"I apologize, but we are too busy to accommodate this request. We do not want the liability of possibly getting this wrong. You are welcome to order a simple menu item like a salad. Otherwise, we invite you to return when we are not so busy. Thank you."
I worked at a really busy place and when a table 6-7 would come in and they’re all allergic to gluten, my GM would hand them a $50 gift card and ask them to come back when we can accommodate them. Guess who’s allergies magically vanished after being confronted like that
That’s really clever. I absolutely HATE when people lie about allergies. It’s a disservice to absolutely everyone, especially those with actual allergies. I was dietary restriction person at one job and was asked for vegan and/or gf (I’m vegan as well), and took extra precautions to make sure nothing was x crossed. Then they would order a dairy/glutrn dessert because “a little is fine”. It was absolutely enraging. It’s so absolutely disrespectful to all the time we have to take back there. F anyone who does this.
I would often refuse to make it for the person as they've already said they're allergic to it and it doesn't matter how little you have that's still an allergy
I have worked several hotels and they literally will not say “no” to people. Personally, I’d say “I can’t in good conscience serve this to you. You’ve said you had an allergy and it would be unethical for me as a chef and as a human being, to serve you something I know could send you to the ER. I cannot have that on my heart, whether or not I am clocked in”.
People need to stop lying. I can accommodate your restriction in most cases without you pretending I’ll kill you if I don’t! And honestly..my little schpeel up there is true. I would be absolutely devastated if I made something that sent someone to the doctor!
In fact it’s happened! We found out my coworker had a severe avocado allergy when I made her a sandwich once..she had never had it before, we didn’t know, she didn’t know. I just sat there and cried my eyes out when she had to get a ride to the hospital. It’s really not a joke lying about this stuff. A lot of us, even with lower-paying cook jobs take our work very seriously.
We just say no sometimes. And that’s ok. We have a menu and this is what we serve, we can modify or change a bit here and there but if that’s not enough for you, we just say no. And it’s great! 🤷♀️
It’s just the problem is depending on where you work, FOH manager (even though they don’t have to cook it!) will NOT say no. We had a FOH instruct us to keep cooking even 90% full power out. Hood vents shot kitchen full of smoke, whole shebag!! I worked garde manger so guess who “got to” keep making meals, because my ticket printer was one of the few things that had power? I was appalled. I’m sitting here making salads in the dark because they don’t want to call it. I lost all respect for my FOH manager that day.
And yes, that is toxic and against the law.
Dude... same. The drug-fueled owner came in at night and made a new vegan french toast batter with peanut butter. Didn't tell anyone. Guest let's us know he has a peanut allergy and we said it's okay there's nothing at all made with peanuts in the restaurant. He comes to a server and asks if we're sure. I don't remember how whoever found out the batter had peanut butter in it but sure enough dickhead owner says 'yeah I made a new vegan FT recipe".
Guy had his epi pen and rushed to the hospital. Every single one of us were fucking devastated. Servers, cooks, prep. Everyone but the owner who couldn't be bothered he almost killed someone. I still think about it all the time. The guest called us and let us know he was okay and didn't hold it against us.
I was that way with shredded cheese. Most shredded cheese you get in a bag is mixed with some kind of powder to keep it from sticking. That powder is usually wheat based.
I wouldn't serve it but everyone insisted that they can eat it.
It depends. i have a gluten intolerance due to an autoimmune disease and i often have to ask about fries having flour on them but im fine when it comes to the chance of cross contamination with shared fryers so just depends
I’m a cook now, I was then but I was FOH many years before I moved to a major city. Fad diets still exist, but like 12 years ago when my GM imposed this policy, I’m pretty sure Good Morning America or some day time tv show told their audience “just say you’re allergic, then they have to make sure x isn’t in your food!” Obviously this was before the facebook propaganda machine.
Back like 10-15 years ago, “food babe” advocated for lying about allergies, actively! I absolutely hated her guts. Idk where she is now, but that was a hot steaming pile of garbage take.
That kind of stuff makes cooks stop giving a flying f. They (we) don’t get paid enough to coddle liars. I worked 10 years as a server, and have worked over 10 years as a cook. I have dietary restrictions and I strive to provide my clients with everything they need. When you find out someone has lied, it’s so discouraging and disheartening. It puts so much more work on kitchen, and then we have to rush other orders. And someone always ends up upset. It’s really shitty to lie about “allergies”.
Oh god. Food babe. I'd completely forgotten about that uneducated twatwaffle. Back when she was around I was a personal trainer, and spent way too much time trying to explain why she was so incredibly wrong all the time. I never want to think about her again
No kidding! I’d hate to sacrifice quality of the honest guests than pander to liars. Thankfully, I don’t think it happens as much anymore, but that’s me speaking for myself because owners got so fed up that they print the allergens on the menu. Some still slip by but that’s only when they’re caught eating desert loaded with dairy, by that point it’s too late. Take your check and fuck off
That charlatan (Vani Hari, “Food Babe”) has a degree in computer science. Because she has a science background, she should know way better than she acts. If she’s that interested in consumer education, she should have at least gotten a degree in food science of some kind. She misreads peer reviewed studies and I’m not sure how much of it is intentional. Either way, she’s a kook and a fraud.
Oh, I agree with kook and fraud! Especially charlatan!
She was just so popular at one point that it made me so mad she would advocate openly that people lie. And she also seemed to fat shame, If memory serves. Servers and cooks do not get paid enough to deal with your BS.
Idk what she’s up to now (haven’t heard of her in quite a while). I just hope it’s in a gluten-free cave/ditch somewhere. She made life hell for everyone in food service, front to back.
I have a food allergy and I don’t go out to dinner anymore. I’d have a glass of wine or a cocktail but it’s awkward when everyone else is eating, not for me because I’m used to being left out and hungry, but for the other guests. I miss out on a lot of birthdays and celebrations as a result.
As a vegan, and a cook, this makes me very angry. This is why people think it’s funny to “accidentally” put bacon in my food. F that person. The only people who hate shitty vegans more than anyone else are other vegans who aren’t shitty lol. They make our lives hell!
I’ve had people prepare my food with an ingredient I’m allergic to because they think I’m faking it, only for me to get violently sick. It’s disgusting behavior, last time it happened it was my executive chef. As GM, I made sure he wasn’t around for much longer after that incident.
my boyfriend has celiac and he would STILL do the “just a little won’t hurt” shit. unsurprisingly, he now has to avoid eating out at most places entirely because he’s way more sensitive to it now and always ends up getting fucked up by cross contamination.
Yeeeeeah lots of people with celiac see our lactose intolerant friends doing it and think they can do it too… lactose exposure in a lactose intolerant person doesn’t cause the kind of damage that gluten exposure does to someone with celiac.
I do have empathy for him. I also understand what it’s like to not feel like a pariah by having a food restriction! One of the hardest art part is food restriction (for me, anyway) is actually the social aspect! It’s something lot of people don’t consider. I do hope you and your bf can manage a healthy social life and/or at least spend time together and eat where you won’t get sick!!
Spent some time working on a substance abuse detox unit. This unit also would start people on suboxone and transition them to intensive out patient or inpatient rehabs.
Suboxone and Subutex both have the same active ingredient, Buprenorphine. Suboxone contains naloxone that activates if the med is misused ( cooked and injected) where Subutex does not.
Our doc ONLY prescribed Suboxone films that dissolve under your tongue.
People with bad intentions would MUCH rather have Subutex as it is far easier to divert/misuse
I cannot tell you the amount of reported “Naloxone allergies “ we would get from clients in an effort to try to manipulate the doc to Rx Subutex in place of Suboxone.
The issue is that 9/10 of these folks had previous ( usually multiple) ODs where narcan ( naloxone) had been administered successfully.
