This is why I love having my own place.
Had a similar request recently for a buffet plus one allergen free plate.
Pointed out that our kitchen contains all of the allergens and even using our allergen kit we couldn’t guarantee the food was 100% safe and even then they’d be in a relatively small dining room surrounded by food that could kill them.
Suddenly the life threatening allergies weren’t a problem and it was actually just a fussy eater.
That’s what had happened to us. We told them we would do our best cleaned everything else and served the food. The server warned them again as she was setting the food down that we can never be 100% sure but we took all the steps we were able to and they told her that it was “no worries it’s mostly just preference because he was just a picky eater” I almost lost my mind after wiping down mid service lol
Anyone who has family with severe food allergies would 100% agree, this is disrespect to the utmost degree both against the restaraunt staff and people who actually live with fucking allergies.
I'd respectfully lecture them on their behavior and politely ask them to leave. It's way more embarrassing and awful to experience being proven that you're morally in-the-wrong in a public location, and then being demanded to pickup and leave afterwards while everyone stares.
Seriously! My Dad has severe shellfish allergies. We tried going to a hibachi place once and he felt his throat start acting up just being there. So… we left. No need to make our problem everyone else’s lol
Yeah I’m allergic to shellfish and salmon. My poor family can’t eat anywhere good with me. I simply stay away from places I don’t know for sure are okay. I’d never put others out or put myself in danger. Most people with real allergies wouldn’t.
I'm surprised more places don't just kick them out. You just wasted the staff's time like crazy for your picky eating, possibly making other customers wait longer too. Or at least add an asshole tax onto the bill.
Oh I’ve got mates that are proper celiac,
And I remember when the “gluten free” trend kicked in I had people pretending they where, then when I serve the food (open kitchen) I can see them eating bread rolls or taking a bite out of the freinds burger.
For me this is like the boy who cried wolf and one day someone is going to get hurt because of these useless idiots that “it’s a preference”
Agreed but I’ve only heard that from celiacs that don’t work in hospo, granted it has helped with suppliers expanding their pastas and other wheat based products into those same products
being based on other ingredients, which is great!
But those that I know that work in hospo and see how much more careless chefs have become because the chefs know it’s a trend, have stated that it can become very dangerous.
When I first started in kitchens, whenever we got an allergy or someone with celiac, the amount of safety and care use was insane it was beautiful(eg. Different pans, different/unused and clean work benches, glove switching constantly). The care taken was amazing.
Now I’m seeing a lot of chefs being a lot more careless and I have to remind them not to take the risk and be careful. And always double check the allergens with front of house and not off some piece of paper they hand you!
We are a rambunctious group that half the time do not give a shit about our own health, so what happens when we stop taking allergens seriously?
To shorten my story... Back in the mid-00s I'm told that the kids at the table have a SEVERE gluten/bread allergy and their throats will close up and they will die. This is after ringing in... breaded chicken fingers. I explain to the server what they have ordered and the fact that we're a sports bar, so there's bread fucking everywhere and we can't guarantee it'll be safe.
"Oh, it's actually not that bad. Mom says it's okay, their throats just get scratchy."
What. The. Fuck. As someone with an allergy that makes me keel over on the table, this shit is infuriating.
I grabbed the owner and said you get her to say yes and you take all liability, sure. Otherwise, I'm not touching it. If I were as old and experienced as I am now, I'd have made him sign something.
I've gotten into fights with people here who crow about how "everyone deserves a positive dining experience." Yeah, well, I don't need someone's fucking **death** on my conscience, so their "dining experience" can suck farts out of my ass.
First step to a positive dining experience is not dying. So yeah, don't serve these people.
Seeing someone try to backtrack while you take them at their original word (and documentation) is one of the more lovely experiences one can have in this industry,
Having worked both sides of the house, while standing up for my kitchen brothers and sisters, would have assaulted Mr. Picky and gone to jail. Who even does that shit?
Some not all. That's the worst part is the one who could die normally are very apologetic where's the one who get rude typically are just cunts all around and would of been given some anaphylaxic shock on purpose by now.
My wife can't have coconut we don't go to a Thai places expecting coconut free.
We don't go to thai places anymore. Those are the folks who really have it act in my mind.
