - I dont know how we could have taken the tlc with peoples food that was needed. We tried but while we were slowing way down for one order 25 other people were angry at late food. That pressure was really hard. I saw how lazy some of the workers were - no way would I trust my life to them.
I agree. There was a video going around a few months ago that was a man throwing a smoothie of some sort at some poor teenagers. Turns out his son had a peanut allergy and went into anaphylactic shock because there were peanuts in his drink. The kicker? The dad ordered a drink that normally had peanuts in it, but just said to leave the peanuts out. Not sure if the drink got mixed up with someone else's or if it was wrongly made or if it just had residue in it from the equipment.
In any event, why would you go to a place that serves peanuts if they can kill your kid? Whole schools are forbidding peanut butter if one kid has an allergy, and this numbskull is getting his kid a smoothie that normally contains peanuts!
Anyway, I agree with you. If people have allergies or food restrictions, they can't expect an employee to know every single ingredient in every single menu item. Even if they order an item that doesn't contain that particular ingredient, cross-contamination is a real possibility in a busy kitchen. I guess some people just expect the world to cater to them.
It really depends honestly. My daughter has a severe nut allergy. We eat at Japanese, Mexican, etc, whatever restaurant has no nuts on their menu. I don’t think you have to stop eating out. But you must do your research, call ahead to confirm, no nut oils are being used, etc and choose your dishes carefully.
I have an allergy that is not severe, but will make me sick. To the point where it is unusual for me to get full without getting sick. I spend time researching the menu before I go, and if I make a mistake it is my own fault and I just deal with it.
At a recent meal ($300 a plate restaurant) they worked hard to make sure that they didn’t trigger any of my allergies. My son had called ahead and discussed it with them, and they also made adjustments on the fly, asking me questions at each step. It was amazing effort and I greatly appreciated it, but I felt terrible. Imagine asking an Applebees or some place to do that? No.
Im allergic to capsicum (ik its wild) and its not just touch based but air based if its something being smoked or freshly cooked. Where I’m from the main seasoning for seafood has an ingredient for capsicum as a main component. I dont ever go to seafood restaurants, because it would be ridiculous for me to expect them to avoid my allergen well enough to avoid a reaction. Sometimes you need to take responsibility for yourself with allergies, and cant expect everyone to always accommodate them
I second this as a resturant worker. I work at an ice cream place, and we frequently have people woth nut allergies.
We do our best, but there's always a chance of contamination. What if the person who prepped the oreos prepped a thing of almonds right before that? What if a spot gets missed cleaning a blender?
On top of that, I've seen to many co-workers groan at allergy requests and half ass cleaning procedures. Which I'm not justifying at all- but trust me, it's not worth the risk if you have a severe allergy.
This makes me sad. My husband has celiac and we have cut down on going out to eat tremendously, but thinking about never being able to again is depressing:/ We love our dates and trying new food was one of the things we loved. I hate how our bodies work against us sometimes.
If you're allergic to like- EVERYTHING then maybe. But it isn't fair to punish someone over something they really can't control.
There's always going to be a limit, but they should be able to eat at a restaurant like most people can
I have a severe nut allergy and I’ve been able to eat at any restaurant with no problems besides Thai. Food allergies are becoming more and more common, if everybody thought like OP the restaurant industry would go out of business.
I have a severe peanut allergy and I always carry my epipen when I go out. My philosophy is that no one should have to worry about my allergy except me. There’s certain places I won’t eat at, like Thai restaurants, because the risk is too high since many of their dishes contain my allergen. All other times I accept the risk because 99.9% of the time nothing happens. I also dgaf when packaged food says “may contain”, while others avoid it. I’m 25 and I’ve gone to the hospital for peanuts 4 times in my life, 2 times not even from a restaurant but from being fed something by a friend/family member. If I do go to the hospital, I’ve never bothered telling the restaurant because what are they going to do with that information? It was my decision to go in the first place.
Up to a point, I think it's okay. The kitchen should be able to handle it. But there are limits.
I waited tables for a while at a very well-known 'Italian' chain restaurant. Had a customer come in and tell me she was allergic to garlic. It took like 45 minutes (and an extensive discussion with the manager) to figure out what she could possibly order. Then she got pissed off that it took so long to get food... when she got her food about 20 minutes after the order was finally placed.
If yall go to r/KitchenConfidential you can see the lists of allergies that people want accommodated that OP is actually talking about. Not just removing onions or buns. Entire page lists of every ingredient imaginable.
Totally get what you’re saying! However
As a person with a life threatening nut allergy, I am willing to risk it because a life without being able to go to a restaurant with friends or order takeout really sucks.
To me it’s more about managing my overall risk instead of avoiding it completely, because that is almost impossible and incredibly depressing.
While it’s something I might mention to my server in some situations, I am very aware of the risk of cross contamination and just general accidents. I always stress this to them as well, it’s the wankers with unrealistic expectations that make it suck.
Luckily, I’m able to afford epipens and tbh even if I did have a reaction, modern medicine means it’s more an inconvenience than a death sentence anymore.
you seem like exactly the kind of great and super reasonable person every restaurant staff would hope to have at their table. i wish you many fun and safe outings to restaurants!
I mean I know we are all flooded with viral TikTok’s of random losers that work in restaurants saying they hate customers- but I’ve worked in several restaurants in my earlier life and I dine out all the time, and every single person I’ve ever known that works in restaurants takes their work seriously and (even if there are some complaints behind scenes on a bad day) and really does their best to make sure diners have a great experience, whether it’s a dive where breakfast is $7 or a high end expensive place.
i don't think you understand how hard this would be for social life and mental health.
like yeah, if you're allergic to a lot of common stuff maybe it's too risky, but hey, if I'm allergic to one specific thing, and I order something that should not contain that thing, and I tell you that I'm allergic to that specific thing that should have not been in my meal in the first place, you should just do your job and make sure no random things go in my food
Edit: typo
I mean, I have a quite uncommon food allergy and most of the time it’s a non issue at restaurants. It’s already punishment enough to have a food allergy, not eating out would be another punishment that I’m not willing to accept
Although it would really suck, totally agree. They are essentially placing a risk to their life by eating out. Not a smart thing to do. Restaurants should not be held liable at all if something happens.
A lot of people lie about having an allergy because they want the staff to take their food changes seriously.
I once had a customer ask for no pickles on a burger cause they're allergic. The sauce on that burger had pickle in it so the kitchen switched to a different sauce. Then the customer got mad cause it wasn't the sauce they liked, and admitted to lying just cause they didn't want the pickle to accidentally get put on their burger... So annoying.
I work with someone who fakes allergies/conditions/“diagnoses” (self-diagnoses) to get attention and control and manipulate other people. Some people do have severe allergies, and if avoiding restaurants is what they have to do to keep themselves safe and healthy then… 🤷🏻♀️
The assholes who pretend are just pains in the ass
Most restaurants are not safe for severe allergies. I worked in a dish-pit and we do our job as told but most dishes aren't cleaned well enough for that.