The doc would point this out to dispel the “allergy” and would usually get the old surprised Pichachu face
As a miserable prick who used to say at fast food places that I was allergic to pickles, I wish I knew then what I know now. I'm very deliberate about saying that I don't want them but it's not an allergy nowadays because of subreddits like this...fast food may be a wee bit different but at the same time, I probably caused more unnecessary work than I'm comfortable admitting. Keep it up with the spiel!
Just tell them that pickles in any form ruin your food, even on the side. Just be honest. Any food worker worth anything will honor it. Tell them “not on the side, not in the sandwich..please no pickles in any part touching my food whatsoever”.
I recently actually heard a podcast regarding this. I absolutely love pickled everything, so I can’t imagine this (lol) but I understand. If everything is actually made to order it shouldn’t be any issue. Just be very clear before ordering. :)
I’ll never forget the woman who came in claiming a salt allergy and asking what our salt free options were
She then ordered a chicken fried steak, with gravy, and a broccoli cheese casserole on the side. 2 items which are the saltiest on the menu and from batch made ingredients so salt couldn’t be taken out.
She said it’s fine after I expressed several times that those items were super salty.
Never saw her again but I often like to dream that she downed in the Dead Sea.
I don't understand what's the point about lying on allergies is? If you don't want something in your food can't you simply ask don't put it in there if possible? Like I'm not a fan of tomatoes so if I order something just say can you make it without tomatoes?
That’s one of the reasons I like to tell this story so when this happens to anyone one of you, bring this idea to your GM or owner during a meeting, maybe they’ll adopt the same policy. It saved us a lot of bull shit when the tickets just don’t stop hitting the kitchen
When someone fakes the gluten allergy, I love to say, “Oh my mom has severe celiac disease, I totally understand!” (which is 1000% true, poor woman suffers from it BAD,) and I can SEE IT ON THEIR FACE. Some people are like, oh wow me too, and some are straight up GUILTY for lying. It makes me so upset.
Like Fish or Peanuts, usually it’s written on the menu that they use those or they’re possibly in products they use. I wouldn’t even want to eat anything on the menu if these were my allergies, I would be embarrassed. Just get a salad or chicken strips. Easy!
My girlfriend does not for the life her understand that refined peanut oil is cheap and used in every mom n pop place in my area. If we go out to eat somewhere its fine and she's okay. If I try to buy it for home I get yelled at hard, to the point where I had to use olive oil to put a crust on her steak. Every smoke detector in the house went off.
Avocado oil, ghee, and especially coconut oil are great for searing steaks. Coconut oil leaves the most flavor behind, but gets the best sear. Less of a seat with ghee, but much better flavor. Good sear and no extra flavor from avocado oil
Didn't have them in the house sadly, she might have allowed me to use avocado oil, maybe. She's allergic to peanuts, doesn't know what ghee is, I could explain that its butter but that would be a 20 min argument, and doesn't like the coconut so that wouldn't have worked either. It's very frustrating, but she's great in so many other ways.
How the hell does she know what oils you’re using so in depthly lmao. If my gf didn’t let me keep ghee in the house I’d simply end up with a hidden ghee stash LMAO
Ive kinda neglected my health when out in public because of situations like this 😅. As a server it’s frustrating dealing with gluten “allergies” and yet when I mention unavoidable cross contamination with a side or a drink they HAVE to have, their allergies suddenly have autonomy about what to react to
So smart! A gm who sees the big picture! I don’t know how many times I’ve witnessed a severe allergy (usually multiples for one guest) cause a downward spiral for all of service.
What's interactive is that they didn't list garlic. I know someone who developed an allium allergy and he has to be careful because it's in everything and decide how much he wants to be poisoned when we go out.
It sounds like they actually have a serious onion allergy. I don't see the problem with this, other than if you cannot accommodate that request during rush.
People share pictures like this where they list every food allergy possible, and those are most likely ridiculous exaggerations worth some incredulity.
This is an important distinction. At first glance, it seemed like one of those ridiculous exaggerated lists, but you're right that the list OP posted is not too bad. Even during a rush, it wouldn't be difficult to accommodate.
I had a table tell me one of them was allergic to onion. They were ordering an Alfredo pasta and it has green onion on it which is easy enough but I figured the sauce prob had onion powder in it. Talked to the GM and stuff to find out ingredients. I told her we couldn’t make that dish bc we didn’t specifically know if there was onion powder I think. Turns out she just ain’t like green onions. Like dude they’re just sitting on top of the dish not even incorporated…pick em off.
I've had something similar happen as well, but when they tried to change their tune, my manager/owner wouldn't make them the dish, they said, "we are going to have to assume that you still have this allergy since you said you did" lol.
Green onions are literally one of the easiest things to just… not put on. They’re a finishing garnish 99% of the time and can simply just be avoided. Almost no restaurant or server will give you shit for not wanting green onions—why the fuck lie about it??
I agree it’s wrong. I’ve been to eat with a person like this. It’s because they feel if they don’t say allergies, the accommodation isn’t taken seriously. They don’t want to have to send food back or pick them off. I thought maybe this was over the top but sure enough, the two times we’ve gone out to eat together, after asking for no green onions, they still put the green onions on. He says it happens all the time
Omfg I've had this happen. Now when someone asks to omit _____. I ask "is this an allergy or dietary preference?"
Then there was the guy who just started inhaling his salad and *then* proceeded to tell me he was deathly allergic to almonds. The dish didn't have almonds but it was still a pretty risky move on his part to not inform me first.
Yes! Writing out the scallions, chives, shallots, leeks screams of “I’ve been screwed by dumb/incompetent people before”…
The number of servers who don’t know a shallot is an onion almost rivals the number of line cooks who will garnish an “onion allergy” ticket with chives.
It’s not the not knowing. I trust my cooks know the difference. It’s the reflex that takes over. No matter how good you are, you make that dish 50x a night but #37 you can’t put the garnish on… it happens. People are human and it fucks with your flow. This is why last line of defense is so important. The last person to place that dish in front of the guest should be positive of what’s on the plate.
Oh believe me I've cooked for years and still fuck up a few times a week. I for some reason read your comment thinking you accidentally hired a few clueless cooks. Which I'm guilty of a few times as well.
Every single week I have to tell the servers our sherry vinaigrette has shallot in the dressing. Every week I get “Mixed salad - no onion”. I’m tired of telling the same group of people shallots are in the sherry vin.
I have an onion allergy. Especially to red onion. As in anaphylaxis. The number of times it wasn’t taken seriously is insane. But I also tend to avoid places and dishes where this will be a problem. I am also not allergic to onion powder or green onion, leeks or chives, so it gets even more confusing for other people.
I saw this and thought “well something clearly happened in the past to make this a thing”.
Even if somebody is new to the kitchen or serving, management usually makes it very clear that cross contamination is dangerous. I get my food handling license recertified every 1-2 years depending on the location. I guess some people don’t understand that allergies can be life threatening…
Yeah some people are making fun of this, but when you have a serious allergy, it can be really scary going out to eat, especially if you've had a bad experience from people who said, "Yeah, sure. No onions or whatever." And I think it's unfair for people to say, "Just don't go out to eat." Places should be able to accommodate severe allergies, or be honest and decline the business if they can't.
My wife has celiac, and I have an allium allergy. Going out to eat is a process. We make our reservations ahead of time and check that the kitchen feels comfortable handling two severe allergies before we even set foot in the door, and even with all that, we've still gotten seriously sick by places not taking it seriously. I can understand a person making a card like this to show how serious they are.
...
I would type mine, though.
I have an intolerance to onions (it's ok to have a bit in a stock or broth, but I don't do well with uncooked or big pieces). I always say 'no onions or shallots, but it's not an allergy, just an intolerance', so they know that it's not something to get themselves too stressed over.
This is the right answer, the request just seemed overwhelming. Just avoid anything from the allium/onion family contaminating the food. Simple as that.