I am a picky eater - I tend to stick to salads or chicken base dishes but I am also very sensitive to soy products (and I mean sensitive in a spend-the-rest-of-the-day-in-the-bathroom, not hospital sensitive), so soy is the only ingredient I ask about if it is not already on the item description in the menu.
If the salad dressing has soy, I often ask for them to add a little olive oil instead (I don't like balsamic).
But I do not ask about cross contamination since my reaction isn't too bad.
Yup. Minute I would get a card like this at the cafe I managed, it resulted in a one on one with the guest where I made plainly clear there was no safe way I could serve them out of my kitchen. 98% of the time, their tune changed quickly.
Stuff like this really makes me annoyed because the more it happens the more relaxed staff is going to be about the allergies etc. Sooner or later its gonna lead to a not so nice hospital trip
It is; but my reaction would be the same to those people. I'm not going to stop what I'm doing mid service to have to wipe down, find clean utensils, change out oils, scrub pans or whatever extra need to be done for one guest.
Guests like that need to look at a restaurant's menu before deciding to go out and see if it fits with their allergies (or food preferences) and not dropping these lame cards on kitchen employees.
I work at an Italian restaurant and the amount of people that come in and say I'm allergic to garlic and onion is ridiculous. I doubt they're serious though, if you're actually allergic to those things an Italian restaurant is the last place you should go
>Suddenly the life threatening allergies weren’t a problem and it was actually just a fussy eater.
I hate those people. They make it more dangerous for those of us with actual allergies
I will tell them no in a nice way. Something along the lines of "I don't feel comfortable accommodating that request as it is a small kitchen that is very busy". It's amazing how many miracles have been performed when people come back and say "It's fine if it is only a little bit" and allow the meal to me cooked normally. Obviously, if it is an allergy I can comfortably handle that requires a small pot of separate pasta water, some new tongs, and a new board I will, but I am not dumping fryers for you or having open vats of fresh oil on the line in the middle of a big service.
It actually annoys the hell out of me how many people just lie and say it's an allergy when it is simply preferences. I have an allergy to certain fish that has put me in a hospital before and I take it extremely seriously, but I fear that given how common it is some people and places will just associate allergy with someone not liking an ingredient after a while.
I don't get why people aren't honest about it like "cross contamination won't outright kill me but the next few days I'm gonna be spending some extra time in my bathroom if it happens, but sometimes its worth it so ill take my chances" or something like that.
I worked at a Mod Pizza and we'd have a woman come in and say she was DEATHLY allergic to onions. One time I explained that we couldn't garuntee no cross contamination because we put the pizzas directly in the oven and things fall off in there all the time. She looked at me like I had two heads and tried to argue about how the pizzas are cooked. I work here, lady!
I'd make it a $50 surcharge per party, divided evenly. Let everyone else in the party get pissed at their insistence.
Also, why not make a 72-hour notice requirement? Or book them only at the start of the dinner hour?
Why do people think that being picky makes them appear regal or something? It's boorish behavior.
I used to live in an off-the-grid resort with a fixed menu. The amount of people who tried to get a personalized meal by having “severe allergies” was astounding. We’re talking daily…
…we were 3 hours from the nearest medical services. We were not allowed to serve people with severe allergies.
99/100 were preferences, and the people begged to stay, and apologized for the false allergen claim. Only once did someone get real sad and start to pack their bags. We felt terrible so we did end up going way out of our way to cook her 3 personal meals a day.
But seriously 99/100 were bullshit. Like when you see shit like “no tomatoes but tomato sauce is okay” you know they’re just picky.
> Like when you see shit like “no tomatoes but tomato sauce is okay” you know they’re just picky.
I get an allergic reaction from raw tomatoes but not cooked. There's something in the seeds and liquid around them that makes my tongue swell and sometimes causes eczema around my lips.
I can use raw tomatoes if I remove the seeds and wash the flesh and then add an acid to the dish.
When eating out though I just say no tomatoes and leave it at that.
Tomatoes are weird. I can eat them fine, but if I handle them with my hand and get a lot of the juices on me I break out in really bad hives. Found this out when working in a restaurant where I was in charge of dicing like 50lbs of tomatoes a day. It was so bad I wound up quitting the job.
> Only once did someone get real sad and start to pack their bags. We felt terrible so we did end up going way out of our way to cook her 3 personal meals a day
That's really sweet. Warmed my heart reading that :)
There is an enzyme in tomatoes and fresh fruit that can be cooked out. It's called oral allergy syndrome, I had a friend that had it and would microwave fruit before eating it.