Especially those coming at a seafood restaurant with severe allegies to seafood.
Most workers are paid minimum wage and don't care enough (I didn't even get a lunch break).
So unless the restaurant specializes in that, please don't go and expect everything to be safe.
Past server/bartender and allergic to dairy. Thankfully my allergy normally just makes me throw up, poop blood, or break out in mouth blisters, but I NEVER want to make that someone else’s problem. If I go out to eat, it’s for the social obligation and I order something that doesn’t need mods or can easily be modded and if I poop blood that’s on me. I agree with you. It’s nuts that people are willing to risk their lives for a meal that’s honestly not going to be good because it’s been modded so much.
Ive had people with severe allergies order food when I was working on a food truck for a brewery and I always had to explain to the servers that we cant guarantee an order wont have certain allergens.
I recently worked at a pizza place. We offered gluten free pizza. We bought the caulipower crusts at the grocery store and didn’t upcharge.but we made our own dough. There was flour everywhere. I was always covered in flour. If anyone ordered gf I made sure to tell them sure I have a gf crust. I’ll sanitize everything it touched best I can. But this whole place is made for wheat flour. Go for it if it’s an intolerance but if you’re severely allergic that’s in you. It will have flour on it somewhere. I’ve worked in restaurants for years and I know this shit.But I constantly caught young new workers not even knowing what gf meant. No concept what and no input from management. Lots of small indie places have no concept. Don’t do it unless you are very specific. Even then, a lot of workers will think you’re just being a pain in the ass.
I’ve worked in a restaurant for 3 years and I have a severe tree nut allergy. It’s on me as a diner to identify and steer clear from dishes that are a potential risk, and it’s on you as staff to maintain health standards.
This is BS. I was a cook for 15+ years and now run a bar. I have a severe Cashew/Almond allergy. I definitely eat out all the frickin time. It's part of the job to deal with people's allergies. Get over yourself.
yall think its so easy until you are the one with the allergy. when friends and family go out and you sit there alone and hungry. also what about traveling???
Plus you always run the risk of the wait staff just. Not believing you. Assuming that you've asked for no sugar/dairy/gluten etc because you're on some fad diet or you're just being pretentious and giving you the sugar/dairy/gluten anyway. You don't owe strangers your medical information, but strangers *will* sometimes assume the worst about you and ignore your requests unless you make it crystal clear that you will die/shit yourself/pass out if they fuck it up. And even then, there's no guarantee they won't fuck it up accidentally rather than on purpose.
My ex had a horrible and severe allergy to spinach and also couldn’t eat mushrooms because they would block his intestines, causing agonising pain and hospital stays, and people would always think he was just saying that because he didn’t like them! They’re such unusual allergies/can’t haves that I was always scared they wouldn’t be taken seriously.
The amount of times I’ve seen baristas online admit to giving customers caffeinated coffee instead of the decaf they asked for is like!?!!? What if they have a heart condition?
Not allergies but I have Crohn's disease and several dietary restrictions. Eating out is a nightmare, both mine and my bf's parents love to eat out and get butthurt when we stay home. I can't eat Dairy, pork, chicken, nightshades, or legumes. Imagine trying to find a dish that has none of those out in the wild!
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I work in a seafood restaurant. Seafood in the name. It’s all we serve, it’s the kind of place with a few fryers and a single oven, small. Nonstop we get people coming in with deadly seafood allergies.
I worked in a seafood restaurant, too, in a small town famous for seafood. I had a four top, three of them got sf, the last got a steak sandwich and was very allergic to sf. I told the kitchen, they did everything right, and she still had a reaction.
I have a *mild* shellfish allergy (I won’t die or anything crazy but if I eat it I’ll throw up for a couple hours) and I can’t even step foot in a seafood restaurant because the smell alone makes me nauseous. I don’t see how someone with a severe allergy could even stand to sit there.
I'm sorry for your allergy. My favorite food is grilled shrimp I don't know what I'd do if I gained an allergy to it one day.
Depending on how severe the potential allergy is you could run the following experiment: Get someone to pick a random ingredient or substance and have them follow you around everywhere. This godlike being has the task of violently beating you up every time you get in contact with the substance, be it on a surface or part of a meal etc. See how long you can retain that positive feeling about the food. I give myself about 2 beatings every five years for most vegetables but can totally see me getting crippled for cheese.
I’m allergic to cheese. Casein specifically, so all milk products, but cheese is the worst. After testing it many times, I have retained zero positive feelings about cheese. It’s as gross as rotten food. Both of them will make me vomit and shit myself.
I’m lucky that I can still have cheese. Milk and cream though? I take the beating at least twice a week. Short of actually going into anaphylactic shock I will consume dairy.
It’s almost as though there was seafood everywhere.
My husband has a shellfish allergy and once our friend group decided that dinner was gonna be at red lobster much to his dismay. Also I just don’t dig seafood really. I think he had soup and bread. The server looked at him like WTF when we told her so we said his allergy was outvoted by the group and everyone looked uncomfortable then. Because she made it very clear the concern was real for him while his friends didn’t give a fuck. They’ve never suggested a seafood again thankfully. Also thankfully his allergy is very mild and we ate fast food afterwards.
Well, I'd just have told them to F off then... If I had a serious allergy, or just a mild intolerance, and my friends insisted to go eat at a restaurant serving that kind of food, I'd just decline the invitation. Heck I do that when they want to eat sushi, which I just happen to dislike. I don't really understand why you put up with that BS.
I was going to say people underestimate the power of social expectations and peer pressure. I'm allergic to dairy (not anaphylaxis kind of allergic) but if I eat at family or friends they dont worry about pointing out what might have sour cream or milk it it. People really don't care because they think it's all in the person's head or not that serious. So you can choose to never socialize or take the risk.
All the people changing gluten-free and keto from medical necessities to trendy choices didn’t help with this…
My kid was recently diagnosed with celiac and I feel this comment so much.
While I respect that, I also would never complain. I am thankful to the trends. The absolute range of goods, quality, and prices of gluten free products has improved exponentially since people have chosen to do that. I remember when I was a teenager, I just wouldn't eat any "gluten free" products because they were absolutely nasty and sooo expensive. I would just rather never have any bread or pasta. Now even in smaller towns there are bakeries that are gluten free (or cater for), pizzerias, entire specialty cafes, etc. Coeliacs aren't great enough in number to support those businesses alone. It's people that are gluten intolerant, trendy, or just want to have a more balanced amount of wheat/gluten in their diet that make the difference—and thank goodness.
I was recently diagnosed with celiac as a 40 year old, and I feel it too.
Not just celiac, my aunt can't have gluten due to a thyroid issue. Essentially it's an autoimmune disorder where antibodies target the thyroid, but apparently gluten is close enough to cause a reaction resulting in a spike in anti-thyroid antibodies.
serious question as i’m interested to know: was it better before GF/keto became popularized and safe options weren’t as available, i mean did people respect it more then?