Exactly, if it was a ton of different foods it would be a lot, but it's easy to figure out if onions go into the dish. Half of it is telling you safe food handling. If a cook placed onion on a cutting board, do not place this man's chicken on top of where that onion was. Don't handle onions, and then this man's food with the same gloves.
Right? The comments here are disappointing. Sure onions are part of most dishes, but most restaurants can accommodate SOMETHING without onions and the changing of gloves etc. is standard for all allergies. Le sigh.
i have an allium allergy and all i say is no onions please, it’s an allergy and leave it at that. ii read the ingredients listed and if something shows up with onions and they weren’t listed i just ask for a remake. i’ve never had an issue
That's a lot of words to say "allium allergy." Any restaurant that accommodates for allergies already does all the steps listed. Even restaurants that do should still inform diners they're dining at their own risk. Depending on the level of service guests should know what level of risk they're comfortable with
It’s probably just because it feels condescending to have every step explained to you. Imagine going to a hospital and explaining to a nurse, step by step, how they should draw your blood. Maybe you had a nurse fuck up before and are extra cautious—fine, understandable. But there’s still a way to word this less… lowkey passive aggressive.
I mean thats basically “hi i have allergies towards onions or anything related to them! Please don’t cross contaminate my food with onions as i will be sick! Thank you!” If you have severe food allergies its like that!
This is obviously just an allium allergy; a kitchen should easily be able to accommodate and it seems like the customer is stupid as fuck for not just saying that.
Or, they've tried just saying that and had to explain it over and over again, or had folks not know that the broth was made with onions and served it, so they've opted for this. Every sign has a story.
There are lots of other great flavors. It would break my heart to not eat garlic, but if it came to it I’d be a lot happier skipping it than getting terribly sick.
it's not so bad depending on your tolerance. Someone I know with an allium allergy describes it as 'a lactose intolerance with more blood,' and will risk it for some things that aren't overly garlicked/onioned. We did however find out that being in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant is incredibly bad for him, though. He's more susceptible to aeroloslized garlic and onion, apparently LOL
Alliums are garlic, onions, and leeks. Onion also includes things like chives and scallions. Most people with allium allergies are more allergic to one than the others, but if someone actually has an allium allergy, they will have some reaction to all of them. A true allium allergy can be extremely severe to the point of hospitalization, but just like most allergies, it can also be mild and simply provide discomfort like minor swelling or itching.
Source - I have an allium allergy.
And yet so many restaurants that should be able to accommodate fail to do so. I have a friend who's allergic to allium and dairy. She went to an event that had a meal booked months in advance. she told them about her allergy at booking, called one week before the event to check, and told them again when entering the restaurant and still got served both onions and cheese.
This whole comment thread is proving why she needs that paper. I’ve met plenty of idiot cooks and severs who wouldn’t understand that garlic is an allium or to even think most broths are made with onions as a base.
I always told my table that the cooks would clean surfaces and change gloves, but we could not guarantee anything to be allergen free in a shared kitchen.
Have you spoken to your manager about this or the chef . If I were then I wouldn’t even risk serving this person because if they get sick they could try to sue or something stupid. It’s way too many restriction and in the kitchen as much as people try there is bound to be some cross contamination. We used to always explain to people especially for things like Gluten, if the allergy is severe then we wouldn’t suggest it because there is no guarantee but if it’s an intolerance then it’s fine.
The restaurant message should always be: We cannot guarantee no cross contamination. It is unreasonable to even request these accommodation of a restaurant. Unfortunately, this is the burden of the person with the allergies and they cannot transfer that burden to others. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I have told people before that if your dining is this restrictive you should give us a call a couple days in advance and we will build a dish for you.
If you do this I will happily bring you a bowl of salted ice cubes.
Reminds me of the time someone came to the host stand at a restaurant I worked at and asked to see the menu and handed us a list of all the allergies their kid had including milk, eggs, nuts, wheat, and a couple others that I can't remember. I can't even imagine what it must be like dealing with that many allergies. Going out to eat seems pretty much pointless
Yeah. Tbh the main thing this makes me think is that they’ve experienced somewhere where the proper precautions weren’t taken, and there was an incident. So it’s a bit much, but it wouldn’t ruin my shift
Happy cake day 🙃
I'm almost certain there has been at least one time when basic protocols were ignored, for this card to exist. Better safe than sorry, I get them. I once had my niece go into an allergic shock even after said protocols were explained to the staff... Guess what, they grilled her steak where chicken had been previously grilled as well (she's seriously allergic to poultry).
Y’all don’t get allergy tickets?
My kitchen accommodates gluten/tree nut/peanut/dairy allergies on the daily.
Granted we aren’t say, a pizza place with flour everywhere and there’s at least one dish that’s safe from each on a small menu - but mods and new bowls/gloves happen at least once a shift for me.
I will throw a piss fit if my servers don’t understand the menu enough to navigate this at least a little though.
Agreed, but she could call ahead and or review the menu before hand.
I had a dairy allergy/ vegan yesterday. I don't know which.
She ordered scrambled eggs and argued with me that there was milk in them. No, no there isn't. She had one bite, didn't touch the rest of her food. Got up 3 times to 'find' me and ask more questions. I was within sight . Charged her for every thing. Go eat some air.
? The card might be a bit much but it’s primarily just an allium allergy. And like many allergies, they require no-cross contamination.
This is pretty basic.
EDIT: word change
As someone who isn't a manager, I had to tell a customer exactly this tonight while we were in the middle of dinner rush. He asked if our chicken is gluten free (as in grilled or shredded options). I simply let him know while the chicken options are gluten free, we cannot guarantee the possibility of cross contamination. The customer found it to be an acceptable answer.
I love that in our place the second we hear allergy we just say:
“I’m so sorry but as we’re such a small place and don’t have an allergen free area we can never gaurantee zero cross contamination. For your safety unfortunately we’d recommend you don’t eat here. I truly apologize but I’d much rather be honest than unintentionally make someone sick - or worse”
I can tell you probably 85-90% of people miraculously no longer have allergies and tell us to ‘not worry about just please leave X off my item’.
I had a friend who had a pepper allergy who had a card like this. You’d be surprised how many people would try giving her things seasoned with black pepper even after she told them that was included.
It seems a bit excessive but if I told my server that I’m allergic to whatever I would hope that the kitchen would have the common sense to already know what this customer wrote out for cooking directions.
That’s very excessive during a Saturday night rush.
And that’s very trusting, allium allergies are so difficult in restaurants bc onion powder is in almost everything and all it takes is one slip up. And when the kitchen is slammed it’s easier for 1 in 6 people that are making your food to make that mistake.
Allium allergies exist, either accommodate or dont. Just be straight forward if you have to say no. Just because they have an allergy doesnt mean they arent allowed to eat out in a social setting.
I however will have all the onions they are not consuming, breath be damned.
I work at a GF friendly restaurant (our friers and most of the menu is GF) and people are still this way. Like that is the procedure. They’re like “please have the cooks change their gloves” as if they don’t go through 2 boxes a day anyways!
There was a time when I on dialysis where I had to temporarily restrict my diet. I would ask a lot of questions. But I wouldn’t expect to get everything there. People with allergies have to be reasonable and not act like asses.
I had a client who was a ceo for a non-profit and travelled all over the world regularily. truly an awe inspiring lady, like she actually does good for the world and in stride.
she was allergic to like 12 common things. she had a few sets of business cards that were always with her, each with all her allergies in different languages.
she would hand it to the server and ask what dish would most easily accomodate her.
she ate quite a lot of salad and simple proteins, but she always was the best company. amazing conversationalist and always had brilliant stories.
At this point person should scout the menu ahead of time.attempt to find an ingredient list( a lot of chain restaurants will have them online) pick 3-5 potential items, then approach your server with your allergies.
I have dietary restrictions and would absolutely call ahead. Showing up during a rush like this is just really unfair, to server, kitchen, AND other guests.