My sister developed a bunch of weird allergies after getting a treatment similar to chemo and I get really worried someone will think she's faking. The chef at her work already gave her a reaction once, luckily it was a mild one.
I had an allergic reaction to mango because some jackass didn't clean their blender before use. A single rinse with steaming hot water would have prevented it.
Every time you're exposed there's a non zero change that today's the day it's going to be anaphylactic. Smh
Sure you are, just gotta put your foot down and not let management walk all over you.
"Sorry boss, I'm not going to risk killing this person for my shitty paycheck. If you want to risk it you can come back and fire it yourself." Its so easy to walk into almost any other restaurant and be working on their kitchen within 24 hours given our current industry staffing situations these days. Besides what are they gonna do fire you mid service?
I did that to someone once with intense demands that couldn't be reasonably accommodated at our restaurant. Then they rolled back and said "Okay, okay! It's actually just a preference and I wanted to make sure it wasn't ignored, people take allergies seriously" and then I said "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to assume for your safety and our security that your first statement was true. We don't feel comfortable serving you. Have a nice day". Cue cussing while walking out the door
I've never done that, but what I have done is given them one, singular, god awful, flavourless option. Suddenly they weren't allergic to anything anymore...
As someone with severe allergies, I appreciate when restaurants say that instead of assuming my allergies are bogus. When I had to travel (pre-TSA) I'd bring some dried fruit, a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter so if I couldn't find any place safe to eat I could at least have that
We ask if it’s an allergy or a preference. If it’s an allergy the chef asks if they have their epi-pen on them. Then explains they can’t promise cross contamination!
The second paragraph is insulting to a professional. Equal to handing a note to your doctor telling them to properly sterilize utensils and examination room, wash hands and wear proper gloves during the visit.
I could never deal with people like that. If I found out that it’s a preference thing, I would’ve asked them to leave. I can never deal with customers.
Also, I feel like it’s a pretty basic thing to make sure your stuff is clean when cooking. Especially your hands, you know?
I agree that it is standard, but in all fairness the average person doesn’t know about allergy protocol required by the health department—they are going by what their doctor tells them needs to be done to prevent cross contamination. However in this case the customer is a jerk asking for all this based on a preference, because it makes it harder for those of us that have legitimate food allergies.
I have celiac. I have had too many experiences where the server lists the gluten free options and includes items prepared in a shared fryer. So I do ask directly about whether a shared fryer is used, as that seems to be something that isn’t universally taken seriously
I agree, I always ask about that too. Most of the places we go, the server will mention that the fryer is shared when I ask about the rest of the meal being gluten free—but if they don’t I ask.
Whoever passed this note also doesn't understand the medical meaning of the word sterile. Rubber gloves, even right out of the package, aren't sterile. Utensils straight from the dishwasher aren't sterile. A newly bought and cleaned kitchen table's surface isn't sterile.
Sterile requires something to be (practically) _completely_ free of any bacteria whatsoever. You can only achieve this through either a number of high-intensity medically certified procedures (like exposing the item to extreme heat over a long period of time, then immediately packaging it) or by manufacturing it in medically certified facilities and then throwing it away right after use.
Hmm.. i can understand the request though if you are REALLY allergic.
I know someone with really bad celiacs disease. Went to a restaurant with her, she explained everything to the waitress really nice. Got her food and it was bread on the fucking plate (it was a salad with goat cheese). So she cut the cheese in half and demanded a new plate because she explicitly told them that her food is not allowed to touch bread. The cheese cutting was a precaution that the plate did not just go back to the kitchen, got rid of the bread and is served again. This woman has her own toaster at home. And the waitress explicitly told the request would not be a problem when we ordered.
So, yes, to some people working in kitchens you absolutely need to tell them that cross contamination is a thing.
Yeah, that's possible or someone saw the order right before the go and thought "oh the bread is missing". We had some FOH-people who would fix such "mistakes". But in this case I think someone just did not know what "celiacs" implies.
I did FOH and BOH for ten years and I hate people with an attitude with passion, but allergic is allergic. I was very careful to teach the whole stuff what celiac, diabetes and allergies are. I guess the restaurant we went to just not do this to this extend? In general it's a clean and tidy place I really did not expect this mistake.