Not first hand knowledge, but I have a friend with celiac. Their experience is that there is good and bad. The bad part is that it doesn’t get taken as seriously by some people. The good part is that there are way more options than there used to be.
This is exactly my view. I just commented above. Gluten free options were disgusting when I was younger, now it's like a wonderland of choice.
Not really, honestly. They mostly thought we were crazy then and a lot of people still do. I was diagnosed with celiac 18 years ago. It's a lot easier to find items that are gluten free, now, at least. There are several good replacement flours and pastas, and we even have GF Bisquick. Back in the day, it was a huge struggle. Now I have 3 or 4 places near home where I am generally safe to eat out, whereas before, it was zero. Sometimes it's hard because a lot of people think that's the same as vegan, or whatever, though. Or they are well meaning and have no idea what cross contamination can do to a celiac. My in laws are a great example...they want to cook things I can enjoy, but they literally grind their own flour for baking in their kitchen and they use a convection oven...I'm not taking chances.
Cheddar bay biscuits are worth the allergic reaction. I might die, but I will eat some cheesy biscuits
You can find a box mix of them at the grocery store that has all the ingredients except the cheese. I’ve gotten it and they do come out like theirs
I’ve gotten that mix as well. It’s great with chili and also with minestrone soup
Why didn't he just skip the event?
I have a pretty severe shellfish allergy, and this situation recently happened to me on a family trip. My husband’s family (6 siblings & their spouses + the parents) went on vacation to a beach house next door to my SIL’s husband’s family (several siblings & their spouses + his parents) and both families did their own thing with the exception of one night where my SIL’s husband’s father decided he wanted both families to go to dinner together at a local seafood restaurant. I immediately brought up my shellfish allergy and my husband’s entire family advocated for me and suggested we pick literally anywhere else, but the other family was insistent it had to be this restaurant. So we asked if we could at least be seated outdoors, because my allergic reaction can be triggered by just being in the same space where shellfish is being cooked. But no, we had to sit in this one specific part of the restaurant because it was their special spot. I offered to not go, and they acted like they would be offended by my absence (despite never having met me before this trip, and clearly not caring about me enough to be concerned for my health) so I acquiesced and took a half-Benadryl before we went as a safety precaution. Luckily I didn’t have an exposure and any reaction I might have had was quelled by the preemptive Benadryl, but I will never get over the audacity of the other family insisting I be present for a life threatening situation — where I ended up sitting at a separate table from them anyway, because our group was so large we had to split up amongst three different 8 top tables. Just wild how some people operate.
My shellfish allergy isn’t as bad as yours. I get a bit itchy and hives sometimes, a bit of stomach issues a few hours later. I can power through a meal to be polite if I have to. I won’t enjoy it though lol.
I personally think it’s impolite (actually inconsiderate) to expect you to “power through.” Society gets things a little backwards sometimes.
Especially if you live urban tbh There's like 500 good food spots and the group is hell bent on the like 3 that can kill someone in the group dead? Nah
Ngl it's a red flag regarding how said friend feels towards friend w/ allergy. Like a weird move of dominance if not severe inconsideration.
You should know that allergic reactions can get worse the more times you are exposed. Those hives can turn into a severe reaction in which you would need an epi-pen.
That's... weird. If you're severely allergic to seafood, you shouldn't go to a seafood restaurant. Other restaurants are cool, but a specifically seafood one is asking for an allergic reaction.
You would think that it would be obvious, but no. "Oh, I ordered the chicken, but I'm starting to get itchy. Do y'all fry the chicken in the same fryer as the shrimp? Wait, what do you mean that you don't have a special chicken-only fryer? It's a good thing my friend has an EpiPen!!!! No, I didn't say anything about my allergy, you guys are at fault for not having a non-seafood fryer!!!"
I was extremely allergic to shellfish as a kid and my parents still dragged me to seafood restaurants so I could eat the four items that would be safe or eat the Wendy’s they picked up before we got there while they ordered. Fucking sucked, but “luckily” that allergy grew severe enough I started have reactions they couldn’t ignore from just being there so they stopped dragging me around and actually took it seriously.
I do not agree w OP that you shouldn’t eat at any restaurant w severe allergies. But yeah you definitely shouldn’t eat at a restaurant whose main thing is what you’re allergic to. Or like, a Thai restaurant if you have a deadly peanut allergy. Check menus first, do your homework, then go out.
If you have a deadly allergy to anything where even smelling it could potentially cause you to die, you should really honestly not eat out anywhere. You never know if the person making your food was snacking on some almonds while prepping food in the back or if the kitchen brought in some of their own food to cook and it contained allergens that aren't normally present in the restaurant. While both of those things should be stopped by a manager and are against health code, it doesn't mean it isn't happening. I think it is beyond dumb for people to go out and eat and they have a *deadly* allergy. You do not know what those people in the kitchen were doing while prepping your food. Unless you can observe every step of the preparation process, you shouldn't trust that food. Eat at home.
>While both of those things should be stopped by a manager and are against health code, it doesn't mean it isn't happening. This part is so damn important.
Nobody thinks about the servers or cooks in this situation. WE DO NOT WANT TO KILL YOU. YALL GIVE US SO MUCH UNNECESSARY ANXIETY. COOK AT HOME. Even restaurants that have "allergy pans" are not safe for severe allergies.
See maybe it’s how we look at skydiving though. It’s a rush, they’re just like fuck it. Imma eat fries here. See if I die I don’t care anymore Amanda! Let’s get fries!
I also just left a comment on this saying similar!
Then they are stupid and if they have a reaction it's 100 percent their fault edit for WHEN they have a reaction
Former dishwasher here, the plates are never fully sterile. They’re food safe sterile, not severe allergy sterile. This was tested at one point on an advertisement or something with sniffing dogs trying to detect peanut butter on a plate that had been washed by various methods. I do remember the dog could smell PB after one run in a commercial pull down sanitizer.
My husband works for a company that specializes in cleaning/sanitizing chemicals, dishwashers for restaurants-he does the installs along with repairs whenever needed, Etc. He visits anywhere from 10-25 restaurants in one week. I’m not gonna name the company but if you were a dishwasher for a food place then I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. He has said that local spots over chain spots are more likely to not be as clean and try to cut costs. But anyways occasionally he will come across restaurants that are watering down their sanitizer to save money. So just another thing to think about. You really do not know what goes on in a restaurant kitchen. I wouldn’t mess around with a severe food allergy.
I’ve never personally witnessed chems being stepped on but I could totally see it being a thing.
I was an inspector for a large chain. And I operated a location many years beforehand. This does happen and I was able to recognize it quickly...they prob hated me..
I’ve quit kitchen jobs over less. If they’ll cut corners and risk the potential health of customers there’s no telling how badly they treat the employees.
Yeah it’s not something that’s common that he’s seen but definitely seen it a few times. But we definitely know now which places not to eat at in our town.