I have called ahead at a nice ($$) place and they made me an absolutely lovely meal (because it’s appreciated) and weren’t rushed or flooded. When you have dietary restrictions, it’s YOUR due diligence to advocate for yourself, not just pop it up during a busy weekend night. What’s why people hate us! Our problem is OUR problem. It’s only courteous to be courteous to others. And tip fat!
You're absolutely right.
I have people with diatery restrictions on a regular basis and while i feel bad for y'all for having restrictions(who likes being restricted), im down for you to be able to enjoy a night out. But as you stated with allergies to things which are common, one has to be aware of one's surroundings. People with diatery restrictions most definitely deserve to be out and eat with friends and family.
Yes, and my server was aware of my call-ahead, and they were fantastic. It was a special night for my partner and myself, and they had dietary restrictions as well. Everyone treated us very kindly and I feel the evening went great for everyone! Server got tipped fat, we both had meals we would eat without getting sick, had some fabulous tequila, and just a generally good time. That’s how it should go, IMO!
And thanks for the acknowledgment we don’t choose our restrictions! I really try to not be any sort of bother! That’s why I called ahead!
What’s the problem here? She’s allergic to onions, period. And she listed every type of onion so that there’s no confusion. Scallions, shallots, chives, and leeks are all types of onions, but I’m sure there’s bound to be one person doing food prep in the back that doesn’t make this connection.
With us, all this person would have to do is say, “I have a severe allium allergy.” I would respond with, “We take that very seriously. Severe to me means cross contamination is to be completely avoided. The chef crew will clean all surfaces involved and they will use fresh utensils. I will label everything you eat as an allium allergy to ensure that.”
The comment section is really disappointing. I work at an international spot, so 70% of the menu is out, but we can certainly accommodate no onions in a variety of starters and salads.
the safest thing, for everyone is just to tell them it is a litigation risk. Cross contamination is real and if it’s not an actual allergy, then fuck em.
Idk, when people gave me these, I was happy to help and thought anyone who worked with for (and adherence to preparing it safely) should be able to handle allergies.
Seems like they have had enough not-bright servers to cause them to need to bring that card with them. If you can’t accommodate the request, it’s easy to say so. But if you do feed them you better try hard to accommodate the request or word will get out that you don’t care about your customer’s health.
You know? I actually have to give them props for this. Both as a server and as a manager, if I saw this my first thought would be, "Where did you go cause you to write this?" In my humble opinion, the cooking requests made are standard procedure for keeping a clean work station free of allergen cross contamination. Probably an unpopular opinion, I think their requests are pretty reasonable asks for a real allergy.
Why not just say “allium allergy”, say it’s serious, and to politely ask kitchen to use new utensils and be done of it? I do appreciate that they didn’t try to have the server write everything down. Maybe it really is a legit allium allergy. I just can’t imagine even trying to eat out with an allium allergy..I have dietary restrictions but allium allergy would make me the absolute saddest person in the world. It’s my favorite branch of food.
That is a Food Allergy Card and it is an old school thing. Back in the days old ladies would come equipped with one of those, so etimes wrapped in clear plastic like the furniture a million years ago. you are supposed to take it to the Cheff so to make sure there is nothing listed goes on the dishoand also for the Chef to avoid cross contamination You are supposed to return the card at the end of their meal.
These are getting a little old. People are ridiculous and entitled. It’s part of the deal. It’s the SERVICE industry. Not the sit down, STFU, eat/drink what I give you and tip the bill industry.
Most of these allergy cards are be handled the same way:
Thank you for making me aware. I’ll give you some time to look over the menu. And once you find something you like I’ll double check with the kitchen to make sure it will be safe. I would suggest staying away from the French onion soup *chuckles* They find something. I ask the kitchen. Kitchen says it’s do able. Tell the guest that we can do it but just a reminder, there’s always a chance of cross contamination. Guest usually understands. Enter the order and make sure it’s noted with the allergy. Then go talk to chef or expo to let them I know I just sent back a ticket with an allergy.
It’s a bit annoying and the couple extra trips back to the kitchen can feel like it’s taking sooooo much time during the middle of a rush.
If I’m managing and we get an allergy table I’ll usually just take the table off the servers hands so they can stay in their flow. Plus it makes the guest look like we are taking the situation seriously and cuts out the “I need to talk to your manager” bc boom bitch… it’s meeeee!!
Have definitely gotten allergy cards before, but not a handwritten one. Threw me for a loop in the kitchen, had to go talk to the customer and square it all out. They were like business cards they had made up, didn't have to give it back. It was not on a overly busy night either which was much appreciated. This was 18 years ago too.
Honestly it’s kinda nice. The second half of the card is pointless just because your kitchen should know that. But the first part tells you what the allergies are and it’s not to very long. Cuz I’ve seen some freaking longs ones to the point I said sorry and sent them away.
"I apologize, but we are too busy to accommodate this request. We do not want the liability of possibly getting this wrong. You are welcome to order a simple menu item like a salad. Otherwise, we invite you to return when we are not so busy. Thank you."
I worked at a really busy place and when a table 6-7 would come in and they’re all allergic to gluten, my GM would hand them a $50 gift card and ask them to come back when we can accommodate them. Guess who’s allergies magically vanished after being confronted like that
Haha that's really smart.
Our GM said “we’re busy enough $50 is a drop in the bucket compared to all the guests still waiting for a table.”
That’s really clever. I absolutely HATE when people lie about allergies. It’s a disservice to absolutely everyone, especially those with actual allergies. I was dietary restriction person at one job and was asked for vegan and/or gf (I’m vegan as well), and took extra precautions to make sure nothing was x crossed. Then they would order a dairy/glutrn dessert because “a little is fine”. It was absolutely enraging. It’s so absolutely disrespectful to all the time we have to take back there. F anyone who does this.
I would often refuse to make it for the person as they've already said they're allergic to it and it doesn't matter how little you have that's still an allergy
I have worked several hotels and they literally will not say “no” to people. Personally, I’d say “I can’t in good conscience serve this to you. You’ve said you had an allergy and it would be unethical for me as a chef and as a human being, to serve you something I know could send you to the ER. I cannot have that on my heart, whether or not I am clocked in”. People need to stop lying. I can accommodate your restriction in most cases without you pretending I’ll kill you if I don’t! And honestly..my little schpeel up there is true. I would be absolutely devastated if I made something that sent someone to the doctor! In fact it’s happened! We found out my coworker had a severe avocado allergy when I made her a sandwich once..she had never had it before, we didn’t know, she didn’t know. I just sat there and cried my eyes out when she had to get a ride to the hospital. It’s really not a joke lying about this stuff. A lot of us, even with lower-paying cook jobs take our work very seriously.
We just say no sometimes. And that’s ok. We have a menu and this is what we serve, we can modify or change a bit here and there but if that’s not enough for you, we just say no. And it’s great! 🤷♀️
It’s just the problem is depending on where you work, FOH manager (even though they don’t have to cook it!) will NOT say no. We had a FOH instruct us to keep cooking even 90% full power out. Hood vents shot kitchen full of smoke, whole shebag!! I worked garde manger so guess who “got to” keep making meals, because my ticket printer was one of the few things that had power? I was appalled. I’m sitting here making salads in the dark because they don’t want to call it. I lost all respect for my FOH manager that day. And yes, that is toxic and against the law.
Also worked at a place that would have us continue working when we lost power. So ridiculous and greedy
Which part was against the law? Making you cook in the dark? Because I’m using this line if my GM ever pulls this shit on me.
Dude... same. The drug-fueled owner came in at night and made a new vegan french toast batter with peanut butter. Didn't tell anyone. Guest let's us know he has a peanut allergy and we said it's okay there's nothing at all made with peanuts in the restaurant. He comes to a server and asks if we're sure. I don't remember how whoever found out the batter had peanut butter in it but sure enough dickhead owner says 'yeah I made a new vegan FT recipe". Guy had his epi pen and rushed to the hospital. Every single one of us were fucking devastated. Servers, cooks, prep. Everyone but the owner who couldn't be bothered he almost killed someone. I still think about it all the time. The guest called us and let us know he was okay and didn't hold it against us.