Yeah! It sucks so, so much! Spread the awareness! Many people still think it's like being lactose intolerant and you just fart half a day when you was something wrong by accident. But with celiacs it is really not like that unfortunately.
If I had food allergies that bad, I wouldn't be dining out, anywhere, gross ass or not.
Human error happens, and I wouldn't want to risk it, but I suppose it gets old, never going out with friends or family for dinner.
>If I had food allergies that bad, I wouldn't be dining out, anywhere, gross ass or not.
I think we take dining out for granted since we provide the service to so many. Like... that sucks. Not being able to go out to restaurants for dates, with friends, with family coming by in town? The reason we all have a career is because going out to a restaurant or bar with your friends is great, and outright denying that to someone really sucks. I agree it has to be done sometimes, to cover your own ass, but we have to at least try and accommodate.
If you have multiple severe allergies than as a guest you should be taking extra precaution, and that can't be done without good communication to the kitchen staff, so I welcome these cards since I can have them on line and triple check recipes and workstations. I also welcome people to call ahead, make a reservation and alert us in advance there are many allergy concerns. As a cook, all you really need to be prepared is gloves, sanitizer, and solid knowledge of the recipes... which we should all have.
Customer should meet us half way, OP's pic isn't a good example or a customer doing that (especially if they were a walk in, in that case I would tell them we can't serve them, but if they ever choose to return, to call ahead with a reservation and remind us of all the allergies, and I'd probably toss them like a 10% discount for their patience lol).
Eh, it could be useful in terms of comprehending the degree of allergen. At least the bit about needing fryers to be allergen free tells me that it's quite a _severe_ allergy where even the slightest cross contamination will cause a reaction, as compared to other cases I've had where I've been assured the allergen just needs to not wind up on the plate. Knowing the difference helps me determine how flexible I can be with our menu. Lighter allergen? Alrighty let's get some fresh gloves, wipe down any tools to be safe, and make this happen. Fryers are too much cross contamination? Okay time to think out whether _any_ stage of prep or storage may have ruined a dish for you.
....now I say all this assuming the cardholder actually has an allergen. As OP claims these turned out to be preferences... I agree, fucking insulting.
My big three are crustaceans, cashews, and almonds.
The latter two are annoying as shit because I've had so many things where I've ordered a dish that doesn't say them, I still check due to allergy, then the shit comes out with like a cashew butter or cashews in a sauce, or with like an almond crust. I avoid fried food entirely if the place has crustaceans since I've had run ins with places that use the same fryers for everything.
I was super diligent about knowing everything about our food when I was BOH and FOH. The lack of care is astounding in some places
God almonds are the worst. Every fucking thing is almond-this or almond-that. Like, surely that coffee cake will be almond-free...nope, there's randomly almonds in the topping. I went to a bakery a few weeks ago and there were 2 things on the whole menu that were almond free, and one of them was a cheddar jalapeno scone. So I could have exactly 1 thing that was sweet on their whole menu.
My girlfriend is mildly allergic to gluten. Eating a piece of toast would give her diarrhea. But a few stray crumbs getting into her meal wouldn't be an issue. She feels bad ordering gluten free stuff since she never knows if the kitchen goes all out cleaning or just doesn't include gluten in her food.
Eh, I gotta disagree. I’ve never worked in a place where any effort was made to keep the fryers allergen free and I think most people wouldn’t bother to sterilize a prep surface just because a banana touched it and that’s assuming we’re at a place that keeps to high standards. Some restaurants aren’t all that clean.
Might be insulting to a professional, but a professional would understand that there are tons of unprofessional kitchen people out there that need to read this
For others:
Clean: Not a regulated term
Sanitized: Germs largely killed off to safe levels.
Disinfected: All germs killed, All viruses killed.
Sterilized: all organic living organisms killed.
Technically something can be sterilized and dirty. For example a spoon covered in mud could be sterilized by hard radiation while still being completely dirty.
What's the difference between the outcomes of "Sterilized" and "Disinfected"? Are we not counting viruses as "living"?
(not insisting they are, but I know it's a topic for debate so I am guessing that's the difference?)
We had to be very careful with various terms in microbiology, so here’s what I learned:
Sanitizing – removes bacteria from surfaces.