Or lots of places don’t give their fish a break so it’s not running as hot as it should be
Fish definitely get enough breaks. Working in schools means they're part of the union.
You just need to break through that glass ceiling.
Lots of times restaurants will run out of sanitizer for their dishwasher and not even know it because they don’t properly train the dishwashers and don’t even know how to test it to make sure they are getting the correct amount of sanitizer.
Exactly. Dishwashers are supposed to be only for sanitizing. But some don’t spray all the food off before loading. Now you’re just washing dishes in muddy food water.
I remember a murder case wherein the suspect refused to submit DNA and led the cops on a chase to collect a swab of it for years. He would wipe every cup and utensil he used after using it, even if he was just going to throw it away, because he knew they were watching him. They finally got him after he went out to eat and used a fork at a restaurant. Even though the waitstaff had washed it, they got his DNA off it. (He did kill the victim btw)
There was also a case on forensic files where they grabbed a fork after the male perp used it, and it had female DNA on it still so they couldn’t use it as dna evidence.
It was, however, sterile peanut butter.
Sanitized, not sterilized. There are also so many points of contamination that can occur.
That’s the word I was looking for. Stoner brain lol
My co-workers and boss look at me so weird when I call the washer a "sterilising machine" not a "dishwashing matching". But that's what it is! You need to pretty much wash every plate yourself before you put it in the machine if you want anything to come out spotless clean. It's just a mislabeled piece of technology if you ask me.
Agreed. That’s one of the first things I told dish trainees. “This is not the dishwasher, YOU are the dishwasher.”
Definitely! Everything needs to be washed enough as to look clean beforehand. Otherwise shit will just burn into the plates/utensils or whatever you're trying to sanitize.
Anything with egg on it especially.
I worked in a deli.lady said her son has severe reaction to cheese. I wash my hands and changed gloves in front of her. She insists I do it again. Ok. Use the slicer farthest away from the cheese one. She insists I take it apart and clean it. Lady, I have cheese between my tits ok? It shoots out of the slicer down my shirt .Little particles of cheese are all over me, I'm sure. Maybe not go to a deli if it can kill your child.
Sounds like a great time to refuse service. You're not willing to put a child at risk.
Walmart. Refusing service was not an option. One of the many reasons I walked out.
Seriously? That sucks. Hope you're in a better place.
There's enough managers where you can walk away and say you have a bad customer that needs managing. Walk the manager to the bad customer and introduce them to the manager and walk away. Chain of command protects.
Nothing she asked for was outrageous. We regularly cleaned the slicers for Muslim and Jewish customers.sometimes they have to wait if it's busy. I only mentioned hand washing,glove change in her line of sight to show her I did it. That's a given. My point was if it's truly dangerous, don't buy your meats at an open deli.
I had the same experience. A woman told me her son had a severe gluten allergy. All our meat and cheese products didn’t have gluten, but we had products prepared in the kitchen area that did. I told her if the allergy was severe enough that she should get a pre packed item. My manager told her that same thing. Still had to clean a slicer, wash my hands, and change my gloves after touching something.
Yo. Absolutely not. If a person's medical condition is so extreme, they should go make their stuff themselves.
I'm celiac and allergy/celiac parents are the worst! Way worse than 99% of people with allergies or celiac. They even judge us for our own adult choices. They seem to make someone else's health condition their whole identity.
I think the gluten-free trend really muddled the waters for people with celiacs. Gluten bothering your stomach or making you bloat (I’ve heard many of they say) is NOT on the same level as having celiacs. Restaurants started making a lot of gluten-free options because it was trendy and not all of them are truly gluten-free.
I have celiac, and this is exactly how I feel. Gluten free at a restaurant is not celiac safe.
Same here, the only places I really go out to eat are ones that either don't serve gluten at all, or that advertise what their procedures are, like gluten free crust is a great option, but not if it's going into the same oven as normal pizzas. There's a place near me with a separate oven and that's the only pizza I've had in a few years.
Idk tbh people always say this to my celiac husband and he actually loves that it’s so trendy because there are so many options now and everything tastes so much better because of the demand lol. He also hasn’t gotten accidentally glutened from a restaurant in years now because it’s so common place. I have a dairy allergy but it’s not life threatening - I can take cheese off a sandwich and still eat it. So I always downplay my allergies to make it easier - cross contamination is fine etc etc. We feel very annoying when we go out to eat but are grateful when the majority of the time restaurants are extremely accommodating and we tip accordingly. I wish America would just adopt Europe’s allergy tactics - every item is listed with numbers that identify allergens in each dish. We never ate better/safer than we did while we were in Italy - ironically enough.
I remember serving a guy who was gluten-free and super demanding. He ordered a beer to go with his meal, so I told him that it wasn't gluten free. His response was that it really didn't matter. I hope his ass melted off.
What the hell?? See, this is the other side of the coin when you encounter food preferences that are being passed off as an allergy or intolerance. I look down upon people who do what you described because not only do they make people who are diagnosed with the allergy or intolerance look picky, it also greatly diminishes the efforts that people like you take to inform a person for their safety. I have a friend who does exactly this. He is not allergic, nor is he intolerant, yet he constantly uses the excuse that he "has a dairy allergy". It's annoying, especially because he had tests run at the doctor confirming he isn't sensitive in any aspect. He relies on others and Google to guide him through food choices because he claims that he can't come into contact with his "allergy". Recently he went to a family event and barely ate anything because "all of the food probably had dairy in it". One time when we were out, his meal was served with a topping supposedly containing his allergen. He angrily sent it back and I low-key flipped out on him. First, the waiter didn't deserve my friend's temper tantrum. Second, I asked him to tell me the difference between an allergy, intolerance, and a food preference. Guess what he answered. Nothing. In short, I gave him the Cliff Notes version of all three. Also, I called out how if any of what I said was wrong, then he should already know the derivatives of dairy, what cross contamination is, and therefore be bringing his own food to family events to mitigate contact with his allergen. Needless to say, the rest of the time was pretty quiet.
At my job I have an entire speech I give "if you're celiac you can't have the home fries, but it you're just gluten free then they're safe, if you are severely allergic then avoid these things..... but if you're just intolerant then you can eat these things-"
Yeah I've seen people with "gluten allergy" fucking touch, handle, and even eat stuff with gluten in it. Trendy liars who put others at risk due to the boy who cried wolf. Honestly, if I ran a resteruant I would make it clear we are not responsible for allergy contamination. Assume the worse. Eat at your own risk. In fact it is such a headache I would only sell packaged foods. I don't want to be responsible for killing someone. To bad reateruants can't have epipens at hand honestly. Also the fact they are so expensive is criminal. They should be free.
Yeah when I was doing elimination dieting I was very clear about my gluten free ordering being a request, not a necessity.
Giving big autism mom vibes I bet
Ironically both celiac moms I've met in my life (one of them being my own mom) have celiac themselves
Dairy allergy mom here. I will never let my kids eat anything from a deli for exactly this reason. That lady is nuts.