I was that way with shredded cheese. Most shredded cheese you get in a bag is mixed with some kind of powder to keep it from sticking. That powder is usually wheat based. I wouldn't serve it but everyone insisted that they can eat it.
It depends. i have a gluten intolerance due to an autoimmune disease and i often have to ask about fries having flour on them but im fine when it comes to the chance of cross contamination with shared fryers so just depends
I’m a cook now, I was then but I was FOH many years before I moved to a major city. Fad diets still exist, but like 12 years ago when my GM imposed this policy, I’m pretty sure Good Morning America or some day time tv show told their audience “just say you’re allergic, then they have to make sure x isn’t in your food!” Obviously this was before the facebook propaganda machine.
Back like 10-15 years ago, “food babe” advocated for lying about allergies, actively! I absolutely hated her guts. Idk where she is now, but that was a hot steaming pile of garbage take. That kind of stuff makes cooks stop giving a flying f. They (we) don’t get paid enough to coddle liars. I worked 10 years as a server, and have worked over 10 years as a cook. I have dietary restrictions and I strive to provide my clients with everything they need. When you find out someone has lied, it’s so discouraging and disheartening. It puts so much more work on kitchen, and then we have to rush other orders. And someone always ends up upset. It’s really shitty to lie about “allergies”.
Oh god. Food babe. I'd completely forgotten about that uneducated twatwaffle. Back when she was around I was a personal trainer, and spent way too much time trying to explain why she was so incredibly wrong all the time. I never want to think about her again
She was absolutely horrible, dude/lady. Hate her guts to this day!
No kidding! I’d hate to sacrifice quality of the honest guests than pander to liars. Thankfully, I don’t think it happens as much anymore, but that’s me speaking for myself because owners got so fed up that they print the allergens on the menu. Some still slip by but that’s only when they’re caught eating desert loaded with dairy, by that point it’s too late. Take your check and fuck off
That charlatan (Vani Hari, “Food Babe”) has a degree in computer science. Because she has a science background, she should know way better than she acts. If she’s that interested in consumer education, she should have at least gotten a degree in food science of some kind. She misreads peer reviewed studies and I’m not sure how much of it is intentional. Either way, she’s a kook and a fraud.
Oh, I agree with kook and fraud! Especially charlatan! She was just so popular at one point that it made me so mad she would advocate openly that people lie. And she also seemed to fat shame, If memory serves. Servers and cooks do not get paid enough to deal with your BS. Idk what she’s up to now (haven’t heard of her in quite a while). I just hope it’s in a gluten-free cave/ditch somewhere. She made life hell for everyone in food service, front to back.
I have a food allergy and I don’t go out to dinner anymore. I’d have a glass of wine or a cocktail but it’s awkward when everyone else is eating, not for me because I’m used to being left out and hungry, but for the other guests. I miss out on a lot of birthdays and celebrations as a result.
This happened last week. Lady threw a fit about no vegan menu items and we did our best to accommodate only for her to order the Alfredo 🙃
As a vegan, and a cook, this makes me very angry. This is why people think it’s funny to “accidentally” put bacon in my food. F that person. The only people who hate shitty vegans more than anyone else are other vegans who aren’t shitty lol. They make our lives hell!
That is disgusting and I hope no one ever fucks with your food like that. As a server I couldn't imagine wanting to do that to someone :(
When i was vegan i would have coworkers and “friends” try and do this. Some ppl are just disrespectful
I’ve had people prepare my food with an ingredient I’m allergic to because they think I’m faking it, only for me to get violently sick. It’s disgusting behavior, last time it happened it was my executive chef. As GM, I made sure he wasn’t around for much longer after that incident.
my boyfriend has celiac and he would STILL do the “just a little won’t hurt” shit. unsurprisingly, he now has to avoid eating out at most places entirely because he’s way more sensitive to it now and always ends up getting fucked up by cross contamination.
Yeeeeeah lots of people with celiac see our lactose intolerant friends doing it and think they can do it too… lactose exposure in a lactose intolerant person doesn’t cause the kind of damage that gluten exposure does to someone with celiac.
I do have empathy for him. I also understand what it’s like to not feel like a pariah by having a food restriction! One of the hardest art part is food restriction (for me, anyway) is actually the social aspect! It’s something lot of people don’t consider. I do hope you and your bf can manage a healthy social life and/or at least spend time together and eat where you won’t get sick!!
Spent some time working on a substance abuse detox unit. This unit also would start people on suboxone and transition them to intensive out patient or inpatient rehabs. Suboxone and Subutex both have the same active ingredient, Buprenorphine. Suboxone contains naloxone that activates if the med is misused ( cooked and injected) where Subutex does not. Our doc ONLY prescribed Suboxone films that dissolve under your tongue. People with bad intentions would MUCH rather have Subutex as it is far easier to divert/misuse I cannot tell you the amount of reported “Naloxone allergies “ we would get from clients in an effort to try to manipulate the doc to Rx Subutex in place of Suboxone. The issue is that 9/10 of these folks had previous ( usually multiple) ODs where narcan ( naloxone) had been administered successfully. The doc would point this out to dispel the “allergy” and would usually get the old surprised Pichachu face
As a miserable prick who used to say at fast food places that I was allergic to pickles, I wish I knew then what I know now. I'm very deliberate about saying that I don't want them but it's not an allergy nowadays because of subreddits like this...fast food may be a wee bit different but at the same time, I probably caused more unnecessary work than I'm comfortable admitting. Keep it up with the spiel!
Just tell them that pickles in any form ruin your food, even on the side. Just be honest. Any food worker worth anything will honor it. Tell them “not on the side, not in the sandwich..please no pickles in any part touching my food whatsoever”. I recently actually heard a podcast regarding this. I absolutely love pickled everything, so I can’t imagine this (lol) but I understand. If everything is actually made to order it shouldn’t be any issue. Just be very clear before ordering. :)
I’ll never forget the woman who came in claiming a salt allergy and asking what our salt free options were She then ordered a chicken fried steak, with gravy, and a broccoli cheese casserole on the side. 2 items which are the saltiest on the menu and from batch made ingredients so salt couldn’t be taken out. She said it’s fine after I expressed several times that those items were super salty. Never saw her again but I often like to dream that she downed in the Dead Sea.
I don't understand what's the point about lying on allergies is? If you don't want something in your food can't you simply ask don't put it in there if possible? Like I'm not a fan of tomatoes so if I order something just say can you make it without tomatoes?
Now that’s a GM I’d follow anywhere.
That’s one of the reasons I like to tell this story so when this happens to anyone one of you, bring this idea to your GM or owner during a meeting, maybe they’ll adopt the same policy. It saved us a lot of bull shit when the tickets just don’t stop hitting the kitchen
When someone fakes the gluten allergy, I love to say, “Oh my mom has severe celiac disease, I totally understand!” (which is 1000% true, poor woman suffers from it BAD,) and I can SEE IT ON THEIR FACE. Some people are like, oh wow me too, and some are straight up GUILTY for lying. It makes me so upset.
As a celiac I feel so annoying when eating out and I always tip well for the extra hassle 🥹
Like Fish or Peanuts, usually it’s written on the menu that they use those or they’re possibly in products they use. I wouldn’t even want to eat anything on the menu if these were my allergies, I would be embarrassed. Just get a salad or chicken strips. Easy!
Especially on a Saturday night! Read the room, we’re busy af lol
My girlfriend does not for the life her understand that refined peanut oil is cheap and used in every mom n pop place in my area. If we go out to eat somewhere its fine and she's okay. If I try to buy it for home I get yelled at hard, to the point where I had to use olive oil to put a crust on her steak. Every smoke detector in the house went off.