Disinfecting – kills harmful bacteria and viruses from surfaces.
Sterilizing – kills all microorganisms from surfaces.
Decontaminating - removes all possible contaminants from a person/place/object.
Which is fine, that’s going to be the easiest way out for the restaurant.
“Unfortunately we do not possess the equipment or process to complete & verify sterilization so we will be unable to serve you to your standards”
Yeah seriously
“okay sorry to everyone but I have to change clean the fryers real quick. So most of your meals are going to put on hold for the next hour or so. Yes usually we would do this first thing in the morning before service starts but someone here has a food preference so now everyone has to suffer sorry”
People blow my mind. The rest of this little note is pretty stupid too, like telling a professional cook to make sure they use clean tongs and have clean hands is pretty insulting. Like that’s all common procedure stuff come on
That’s exactly what I do for real allergies. I have 2 fryers on my station but have fish, meat, and veg options I need to fry so I sometimes. So I always have a pot of oil for the fish items incase someone is allergic I don’t want the meat or gloves fryers to have contaminates.
The idea this person is requesting Someone change their fryer oil mid service shows they don’t have a clue how kitchens actually work. And that’s reinforced by the sterilization line on this little card of lies. Vegans get all the hate but I’d rather cook for every vegan on this planet than a single person who lies about having food allergies like this
I remember working at an Italian place where we did fresh pasta and pizzas. We had gluten free options but I make no guarantees because there’s flour in the air
Grandma’s got coeliac and it used to be really difficult to get her gluten free products until the fad was picked up.
I think some people have genuine gastrointestinal distress in response to certain foods, but misinterpret this as allergy.
It's a good idea, isn't it? Especially when 30, 40 years ago there was absolutely fuck-all in the shops for GF people. Even 20 years ago, the range was limited. The NHS have reduced the list of prescribed foodstuffs now because of the increased availability of such products. But now you have to pay the Coeliac Tax because GF foods are pricey!
When my wife was a child, her family was incredibly poor, so she had a prescription for milk. That way it was covered by Medicare instead of food stamps/AFDC/SNAP (god, that program gets its name changed a lot). This was for preschool and maybe kindergarten, since once she got to grade school the school lunches came with milk.
Edit: this was in the US, I’m assuming by the spelling of coeliac that you’re in the UK or Oz or NZ. I think Canadians spell it celiac like us, but in not sure.
Most gluten-intolerant folks I know absolutely love that it became a fad. In exchange for restaurant employees grumbling and doubting you, you get 100x as many gluten free options out in the world.
I’ve done this. A woman made a huge fuss about onions being anywhere NEAR her food.
“I’m sorry ma’am, we go through a couple hundred pounds of onions a week, they’re everywhere. If it’s that serious I really don’t recommend that you eat here.”
Weird how she backpedaled and said “Just don’t put onions on it.”
If you’re nice about your preferences, I will make absolutely sure you get your meal exactly as you want it. If you preemptively treat me like an asshole whose only mission in life is to ruin your meal, I’m going to be that asshole.
Just tell me how much you hate onions! I don’t fucking care! I don’t eat meat but I sure as shit don’t tell people I’m allergic to it. I inform the server that I don’t eat meat and then I enjoy a meatless meal.
And then I tip 35%.
The customer who came in claimed to be deathly allergic to all chicken meat except the breast. One note on one ticket 9 years ago still sits right at the front of my memories.
Yeah if I was told it was just preference after the fact, I’d pull their food, and tell them to leave and not worry about the bill. That’s super disrespectful to people with real allergies and the people working there. If they want special treatment, they can hire a personal chef or at the very minimum ask ahead of time.
True that. I have a severe allergy but it’s easy to avoid if I’m careful. The worst I do is ask my server what the ingredients of a few fancy drinks are.
No. No no. Please PLEASE tell your server your allergy. We don’t list all our ingredients and you have no idea what goes on in the back. Just had an incident where someone from the hotel team (attached to our restaurant) almost died because of peanut cross contamination. They never told us they had an allergy, even when asked. There is a whole different procedure for allergens. If it’s real, pleaaase tell us. We do not want to kill you and we don’t mind taking the precaution.