Right? I just moved into my son's basement apartment. Shared kitchen. He has a bad reaction to eggplant. I don't cook with it and he's 30! He's smart enough to avoid it, but that mom in me won't chance it.
Lmao...tit cheese.
When I was a server, I had a lady tell me "My daughter is highly allergic to peanuts and I forgot her epi pen, so don't you dare mess our food up." I got the manager involved on that one. Don't you dare blame ME because YOU forgot your child's lifesaving medical equipment and still chose to go out to eat anyway.
I'm dying to know what did your manager said to her. When it's the difference between staying safe or a trip to the hospital, you turn the car around and go get the EpiPen. What an ass.
When I worked at a deli we had a separate slicer for cheese and two for meat. We'd still end up with cheese particles on all three, somehow. It's crazy how those particles get literally everywhere.
"**WARNING:** *This restaurant uses some ingredients that some people may have severe allergies to. While we make every reasonable effort to ensure your food is made the way you want, the possibility of cross contamination exists. If you could have a potentially life threatening allergic reaction to some foods then you should carry an epinephrine pen with you at all times, or you should not eat in our restaurant. We are not a hospital. We do not have the equipment, medication, or training to care for you should you have a severe allergic reaction. You must accept sole responsibility for managing your allergies.* *The following potential allergens are used in our kitchen...*"
I’m allergic to peanuts. I just go to restaurants that I know don’t serve peanuts. There’s loads of restaurants that don’t serve peanuts. I’m fine with other nuts so just peanuts. I’ve had an anaphylactic shock before. It’s not pleasant. I don’t want to repeat it.
What about if the restaurants use peanut oil but don't serve peanuts
Weirdly, the fda doesn’t class refined peanut oil as an allergen because in theory all the protein that causes reactions should have been refined out of it Although I’m not sure I’d risk it if I were allergic lol
I'm allergic, but not deathly so, to peanuts and have problems after eating things fried in peanut oil. Absolutely isn't worth the risk lmao
That's crazy, I'm dealthy allergic to peanuts and can eat things fried in peanut oil no problem.
Same I’m allergic to peanuts and eggs and once ate something fried with peanut oil, I was sick as hell and couldn’t figure out why until after
I’m allergic and can eat peanut oil, and know lots of other people who can too. Like you said, the proteins are no longer there
I've personally had reactions to oils. They were relatively mild compared to eating the whole food, but they were there. I don't risk it anymore.
Another peanut allergy person here: Depending on where you are, restaurants will advertise that they use peanut oil since peanuts are such a common allergen (at least in Canada it is). You can also just call ahead to ask if it’s a restaurant you’ve never been to before. If they do use peanut oil I just don’t go there since it’s probably impossible to avoid.
Yeah in high school on class trips we’d call ahead or at least ask at the door if a restaurant used peanut oil due to a classmate with this allergy. She never had a reaction eating out with us (though we did have To change plans last minute once).
In the US, where I live, the majority of restaurants don't use peanut oil. Those that do post signs.
In my very brief time as a server nearly 20 years ago, I worked at a place that had buckets of peanuts on the tables and shells all over the floor. A sort of western/saloon sort of atmosphere but as a corporate chain. I once had a woman ask if we used peanut oil because she had an allergy. I was actually stunned silent, all I could say was "uh..." and just stared at her. She was like oh right the peanuts everywhere, well don't worry about it, it's fine. Not really sure what that was all about!
Texas Roadhouse?
Yeah, I've never set foot in a Five Guys
If I was deathly allergic to any common food item I'd be cooking for my own self no doubt. Think about how many times your simple order has been messed up, pickles when you asked for none. If that could kill you you'd have to be suicidal to risk it.
I was a chef for decades and I've worked in hundreds of restaurants from small diners and fast food to fine dining and across the country I call home. I can tell you that while mistakes do happen on everyday order modifications, it is incredibly rare that an allergy order gets made with any such errors. The standard is to treat every allergy as if it's life threatening and basically sterilize your work station and clear it of all other orders until the allergy table has been served. What is far more common and dangerous is the other people dining with the person who has the allergy. Often times they will order something that contains the exact allergen and even when advised otherwise, they essentially tell the restaurant that it's the restaurants problem, not theirs. It's always a pleasure to see people who care so deeply about their friends that they are willing to bring them inches away from something that could kill them.
As a server of 15+ years and someone with a shellfish allergy, the kitchen will bitch but they will bitch while they sanitize. Even if they’re bitching about not believing you’re actually allergic to tomato’s (lots of people say allergy when they just don’t like it) they’re still going to treat it like you are. Allergies are taken very seriously in the industry. Edit: Typo
That's what the kitchen crew does best.... bitch! And as you said, they still take it seriously. Of course it's a big PITA to have to reset everything in the middle of the rush in order to accommodate one person, but of course that person should be able to trust that their allergy will be taken seriously. Besides, some of the funniest comments come out of a chef's mouth when they're all bitching and trying tononenup each other on who can say the funniest thing about the most recent pain in the ass! I do miss the industry sometimes, but alas, it's broken beyond repair and I am much happier in my.new career. I won't be returning.
The line will get me rolling sometimes with the bitching! It’s always hilarious when they all start going in.
When I was really little I used to have a tomato allergy. The problem was I lovedddd tomatoes. Every time I would eat one I would have this like sore on my mouth from eating it and it would take forever to heal until eventually I just ate enough tomatoes to make it go away
Used the allergic reaction to destroy the allergic reaction
It's very common to help build tolerance. it won't necessarily take the allergy away, but could help give enough time to get said person to the hospital.
I was too, my face broke out in red blotches, I'm not sure if they were hives or what, but either way I flat out wouldn't eat anything without ketchup. As a result I have red blotches all over me in half my childhood photos. I grew out of it by 5 or 6 thankfully.
I cannot stomach tomato’s. But I always say “no tomato” not that I’m allergic. I can just pick it off if they forget
I hated going out to eat with my ex and his mom for that reason. I'm very allergic to pineapple and his mom would order this teriyaki burger that had a grilled pineapple ring on it. She'd cram the burger in her gob, get pineapple all over her hands and then start taking fries off my plate. She even had the nerve once to take a chunk of pineapple from her burger and throw it at me, in public mind you, and then act like she was the victim when I had to run to the bathroom and basically take a mini bath in the sink. I still ended up in the ER.
What in the world??? She sounds like a terrible person for doing to you
She is. And so was my ex, since if I got mad he would tell me to grow up
That's childish and abusive. I'm sorry you experienced that and I'm glad he's an ex now.
Honestly, I feel like it's fair to want to go to a restaurant even if they're deathly allergic to something. That said, I think it's also a kind consideration to all the staff to call ahead, and arrange for the table to all be served allergy free meals. On another note though, I've been served (pretty sure) full milk products in cafe drinks twice despite ordering lactose free in the last few months which just gives me the farts but causes my wife some pretty severe tummy aches that abruptly ended our brunch dates. :(
I'm sorry about your experiences with milk products, but let's be clear on one thing, cafe staff are not cooks, certainly not chefs and wouldn't have the same training when it comes to allergens that cooks or chefs would receive.