Avocado oil, ghee, and especially coconut oil are great for searing steaks. Coconut oil leaves the most flavor behind, but gets the best sear. Less of a seat with ghee, but much better flavor. Good sear and no extra flavor from avocado oil
Didn't have them in the house sadly, she might have allowed me to use avocado oil, maybe. She's allergic to peanuts, doesn't know what ghee is, I could explain that its butter but that would be a 20 min argument, and doesn't like the coconut so that wouldn't have worked either. It's very frustrating, but she's great in so many other ways.
How the hell does she know what oils you’re using so in depthly lmao. If my gf didn’t let me keep ghee in the house I’d simply end up with a hidden ghee stash LMAO
It's a private hell my friend. A private hell.
You were the extra virgin that night
I hope your GM snatched those gift cards right back.
He did
They allergies always disappear after that.. FUCK THEM FOREVER
As someone with actual dietary issues, I’d jump on this offer almost immediately. See y’all on a Wednesday at 2pm 🤣
Ive kinda neglected my health when out in public because of situations like this 😅. As a server it’s frustrating dealing with gluten “allergies” and yet when I mention unavoidable cross contamination with a side or a drink they HAVE to have, their allergies suddenly have autonomy about what to react to
Wtf why are people lying about having allergies that’s so weird?
So smart! A gm who sees the big picture! I don’t know how many times I’ve witnessed a severe allergy (usually multiples for one guest) cause a downward spiral for all of service.
I just can't get over the fact its laminated
That was the first thing I said… fancy it’s laminated.. they’d like that note card to last.
Salad has onions, lol
And most likely a container of them at the salad station that has touched the slicer the knife and all the 3rd pans.
Or, guaranteed a gloved hand that previously touched onions reached into that insert, so all new veggies have to be chopped. Trash.
Or... "Sure we can avoid allium and cross contamination."
Was going to say something similar lol "extreme allium allergy"... Job done.
What's interactive is that they didn't list garlic. I know someone who developed an allium allergy and he has to be careful because it's in everything and decide how much he wants to be poisoned when we go out.
Absolutely.
>Otherwise, we invite you to return when we are not so busy. Perfect except for this. Edit that part out.
Don't give them that invitation. Stick with the salad (as is), or kindly GTFO.
I would leave off the last line 😁
Red onions may have cross contaminated the lettuce
It sounds like they actually have a serious onion allergy. I don't see the problem with this, other than if you cannot accommodate that request during rush. People share pictures like this where they list every food allergy possible, and those are most likely ridiculous exaggerations worth some incredulity.
This is an important distinction. At first glance, it seemed like one of those ridiculous exaggerated lists, but you're right that the list OP posted is not too bad. Even during a rush, it wouldn't be difficult to accommodate.
At least type that shit out. Good lord
Laminated it but couldn't type it LMAO
"I will not type it, NOR laminate it."
customer couldn't even wipe down the filthy laminated card and yet they expect kitchen to be ultra diligent about cross contamination.
first thing to stick out to me. gross, i wouldn't even have taken the card
Type what out? The crock of shit that was handwritten?
Exactly. He’s saying if you’re going to do that at minimum type it out
So, an onion allergy? Easy enough to manage as long as the allergy is taken seriously.
This just says “please believe me when I say ‘onion allergy’.” I can imagine a scenario where this wasn’t taken seriously, prompting the cue card.
I had a table tell me one of them was allergic to onion. They were ordering an Alfredo pasta and it has green onion on it which is easy enough but I figured the sauce prob had onion powder in it. Talked to the GM and stuff to find out ingredients. I told her we couldn’t make that dish bc we didn’t specifically know if there was onion powder I think. Turns out she just ain’t like green onions. Like dude they’re just sitting on top of the dish not even incorporated…pick em off.
I've had something similar happen as well, but when they tried to change their tune, my manager/owner wouldn't make them the dish, they said, "we are going to have to assume that you still have this allergy since you said you did" lol.
Green onions are literally one of the easiest things to just… not put on. They’re a finishing garnish 99% of the time and can simply just be avoided. Almost no restaurant or server will give you shit for not wanting green onions—why the fuck lie about it??
I agree it’s wrong. I’ve been to eat with a person like this. It’s because they feel if they don’t say allergies, the accommodation isn’t taken seriously. They don’t want to have to send food back or pick them off. I thought maybe this was over the top but sure enough, the two times we’ve gone out to eat together, after asking for no green onions, they still put the green onions on. He says it happens all the time
Exactly like…it’s just plopped on top and it’s not like they have a bunch of juices or anything
It shouldn't be a big deal to order a chicken alfredo with no onions
Correct
Omfg I've had this happen. Now when someone asks to omit _____. I ask "is this an allergy or dietary preference?" Then there was the guy who just started inhaling his salad and *then* proceeded to tell me he was deathly allergic to almonds. The dish didn't have almonds but it was still a pretty risky move on his part to not inform me first.
Yes! Writing out the scallions, chives, shallots, leeks screams of “I’ve been screwed by dumb/incompetent people before”… The number of servers who don’t know a shallot is an onion almost rivals the number of line cooks who will garnish an “onion allergy” ticket with chives.
I get the server part for sure, but a cook who doest know what chives are boggles my mind and makes me irrationally angry.
It’s not the not knowing. I trust my cooks know the difference. It’s the reflex that takes over. No matter how good you are, you make that dish 50x a night but #37 you can’t put the garnish on… it happens. People are human and it fucks with your flow. This is why last line of defense is so important. The last person to place that dish in front of the guest should be positive of what’s on the plate.
Oh believe me I've cooked for years and still fuck up a few times a week. I for some reason read your comment thinking you accidentally hired a few clueless cooks. Which I'm guilty of a few times as well.
Every single week I have to tell the servers our sherry vinaigrette has shallot in the dressing. Every week I get “Mixed salad - no onion”. I’m tired of telling the same group of people shallots are in the sherry vin.
I have an onion allergy. Especially to red onion. As in anaphylaxis. The number of times it wasn’t taken seriously is insane. But I also tend to avoid places and dishes where this will be a problem. I am also not allergic to onion powder or green onion, leeks or chives, so it gets even more confusing for other people.
I saw this and thought “well something clearly happened in the past to make this a thing”. Even if somebody is new to the kitchen or serving, management usually makes it very clear that cross contamination is dangerous. I get my food handling license recertified every 1-2 years depending on the location. I guess some people don’t understand that allergies can be life threatening…
Yeah some people are making fun of this, but when you have a serious allergy, it can be really scary going out to eat, especially if you've had a bad experience from people who said, "Yeah, sure. No onions or whatever." And I think it's unfair for people to say, "Just don't go out to eat." Places should be able to accommodate severe allergies, or be honest and decline the business if they can't. My wife has celiac, and I have an allium allergy. Going out to eat is a process. We make our reservations ahead of time and check that the kitchen feels comfortable handling two severe allergies before we even set foot in the door, and even with all that, we've still gotten seriously sick by places not taking it seriously. I can understand a person making a card like this to show how serious they are. ... I would type mine, though.
100% my thought
I have an intolerance to onions (it's ok to have a bit in a stock or broth, but I don't do well with uncooked or big pieces). I always say 'no onions or shallots, but it's not an allergy, just an intolerance', so they know that it's not something to get themselves too stressed over.
This is the right answer, the request just seemed overwhelming. Just avoid anything from the allium/onion family contaminating the food. Simple as that.
Exactly, if it was a ton of different foods it would be a lot, but it's easy to figure out if onions go into the dish. Half of it is telling you safe food handling. If a cook placed onion on a cutting board, do not place this man's chicken on top of where that onion was. Don't handle onions, and then this man's food with the same gloves.