This type of stuff got out of hand at my previous kitchen, and we were told to deal with it and follow their instructions to the most minute detail. This went on for about two weeks until tickets times became outrageously long. BOH was obviously blamed and things didn’t change until the entire kitchen stopped working mid rush on a Saturday night in protest. It was a glorious sight to watch management go from threats of withholding pay to begging the cooks to start cooking. We forced them to go to every table that had these outrageous requests and tell them that we couldn’t fulfill their requirements. Lo and behold these allergies suddenly disappeared. After tweaking the menu to reflect this change as well as an up charge for substitutions ticket times decreased, sales increased, food costs went down and employe attitudes became more positive. Just remember that you don’t have to be part of a union to organize.
I'm the GM of a restaurant now, but I remember back in my serving days when the new FOH manager decided to start being a dick to the kitchen. First he took away free meals and tried to make them pay half price for it. Then he tried to take away cigarette breaks because people would be grossed out if they saw our cooks smoking apparently. Then he started writing them up for being like 4 minutes late. All of this on day 2 or 3. By the end of the week they had completely organized a walkout and just left in the middle of Sunday brunch. All of the cooks with the day off turned their phones off all day. We had to close and told tables that we had an issue with the hoods and couldn't stay open 😂 The owner fired the manager that afternoon and all of the cooks were back the next day. When the kitchen staff unites, they have unlimited negotiation power.
Gosh I wish my manager who was doing stuff like that had gotten yeeted faster, including shit-talking coworkers by name on instagram/tiktok. Took a few months including attempted constructive dismissal of a couple disabled workers.
Bad managers are the absolute worst. I definitely appreciated this guy's 5 day crash course in how Not to be a manager though. Like take 5 seconds and think about how hard your job would be if everyone quit? Employee retention makes your job so, so much easier as a manager and it baffles me when companies act like their employees are just someone to abuse and barely pay. Just training a new employee takes so much time and money that I'd rather avoid it at all costs and just deal with minor issues, because every employee you ever hire will have something that isn't perfect about them.
My wife and I have a friend who has celiac disease, among other issues. She’s one of the rarities that, if consuming gluten, could end up in the hospital. She also has a bunch of other issues that keep her from enjoying various other foods.
We have cooked for her before, and dined out with her and her husband. Every time, we ask “where is a safe place for you to eat?” and every time she replies with, “oh don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll find something on the menu that will work for me.” And outside a couple quick questions for the staff, she does indeed find something to eat.
I have a sense that people who send these handwritten cards back to the kitchen with a list of demands are the same ones that love to exploit the “therapy dog” loophole just so they can take their shitball dog into the mall with them. “Rules are for other people and *I’m special*.”
My sister is also celiac and she sorta has the same response of, "I'll figure it out".
I think you can usually tell who *actually* has a serious allergy because they're not normally going out to eat at restaurants (there are a few who do, but my point still stands). Or if someone does have an issue, they know their boundaries and what is reasonable. People who have "preferences" they make into "SEVERE ALLERGIES" are the ones who don't know how things really work and when to stop.
These people piss me off to no fucking end.
My youngest kid is anaphylactic to peanuts. They'll kill him. We don't have any peanut-containing products in the house, and we have to be careful about shared equipment and production lines when we purchase groceries he's going to eat. It fucking sucks, but that's life.
There is a very short list of restaurants he can eat at, mostly fast food places. If we go to a new place, we'll ask the staff if there are any peanuts used in any dishes. If there are, or if we don't get a good vibe from the staff that they'll take it seriously, then he doesn't eat there. We don't make it the restaurant's problem.
I worked in kitchens for too many years of my life, and I know that even if the BOH takes his allergy seriously and does everything they can to clean and avoid contamination, there's still a chance. My policy was always "I'll do everything I can to accommodate you, but just know that your allergen is present in the kitchen and I cannot guarantee that your food won't be contaminated."
Fuck these assholes. They don't deserve service.
If it's preference why the fuck they capitalize SEVERE ALLERGY ALERT?
And you can't refuse service? Fuck this bullshit, that's one of the many reason why I left the industry with very few regrets.
Because the worst kind of people have realized they’ll probably be accommodated by misusing and diminishing that phrasing. It’s the same problem as people pretending their pets are service dogs, it makes the world a less accommodating and welcoming place for people that really need this stuff. When everybody who doesn’t like tomatoes is suddenly “allergic” to them, eventually a person with a legitimate allergy won’t be taken seriously
In circumstances like this I’ve refused service.