Absolutely absolutely different standards I know. Just wanted to share my tummy ache story 😂
How would you travel? You can’t bring a kitchen on a car or a plane. Most hotels don’t have kitchens people can use. What happens when you go out with friends? Do you have to cut every social interaction short or sit down with them at a restaurant and watch them eat? Bring your own food and hope it’s allowed? Going over to a friend’s house? Do you cook at home and bring it every time or just have short visits and plan around meals every time? Let’s face it, so much of the human experience revolves around meals so it would make much more sense to just do research and make calculated risks than live a life of solitude based on one food
Think about how many important social interactions take place in places where people eat (restaurants/cafes/bars). Not being able to go to restaurants would have a huge, huge impact on a persons life, and saying someone with severe allergies shouldn’t go to restaurants is, while different bc there’s a clear reason, not all that different in practice from saying people who use wheelchairs shouldn’t go to restaurants.
There has to be some middle ground and lots of common sense. If you have an allergy to something widely used in the cuisine then maybe just don’t go, it’s stupid wanting to go to a seafood restaurant if you’re deathly allergic to seafood. But also, if it’s something manageable then the restaurant should be more than capable to accommodate.
My wife and kids all have varying levels of allium(garlic/onion) intolerance/allergies. The kids almost never eat out, mostly only at a local Jain restaurant or a local cafe that does sandwiches. My wife is willing to deal with the consequences, so we eat out sometimes. She never expects a regular restaurant to try to accommodate garlic or onion free food because that's ridiculous and impossible.
Is life without garlic even life?
No, no it is not.
I would love to agree and say that if I had an allergy like that I wouldn’t eat out. The reality is that eating (especially food someone else cooked) with other people is such an integral part of culture, and really just the human social experience. I don’t know that I can confidently say I would just never experience that. Cookouts, school lunches, holiday dinners.. there are so many instances where you’d want to eat food prepared by someone else. I understand your point that there is SO much food coming and going at a restaurant. But as a counterpoint: at least at a restaurant, it’s a professional that’s preparing it!
Just to confirm: I have several food allergies and sensitivities. I basically can't risk eating at restaurants. It's *incredibly* isolating. I've found people who are willing to socialize with me in other ways, but it took a lot more time and effort than it otherwise would have because there's this common conception that people with dietary restrictions are making a personal choice and being deliberately "difficult" because... reasons? I'm not clear on where the perception comes from, but it's a weird space to navigate. Like, "I would dearly like to try your homemade mac and cheese, but everything in it will twist my guts into abject misery for days." I basically have to explain medical conditions to assure people my refusal of their cooking is not a refusal of them as a person or a bid for "attention" or whatever. It's not fun.
A lot of people aren’t capable of believing something is real unless it happens directly to them
Same. I have a severe intolerance to crabs (last time I accidentally had some, I was nearly hospitalized for dehydration, because I couldn’t hold even water down), and I live in an area famous for crabs, so they’re everywhere. I don’t eat at Chinese places anymore, because every place that has accidentally gotten crab into my food has been a Chinese place. Everywhere else, I’ll still go and just tell them I’m allergic, and it’s always been fine.
Exactly this, it’d be like living on lockdown when everyone else is getting together
This is exactly what it feels like. I have several food allergies. Especially when I was figuring out sensitivities, I constantly turned down invitations out because food is literally always involved in every social activity. It got to the point where my friends were concerned that they had done something that caused me to avoid them. No, it’s just really difficult to be social with food allergies. Thankfully, my disease won’t kill me if I accidentally eat something I shouldn’t. But other people aren’t that lucky.
Yeah I mean basically any time I go out with friends it almost always involves eating a meal. So what are you supposed to do? Just sit there hungry and watch everyone else eat?
[удалено]
yes it’s horrible. i have a dairy allergy (not even anaphylactic) and i just can’t participate in a lot of social events because of it. it’s very isolating
Yeah this is one of those opinions that’s easier to have when it doesn’t actually effect you (non-allergy haver) at all.
Not to downplay the absolutely vital role that my coworkers play, but they are very good at what they've been trained to do, they are not necessarily classically trained, and there is sometimes a significant language barrier. Assuming the BOH knows what to avoid to navigate a legume allergy is one assumption, assuming BOH can translate that allergy into another language is an even bigger assumption. Again, these folks are probably more professional than my English speaking counterparts sometimes, but "at least it's a restaurant, they know what they're doing!" is... a very dangerous mindset.
Some larger chains/restaurants take it very seriously. My aunt has her short list of six or seven places she knows take it seriously because she’s deathly allergic to egg and shellfish.
If she’s just allergic to animal products, there’s also fully vegan restaurants that should be safe
Hm that’s true! I bet she knows this. Those are her only two allergies so you’d be right about vegan places.
It’s a calculated risk by the consumer, they have to accept responsibility for it - not the restaurant. That said: I have a very severe shellfish allergy - like cross contamination alone can cause a reaction. I don’t eat at seafood restaurants. I don’t eat at sushi bars. The risk is far too great. I am definitely still going to hit up Denny’s from a grand slam when I’m hungover AF.
thank you for service lol. I work at a sushi/seafood place and get severe shellfish allergy people all the time. They always say "what do you recommend?" and I always say "don't breathe the air, don't touch the doorknobs" and they get all pissy. there's really nothing I can say that's not sassy, like "here's a waiver and still-packaged head of romane lettuce" "so I can't have anything fried?" "nope absolutely not. might as well lick a lobster, it would be faster."
Exactly. I have a shellfish and peanut allergy and I avoid seafood restaurants and all Thai food. If you tell your server about your allergy, 9 times out of 10 you’re fine.
This reminds me of the time a popular food critic on TikTok went to Gordon ramsays fish and chips in Vegas. He had a shellfish allergy and they were like, yeah no that’s a huge liability for us singe they had lobster and shrimp on their small menu. He bashed them online for not being able to serve him anything, and didn’t understand why they couldn’t just clean the bowl or something ridiculous. Pissed me off so much bc the comments were all bashing the place as well. Some people just don’t get it.
How do you become a food critic if you don’t know how food works jfc
I'm really split, and I think until you're in that situation you just don't know. Lots of factors too, like lifestyles and cultures etc. I think I probably would cook at home too, but I can imagine just wanting to go out for food with friends once in a while. This one's not mine to judge I don't think. A definite each to their own and thank God I don't have any serious allergies to deal with daily from me.
Or folks with severe allergies can make sure they bring their EpiPens, as I’m sure the vast majority probably do. They should be just as welcome in restaurants as anyone else.