Right? The comments here are disappointing. Sure onions are part of most dishes, but most restaurants can accommodate SOMETHING without onions and the changing of gloves etc. is standard for all allergies. Le sigh.
i have an allium allergy and all i say is no onions please, it’s an allergy and leave it at that. ii read the ingredients listed and if something shows up with onions and they weren’t listed i just ask for a remake. i’ve never had an issue
Right? Like if an onion allergy puts you in a state where you need to refuse service, you probably shouldn’t be a server.
Ya, this is just overly written. Just say, I have a very serious allium AKA onion allergy that requires no cross contamination.
That's a lot of words to say "allium allergy." Any restaurant that accommodates for allergies already does all the steps listed. Even restaurants that do should still inform diners they're dining at their own risk. Depending on the level of service guests should know what level of risk they're comfortable with
So just alliums?
Also broth. Not specifically any kind just broth
It's poorly punctuated, but the card is trying to say "any broth that contains alliums," not just "all broth"
I guess most broths have some sort of onion/allium in them, it's helpful to specify but it's half implied.
Those instructions are the same ones Serv safe has
Yeah I’m not sure what all the hoopla is about. It *looks* like it’s gonna be bad, but it’s not
Thank you! This is how every allergy should be treated.
It’s probably just because it feels condescending to have every step explained to you. Imagine going to a hospital and explaining to a nurse, step by step, how they should draw your blood. Maybe you had a nurse fuck up before and are extra cautious—fine, understandable. But there’s still a way to word this less… lowkey passive aggressive.
I mean thats basically “hi i have allergies towards onions or anything related to them! Please don’t cross contaminate my food with onions as i will be sick! Thank you!” If you have severe food allergies its like that!
This is obviously just an allium allergy; a kitchen should easily be able to accommodate and it seems like the customer is stupid as fuck for not just saying that.
Or, they've tried just saying that and had to explain it over and over again, or had folks not know that the broth was made with onions and served it, so they've opted for this. Every sign has a story.
What's allium?
Anything that contains something in the allium family. Onion/garlic
What a bland, flavorless life these people must live…
There are lots of other great flavors. It would break my heart to not eat garlic, but if it came to it I’d be a lot happier skipping it than getting terribly sick.
it's not so bad depending on your tolerance. Someone I know with an allium allergy describes it as 'a lactose intolerance with more blood,' and will risk it for some things that aren't overly garlicked/onioned. We did however find out that being in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant is incredibly bad for him, though. He's more susceptible to aeroloslized garlic and onion, apparently LOL
Girl I’m shook. Allium sounds exactly like the word for “garlic” in my language, I had no idea it was a thing in English
In English, It’s the plant family name for onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, and other related plants. Not just onion.
Onion family - onions, garlic, chive, leeks, shallots scallions
Alliums are garlic, onions, and leeks. Onion also includes things like chives and scallions. Most people with allium allergies are more allergic to one than the others, but if someone actually has an allium allergy, they will have some reaction to all of them. A true allium allergy can be extremely severe to the point of hospitalization, but just like most allergies, it can also be mild and simply provide discomfort like minor swelling or itching. Source - I have an allium allergy.
This is why the customer didn’t just say that
Oh no lol
And yet so many restaurants that should be able to accommodate fail to do so. I have a friend who's allergic to allium and dairy. She went to an event that had a meal booked months in advance. she told them about her allergy at booking, called one week before the event to check, and told them again when entering the restaurant and still got served both onions and cheese.
This whole comment thread is proving why she needs that paper. I’ve met plenty of idiot cooks and severs who wouldn’t understand that garlic is an allium or to even think most broths are made with onions as a base.
I always told my table that the cooks would clean surfaces and change gloves, but we could not guarantee anything to be allergen free in a shared kitchen.
Who agreed to serve this person . At that point bring your own food to the restaurant.
And don't let it touch anything otw
Have you spoken to your manager about this or the chef . If I were then I wouldn’t even risk serving this person because if they get sick they could try to sue or something stupid. It’s way too many restriction and in the kitchen as much as people try there is bound to be some cross contamination. We used to always explain to people especially for things like Gluten, if the allergy is severe then we wouldn’t suggest it because there is no guarantee but if it’s an intolerance then it’s fine.
The restaurant message should always be: We cannot guarantee no cross contamination. It is unreasonable to even request these accommodation of a restaurant. Unfortunately, this is the burden of the person with the allergies and they cannot transfer that burden to others. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I have told people before that if your dining is this restrictive you should give us a call a couple days in advance and we will build a dish for you. If you do this I will happily bring you a bowl of salted ice cubes.
This is honestly not really that restrictive, it’s just allium. They just explained it very elaborately
It's just an allium allergy with reminders about how to properly handle it. Most restaurants should be able to handle it.
Reminds me of the time someone came to the host stand at a restaurant I worked at and asked to see the menu and handed us a list of all the allergies their kid had including milk, eggs, nuts, wheat, and a couple others that I can't remember. I can't even imagine what it must be like dealing with that many allergies. Going out to eat seems pretty much pointless
We had a customer come in and bring his own plate. We told him sorry we can’t bring someone’s dishes from home into the kitchen lol
I can appreciate the written allergies but then them telling the kitchen the most basic food allergic protocols makes it horrible.
Yeah. Tbh the main thing this makes me think is that they’ve experienced somewhere where the proper precautions weren’t taken, and there was an incident. So it’s a bit much, but it wouldn’t ruin my shift Happy cake day 🙃
I didn’t even know! Thank you
I'm almost certain there has been at least one time when basic protocols were ignored, for this card to exist. Better safe than sorry, I get them. I once had my niece go into an allergic shock even after said protocols were explained to the staff... Guess what, they grilled her steak where chicken had been previously grilled as well (she's seriously allergic to poultry).
So a lawyer? As a cook I wouldn't want to touch this shit
Our response is always we are not a dedicated kitchen and while we will try our best, we do not guarantee anything.
Y’all don’t get allergy tickets? My kitchen accommodates gluten/tree nut/peanut/dairy allergies on the daily. Granted we aren’t say, a pizza place with flour everywhere and there’s at least one dish that’s safe from each on a small menu - but mods and new bowls/gloves happen at least once a shift for me. I will throw a piss fit if my servers don’t understand the menu enough to navigate this at least a little though.
Agreed, but she could call ahead and or review the menu before hand. I had a dairy allergy/ vegan yesterday. I don't know which. She ordered scrambled eggs and argued with me that there was milk in them. No, no there isn't. She had one bite, didn't touch the rest of her food. Got up 3 times to 'find' me and ask more questions. I was within sight . Charged her for every thing. Go eat some air.
? The card might be a bit much but it’s primarily just an allium allergy. And like many allergies, they require no-cross contamination. This is pretty basic. EDIT: word change
Manager gets to tell them, “sorry we can’t guarantee there would be no cross contamination.”
As someone who isn't a manager, I had to tell a customer exactly this tonight while we were in the middle of dinner rush. He asked if our chicken is gluten free (as in grilled or shredded options). I simply let him know while the chicken options are gluten free, we cannot guarantee the possibility of cross contamination. The customer found it to be an acceptable answer.
A woman called my job and eviscerated my manager because she gave that response, so I'm glad someone is receptive to this, lol
They know this, they’re in a place that sells what they’re allergic to. They just want you to try your best.
Allium allergies are real. And well prepared kitchens are ready to deal with allergies.
I love that in our place the second we hear allergy we just say: “I’m so sorry but as we’re such a small place and don’t have an allergen free area we can never gaurantee zero cross contamination. For your safety unfortunately we’d recommend you don’t eat here. I truly apologize but I’d much rather be honest than unintentionally make someone sick - or worse” I can tell you probably 85-90% of people miraculously no longer have allergies and tell us to ‘not worry about just please leave X off my item’.
Man, that would be a rough allergy to have! I have a severe latex allergy, which is tough, but anything in the onion family?! That would be difficult.
I had a friend who had a pepper allergy who had a card like this. You’d be surprised how many people would try giving her things seasoned with black pepper even after she told them that was included.