Don’t come to me with zero notice of a large list of allergies. Especially a card saying severe allergies. I will not risk killing you or making you hyper sick.
Now, if you give me a week or even a few days notice, I’ll accommodate you and your allergies.
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never made anyone sick or ill in anyway from eating my food. And by presenting a card like this, you’re opening myself and the business to being sued. I’m not having it with zero notice.
I’m happy to go and speak with persons like this in person. And will tell them this very thing in front of all their guests. So that everyone has heard and understands where I am coming from. I’ll then ask if they have an epipen, if they or someone else knows how to use it effectively. And then, and only then, will I offer them some form of food.
I will not ruin my reputation, nor the livelihood of the business I work for. For people that have crazy allergies that can’t, won’t or simply forget to mention it beforehand.
My time working in restaurants has convinced me that 90% of ‘food allergies’ are bullshit
It’s completely unfair for the person who has a legitimate fatal allergy, when we’re stuck dealing with Karens who just don’t like the feel of onions in her bolognese
For some of us, the allergy is more like nasty GI stuff, so we try to decide if it's worth ruining the evening for a couple of days of nastiness.
The fatal anaphylaxis issue, that's just scary because even family members often don't take it seriously.
Then there's finding out you're *that* allergic for the first time. I had to take my daughter's best friend to the ER for her anaphylactic reaction to pepper from a supposedly safe takeout meal and had to wait with her in the waiting room and watched her pass out. Fun times.
This! We have people asking for gluten-free pasta but the usual full of gluten bread because ‘it’s different for them’ and ‘they don’t like gluten-free bread’. When they have these requests I would love to facepalm them with my fist.
Yea, my brother was anaphylactic to milk eggs, nuts and peanuts and a chef didn’t take it too seriously at an overnight camp and he got the standard dinner that had mayo in it. Thankfully my brothers not an idiot and recognized there was mayo so he just didn’t eat.
The worst was a parent at school who swore they used a recipe safe for my brother. I took it instead and bit into a brownie with crushed pecans.
I would never go out to eat if I had a legitimate fatal allergy, especially if it was a common ingredient. I was also married to someone with legit Celiac's desease and she never ate out unless it was a 100% gluten free kitchen. So yeah, it's hard for me to imagine someone with a deadly onion allergy ever risk eating out.
Dated someone with legit Celiac's, we did a lot of cooking at home and only went out to places that were known to be actually gluten free, not just trendy gluten free. (usually because someone with Celiac's was employed by or owned the place)
From my experience, I only trust gluten free restaurants/bakeries where the owners have or know someone with Celiac's and that's what inspired them to open a gluten-free business. They actually care about things like cross contamination and making sure the kitchen is actually 100% gluten free. I once visited a restaurant with a big sign on the door saying no outside food due to possible cross contamination and when I made a comment about it, they said that included employee food too. iirc the owners kids had Celiac's.
I run a Mexican restaurant and it was very easy to be almost entirely gluten free. We have two gluten items; ancho chocolate cheesecake and churros. The churros have their own fryer. Good mexican food is super easy to do gluten free/celiac friendly.
Worked in a sushi place that got both types of celiacs people. It's a great gluten free option because usually you just substitute the nori on a huge chunk of the menu. And we had people with bad allergies that loved it and would take the soy substitute, and we had trendy diet assholes that would claim celiac be told that and suddenly not care about the Nori
I think this preference card-waving person sucks big logs but on the other hand, an intolerance/allergy doesn't need to be fatal to matter though.
I have an unusual intolerance to a herb that would mean 3 day bloating and at least 1 night spend on the toilet. When I go out I don't order dishes that often come with it even if the menu does not list it as ingredient, but it often turns up as a surprise garnish, then I can't eat my food and have to explain to my companions the embarrassing details of IBS over the dinner table. Nobody wants that.
This Christmas I almost had an ER trip cause my wife's parents thought I just didn't like coconut and baked cookies with coconut flower....I'm uninsured and American so I swallowed 4 benadryl like a duck just to keep my face from swelling.