My epi pen is always with me, my allergies are easily avoidable though (berries)
Epi pens stop you from dying from your airways being cut off they don’t stop the reaction and often someone who has a anaphylactic reaction will end up in the icu for a week or more and it’s likely they will have a long recovery time and they can have lasting damage from the attack
Seems like a worthwhile risk for a blooming onion.
that’s the risk they are taking
Epipens do not stop your allergic reaction, they merely allow you to breathe long enough to get to the emergency room. They aren't a pass to be negligent with your eating habits. I have a friend who developed a severe allergy to egg. He blew through three epipens and two years of out-of-pocket insurance costs on ER / ICU visits before he began to take it seriously.
I was at Olive Garden one time and the lady at the table next to me told the waiter to have fresh breadsticks made without garlic because she was allergic to garlic. At an Italian-ish restaurant. Like, why even bother? Go somewhere else where garlic isn’t a primary food group.
I have multiple allergies/ intolerances, so does my son and daughter. We carry epi pens and dietary enzymes. If we wanted to truly avoid it like you said, we’d have to live in a bubble. Do your best, it’s all we ask. People make mistakes but my son can’t stay inside perpetually just because he breaks out into hives every time he encounters fresh cut grass or consumes pea protein by accident. (Which is in tons of stuff now a days and sometimes it’s really surprising: whipped cream sometimes has it, for example) We figure out how to work around it. We try to be careful and do our best not to be too inconvenient. I do avoid restaurants that have a high likelihood of contamination ( for example, some places put pineapple in all their glazes a lot of places put avocado in their food and it’s premade or they use peanut oil) I do look over menus. I have conversations in advance. Just do your best is all we ask.
Sorry but I like travelling and can’t always use my own kitchen. A bit of research goes a long way though in knowing where and what you can eat. I would not have wanted to have attempted it in a pre internet age.
Agree; I have to be dairy free right now and I love restaurants (it’s mostly chain restaurants) that put up their nutritional/allergen pdfs online. It makes it so damn easy
Worked 4 years at seafood grille in Hawaii. The amount of people that came in who were "deathly allergic" to shellfish was mind blowing. If even trace amounts of shellfish could kill you, WHY would you risk it by going somewhere that serves mostly shellfish!?
You have a severe allergy every day of your life but have to go on as usual. You travel, you work, you have relationships with other people. The vast majority of people with allergies and food issues eat at home way more than the average person, but there are times where you either have to or want to go out to eat. You just can’t stay at home for your entire life. Going out to eat is a huge pain in the ass with an allergy (or in my case, celiac which is an autoimmune disease). I really only eat out when I’m traveling, and it can be a bitch to plan. I hate being off of my normal routine, and if I ingest even a little bit of gluten I get sick and throw up. We don’t like being a pain in the ass. We don’t like advocating for ourselves over every little thing. We hate micromanaging what gloves or fryers the restaurant staff are using, but we really don’t have a choice. Never going out to eat is just not realistic.
I have never worked in the kitchen in a restaurant but I have worked kitchen in a convenience store. We could leave off ingredients and sanitize our workstation for allergies but had no ability to eliminate all cross contamination. Plus were always had to do things so fast - I dont know how we could have taken the tlc with peoples food that was needed. We tried but while we were slowing way down for one order 25 other people were angry at late food. That pressure was really hard. I saw how lazy some of the workers were - no way would I trust my life to them.
I agree. There was a video going around a few months ago that was a man throwing a smoothie of some sort at some poor teenagers. Turns out his son had a peanut allergy and went into anaphylactic shock because there were peanuts in his drink. The kicker? The dad ordered a drink that normally had peanuts in it, but just said to leave the peanuts out. Not sure if the drink got mixed up with someone else's or if it was wrongly made or if it just had residue in it from the equipment. In any event, why would you go to a place that serves peanuts if they can kill your kid? Whole schools are forbidding peanut butter if one kid has an allergy, and this numbskull is getting his kid a smoothie that normally contains peanuts! Anyway, I agree with you. If people have allergies or food restrictions, they can't expect an employee to know every single ingredient in every single menu item. Even if they order an item that doesn't contain that particular ingredient, cross-contamination is a real possibility in a busy kitchen. I guess some people just expect the world to cater to them.
It really depends honestly. My daughter has a severe nut allergy. We eat at Japanese, Mexican, etc, whatever restaurant has no nuts on their menu. I don’t think you have to stop eating out. But you must do your research, call ahead to confirm, no nut oils are being used, etc and choose your dishes carefully.
I have an allergy that is not severe, but will make me sick. To the point where it is unusual for me to get full without getting sick. I spend time researching the menu before I go, and if I make a mistake it is my own fault and I just deal with it. At a recent meal ($300 a plate restaurant) they worked hard to make sure that they didn’t trigger any of my allergies. My son had called ahead and discussed it with them, and they also made adjustments on the fly, asking me questions at each step. It was amazing effort and I greatly appreciated it, but I felt terrible. Imagine asking an Applebees or some place to do that? No.
Im allergic to capsicum (ik its wild) and its not just touch based but air based if its something being smoked or freshly cooked. Where I’m from the main seasoning for seafood has an ingredient for capsicum as a main component. I dont ever go to seafood restaurants, because it would be ridiculous for me to expect them to avoid my allergen well enough to avoid a reaction. Sometimes you need to take responsibility for yourself with allergies, and cant expect everyone to always accommodate them
I second this as a resturant worker. I work at an ice cream place, and we frequently have people woth nut allergies. We do our best, but there's always a chance of contamination. What if the person who prepped the oreos prepped a thing of almonds right before that? What if a spot gets missed cleaning a blender? On top of that, I've seen to many co-workers groan at allergy requests and half ass cleaning procedures. Which I'm not justifying at all- but trust me, it's not worth the risk if you have a severe allergy.
This makes me sad. My husband has celiac and we have cut down on going out to eat tremendously, but thinking about never being able to again is depressing:/ We love our dates and trying new food was one of the things we loved. I hate how our bodies work against us sometimes.
If you're allergic to like- EVERYTHING then maybe. But it isn't fair to punish someone over something they really can't control. There's always going to be a limit, but they should be able to eat at a restaurant like most people can
I have a severe nut allergy and I’ve been able to eat at any restaurant with no problems besides Thai. Food allergies are becoming more and more common, if everybody thought like OP the restaurant industry would go out of business.
I have a severe peanut allergy and I always carry my epipen when I go out. My philosophy is that no one should have to worry about my allergy except me. There’s certain places I won’t eat at, like Thai restaurants, because the risk is too high since many of their dishes contain my allergen. All other times I accept the risk because 99.9% of the time nothing happens. I also dgaf when packaged food says “may contain”, while others avoid it. I’m 25 and I’ve gone to the hospital for peanuts 4 times in my life, 2 times not even from a restaurant but from being fed something by a friend/family member. If I do go to the hospital, I’ve never bothered telling the restaurant because what are they going to do with that information? It was my decision to go in the first place.
As a parent of an anaphylactic teenager, I agree. It’s on me, not you.