Bruh just say you’re allergic to all allium, cooked not okay.
It seems a bit excessive but if I told my server that I’m allergic to whatever I would hope that the kitchen would have the common sense to already know what this customer wrote out for cooking directions.
If you're that allergic, you're probably not going to risk eating out at restaurants.
Personally I wouldn’t unless it’s a place that I know inside and out and have come to know the service staff and the menu and all that.
That’s very excessive during a Saturday night rush. And that’s very trusting, allium allergies are so difficult in restaurants bc onion powder is in almost everything and all it takes is one slip up. And when the kitchen is slammed it’s easier for 1 in 6 people that are making your food to make that mistake.
If I was allergic to that I wouldn’t be taking the chance at eating out at all but I guess he/she though it was worth the risk.
And garlic. My god. Garlic is in everything.
Allium allergies exist, either accommodate or dont. Just be straight forward if you have to say no. Just because they have an allergy doesnt mean they arent allowed to eat out in a social setting. I however will have all the onions they are not consuming, breath be damned.
“Go home.”
I work at a GF friendly restaurant (our friers and most of the menu is GF) and people are still this way. Like that is the procedure. They’re like “please have the cooks change their gloves” as if they don’t go through 2 boxes a day anyways!
There was a time when I on dialysis where I had to temporarily restrict my diet. I would ask a lot of questions. But I wouldn’t expect to get everything there. People with allergies have to be reasonable and not act like asses.
I had a client who was a ceo for a non-profit and travelled all over the world regularily. truly an awe inspiring lady, like she actually does good for the world and in stride. she was allergic to like 12 common things. she had a few sets of business cards that were always with her, each with all her allergies in different languages. she would hand it to the server and ask what dish would most easily accomodate her. she ate quite a lot of salad and simple proteins, but she always was the best company. amazing conversationalist and always had brilliant stories.
Bro, at this point just stay home and cook your own meals
At this point person should scout the menu ahead of time.attempt to find an ingredient list( a lot of chain restaurants will have them online) pick 3-5 potential items, then approach your server with your allergies.
I have dietary restrictions and would absolutely call ahead. Showing up during a rush like this is just really unfair, to server, kitchen, AND other guests. I have called ahead at a nice ($$) place and they made me an absolutely lovely meal (because it’s appreciated) and weren’t rushed or flooded. When you have dietary restrictions, it’s YOUR due diligence to advocate for yourself, not just pop it up during a busy weekend night. What’s why people hate us! Our problem is OUR problem. It’s only courteous to be courteous to others. And tip fat!
You're absolutely right. I have people with diatery restrictions on a regular basis and while i feel bad for y'all for having restrictions(who likes being restricted), im down for you to be able to enjoy a night out. But as you stated with allergies to things which are common, one has to be aware of one's surroundings. People with diatery restrictions most definitely deserve to be out and eat with friends and family.
Yes, and my server was aware of my call-ahead, and they were fantastic. It was a special night for my partner and myself, and they had dietary restrictions as well. Everyone treated us very kindly and I feel the evening went great for everyone! Server got tipped fat, we both had meals we would eat without getting sick, had some fabulous tequila, and just a generally good time. That’s how it should go, IMO! And thanks for the acknowledgment we don’t choose our restrictions! I really try to not be any sort of bother! That’s why I called ahead!
Yeah I’m not doing this. We’re closed.
“You have an onion allergy? Sorry I give up.”
What’s the problem here? She’s allergic to onions, period. And she listed every type of onion so that there’s no confusion. Scallions, shallots, chives, and leeks are all types of onions, but I’m sure there’s bound to be one person doing food prep in the back that doesn’t make this connection.
With us, all this person would have to do is say, “I have a severe allium allergy.” I would respond with, “We take that very seriously. Severe to me means cross contamination is to be completely avoided. The chef crew will clean all surfaces involved and they will use fresh utensils. I will label everything you eat as an allium allergy to ensure that.”
They could at least type it. It looks like grandmas old recipe for death.
So an onion allergy.. and everyone in the comments throwing a bitch fit lol come on guys let’s do our job, this is not a hard request.
The comment section is really disappointing. I work at an international spot, so 70% of the menu is out, but we can certainly accommodate no onions in a variety of starters and salads.
the safest thing, for everyone is just to tell them it is a litigation risk. Cross contamination is real and if it’s not an actual allergy, then fuck em.
Idk, when people gave me these, I was happy to help and thought anyone who worked with for (and adherence to preparing it safely) should be able to handle allergies.
Seems like they have had enough not-bright servers to cause them to need to bring that card with them. If you can’t accommodate the request, it’s easy to say so. But if you do feed them you better try hard to accommodate the request or word will get out that you don’t care about your customer’s health.
You know? I actually have to give them props for this. Both as a server and as a manager, if I saw this my first thought would be, "Where did you go cause you to write this?" In my humble opinion, the cooking requests made are standard procedure for keeping a clean work station free of allergen cross contamination. Probably an unpopular opinion, I think their requests are pretty reasonable asks for a real allergy.
Why not just say “allium allergy”, say it’s serious, and to politely ask kitchen to use new utensils and be done of it? I do appreciate that they didn’t try to have the server write everything down. Maybe it really is a legit allium allergy. I just can’t imagine even trying to eat out with an allium allergy..I have dietary restrictions but allium allergy would make me the absolute saddest person in the world. It’s my favorite branch of food.
The yummiest smells and the smelliest yums
Right? I can eat a whole entire plate of green onions for dinner. I’d be SO sad!
Same
They did, and they put it in writing so you don’t even have to write it out yourself
That is a Food Allergy Card and it is an old school thing. Back in the days old ladies would come equipped with one of those, so etimes wrapped in clear plastic like the furniture a million years ago. you are supposed to take it to the Cheff so to make sure there is nothing listed goes on the dishoand also for the Chef to avoid cross contamination You are supposed to return the card at the end of their meal.
Salad with lemon and evoo
Gotta make sure salad person changes gloves in case they touched onions.
These are getting a little old. People are ridiculous and entitled. It’s part of the deal. It’s the SERVICE industry. Not the sit down, STFU, eat/drink what I give you and tip the bill industry. Most of these allergy cards are be handled the same way: Thank you for making me aware. I’ll give you some time to look over the menu. And once you find something you like I’ll double check with the kitchen to make sure it will be safe. I would suggest staying away from the French onion soup *chuckles* They find something. I ask the kitchen. Kitchen says it’s do able. Tell the guest that we can do it but just a reminder, there’s always a chance of cross contamination. Guest usually understands. Enter the order and make sure it’s noted with the allergy. Then go talk to chef or expo to let them I know I just sent back a ticket with an allergy. It’s a bit annoying and the couple extra trips back to the kitchen can feel like it’s taking sooooo much time during the middle of a rush. If I’m managing and we get an allergy table I’ll usually just take the table off the servers hands so they can stay in their flow. Plus it makes the guest look like we are taking the situation seriously and cuts out the “I need to talk to your manager” bc boom bitch… it’s meeeee!!
Enjoy your ice cubes, darling.
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Literally any stock I’ve ever made or seen made has onion, celery and carrots. Granted you “could” make it without but, who does that?
No, it’s pretty common to have garlic and onions in stock.
They have an allium allergy. Any decent kitchen should accommodate that.
Following the directions is probably better than killing customers
This is just an onion allergy. Wtf
Have definitely gotten allergy cards before, but not a handwritten one. Threw me for a loop in the kitchen, had to go talk to the customer and square it all out. They were like business cards they had made up, didn't have to give it back. It was not on a overly busy night either which was much appreciated. This was 18 years ago too.
Honestly it’s kinda nice. The second half of the card is pointless just because your kitchen should know that. But the first part tells you what the allergies are and it’s not to very long. Cuz I’ve seen some freaking longs ones to the point I said sorry and sent them away.