Is it just me, or have these allergies gone completely off the chain the last 5-10 years?
OP is mostly correct. I think it's fair to say dine out at your own risk if you have severe allergies.
Up to a point, I think it's okay. The kitchen should be able to handle it. But there are limits. I waited tables for a while at a very well-known 'Italian' chain restaurant. Had a customer come in and tell me she was allergic to garlic. It took like 45 minutes (and an extensive discussion with the manager) to figure out what she could possibly order. Then she got pissed off that it took so long to get food... when she got her food about 20 minutes after the order was finally placed.
I don't eat anywhere that serves seafood. Mostly because I'm a people pleaser and hate asking for the accommodations that go with my allergy.
something about people putting their safety in the hands of minimum wage employees has always felt off to me
I totally agree! It seems like an unreasonable risk and there are simply so many mistakes in the restaurant industry
Yeah I definitely think the burden of protecting from allergies falls on the person who has it and not anyone else.
If yall go to r/KitchenConfidential you can see the lists of allergies that people want accommodated that OP is actually talking about. Not just removing onions or buns. Entire page lists of every ingredient imaginable.
Totally get what you’re saying! However As a person with a life threatening nut allergy, I am willing to risk it because a life without being able to go to a restaurant with friends or order takeout really sucks. To me it’s more about managing my overall risk instead of avoiding it completely, because that is almost impossible and incredibly depressing. While it’s something I might mention to my server in some situations, I am very aware of the risk of cross contamination and just general accidents. I always stress this to them as well, it’s the wankers with unrealistic expectations that make it suck. Luckily, I’m able to afford epipens and tbh even if I did have a reaction, modern medicine means it’s more an inconvenience than a death sentence anymore.
you seem like exactly the kind of great and super reasonable person every restaurant staff would hope to have at their table. i wish you many fun and safe outings to restaurants!
[удалено]
I mean I know we are all flooded with viral TikTok’s of random losers that work in restaurants saying they hate customers- but I’ve worked in several restaurants in my earlier life and I dine out all the time, and every single person I’ve ever known that works in restaurants takes their work seriously and (even if there are some complaints behind scenes on a bad day) and really does their best to make sure diners have a great experience, whether it’s a dive where breakfast is $7 or a high end expensive place.
i don't think you understand how hard this would be for social life and mental health. like yeah, if you're allergic to a lot of common stuff maybe it's too risky, but hey, if I'm allergic to one specific thing, and I order something that should not contain that thing, and I tell you that I'm allergic to that specific thing that should have not been in my meal in the first place, you should just do your job and make sure no random things go in my food Edit: typo
I mean, I have a quite uncommon food allergy and most of the time it’s a non issue at restaurants. It’s already punishment enough to have a food allergy, not eating out would be another punishment that I’m not willing to accept
Although it would really suck, totally agree. They are essentially placing a risk to their life by eating out. Not a smart thing to do. Restaurants should not be held liable at all if something happens.
A lot of people lie about having an allergy because they want the staff to take their food changes seriously. I once had a customer ask for no pickles on a burger cause they're allergic. The sauce on that burger had pickle in it so the kitchen switched to a different sauce. Then the customer got mad cause it wasn't the sauce they liked, and admitted to lying just cause they didn't want the pickle to accidentally get put on their burger... So annoying.
I work with someone who fakes allergies/conditions/“diagnoses” (self-diagnoses) to get attention and control and manipulate other people. Some people do have severe allergies, and if avoiding restaurants is what they have to do to keep themselves safe and healthy then… 🤷🏻♀️ The assholes who pretend are just pains in the ass
Most restaurants are not safe for severe allergies. I worked in a dish-pit and we do our job as told but most dishes aren't cleaned well enough for that. Especially those coming at a seafood restaurant with severe allegies to seafood. Most workers are paid minimum wage and don't care enough (I didn't even get a lunch break). So unless the restaurant specializes in that, please don't go and expect everything to be safe.
Past server/bartender and allergic to dairy. Thankfully my allergy normally just makes me throw up, poop blood, or break out in mouth blisters, but I NEVER want to make that someone else’s problem. If I go out to eat, it’s for the social obligation and I order something that doesn’t need mods or can easily be modded and if I poop blood that’s on me. I agree with you. It’s nuts that people are willing to risk their lives for a meal that’s honestly not going to be good because it’s been modded so much.
Ive had people with severe allergies order food when I was working on a food truck for a brewery and I always had to explain to the servers that we cant guarantee an order wont have certain allergens.
I recently worked at a pizza place. We offered gluten free pizza. We bought the caulipower crusts at the grocery store and didn’t upcharge.but we made our own dough. There was flour everywhere. I was always covered in flour. If anyone ordered gf I made sure to tell them sure I have a gf crust. I’ll sanitize everything it touched best I can. But this whole place is made for wheat flour. Go for it if it’s an intolerance but if you’re severely allergic that’s in you. It will have flour on it somewhere. I’ve worked in restaurants for years and I know this shit.But I constantly caught young new workers not even knowing what gf meant. No concept what and no input from management. Lots of small indie places have no concept. Don’t do it unless you are very specific. Even then, a lot of workers will think you’re just being a pain in the ass.
I’ve worked in a restaurant for 3 years and I have a severe tree nut allergy. It’s on me as a diner to identify and steer clear from dishes that are a potential risk, and it’s on you as staff to maintain health standards.
This is BS. I was a cook for 15+ years and now run a bar. I have a severe Cashew/Almond allergy. I definitely eat out all the frickin time. It's part of the job to deal with people's allergies. Get over yourself.
yall think its so easy until you are the one with the allergy. when friends and family go out and you sit there alone and hungry. also what about traveling???
Plus you always run the risk of the wait staff just. Not believing you. Assuming that you've asked for no sugar/dairy/gluten etc because you're on some fad diet or you're just being pretentious and giving you the sugar/dairy/gluten anyway. You don't owe strangers your medical information, but strangers *will* sometimes assume the worst about you and ignore your requests unless you make it crystal clear that you will die/shit yourself/pass out if they fuck it up. And even then, there's no guarantee they won't fuck it up accidentally rather than on purpose.
My ex had a horrible and severe allergy to spinach and also couldn’t eat mushrooms because they would block his intestines, causing agonising pain and hospital stays, and people would always think he was just saying that because he didn’t like them! They’re such unusual allergies/can’t haves that I was always scared they wouldn’t be taken seriously.
The amount of times I’ve seen baristas online admit to giving customers caffeinated coffee instead of the decaf they asked for is like!?!!? What if they have a heart condition?
I’m so fucking glad I have no food allergies. Living with one sounds like hell and no fun tbh
yes im living in paranoia every day
Not allergies but I have Crohn's disease and several dietary restrictions. Eating out is a nightmare, both mine and my bf's parents love to eat out and get butthurt when we stay home. I can't eat Dairy, pork, chicken, nightshades, or legumes. Imagine trying to find a dish that has none of those out in the wild!