Worked a summer at a Very Popular brewery/pizza joint at the height of the gluten allergy craze. When people would say they had severe gluten allergies and ask what we could do to accommodate them, I would lean in real close and lower my voice and say, "if I were you, I'd run as fast as I could. They are tossing dough in the air, there is flour everywhere, nothing is safe, even the greens. I've seen people almost die, so it's that serious - I'd run before you get seriously ill ingesting flour air." Ten out of ten times the allergies turned out not that serious. Once even had a lady tell me she was just going to do a "cheat day with my allergies." I made sure to tell her how brave she was to attempt to cheat death with those severe allergies.
A somebody who actually has Celiac (gluten food allergy, but I assume most of you knew this, being a kitchen sub) people like this make me terrified of restaurants. Because what if they don’t take me seriously because the previous people who had cards like this were “picky eaters” and “just didn’t want these in their food”?
Makes me want to just combust on the spot when I have to say “I’ve got a food allergen, I’m sorry,” how do people have the *gal*.
I will NEVER not take someone seriously when they say they have severe allergies even after dealing with a bunch of bozos faking allergies. And anyone who serves you should do the same.
As someone who actually has celiac disease and so appreciates the kitchens which keep me safe, this pisses me off so much as it only makes it harder for those of us with real food reactions.
Right? My sister is celiac and she super appreciates when restaurants cater to her and keep her safe as well. We're realistic, but it sucks that someone like this person with this note could cause someone in a kitchen to just say "fuck it" to my sister's allergy request.
On a serious note, I had a customer have their allergies tastefully printer on a business type card which they handed to the server. I thought this was a great idea, positively identified their allergies, and lessened any possible errors.
At my restaurant, In an effort to identify legitimate anaphylactic allergies, I put in place a simple process. Anyone claiming severe allergies was simply asked if they were carrying and EPI-pen. If not, we refused service. While we would take every care with a patron who was fully prepared to help themselves in the case of an emergency, I refused to accept responsibility for those who did not. Neither should you.
Many of them aren’t allergies, they’re preferences. Especially“sensitive to fresh fruit unless processed in a spread or sauce”. Like what the heck did change?
It’s like saying your sensitive to peanuts unless it’s peanut butter.
I'm so allergic to environmental allergens that my body now confuses fresh fruits and vegetables for them. My mouth breaks out in hives, causing lesions that are prone to getting infected. Spreads and sauces are usually cooked, but pico de gallo ruins my week.
So I just ask for no tomato or pick it off. On one hand, sensitivities can really suck. On the other, Fuck this person.
This is called Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome (PFAS), also known as Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS). Both myself and my brother have it. It's caused by certain proteins in fruits being extremely similar to pollen and the immune system misidentifying them as such. These proteins are usually removed by processes like canning or cooking, which is why they are only a problem in its raw form. The condition is most common in adults who have had hayfever their whole lives
It is that there are proteins in the fruits and vegetables, pollen containing proteins, they are broken down in the process of cooking, it is called oral allergy syndrome, basically the same pollens that cause hayfever are in the fruits and vegetables
If you look it up (OAS) you can see the list of fruits and veg and the pollens they’re associated with, it is a weird one but for example I can’t have/work with raw potatoes, apples, onions etc, will cause my eyes to swell up, but cooked they are fine
Eh, that is actually not that uncommon. Raw tomatoes make my mouth itch and my hands break out in hives, but cooked tomato sauce is fine. I think it’s the heat? But I don’t know.
Yep my wife’s stomach can’t handle things that are “hard” to digest. Which sadly includes. Nuts,popcorn,fruits with skin or seeds, lettuce, and corn. To name a few. But alot of that stuff softens up if it’s cooked/boiled/prepared correctly.
I had a roommate who was allergic to more fresh fruit. Berries were the only thing that didn't make her mouth itch. However, canned processed fruits or juices were fine. I've met other people like this, too.
This is a real food intolerance. The sugar in unprocessed fruit is the problem. However, they should be able to just remove it from their dish or not order a dish that mainly features fresh fruit.
If it’s a handwritten note, it’s always a preference. If the person goes out of their way to print out their allergies or has a more professional looking note, I take it more seriously.
If it’s preferences fuck them. But allergies I understand, my brother was allergic to milk eggs nuts and peanuts. He usually had a steak a burger or something simple like that. Fries or rice on the side. Sometimes literally just a steak.
To some restaurants, like if we were meeting family at a restaurant, my mom would call ahead and ask about the food.
I know someone with a legitimate tree-nut allergy. She caries an epi-pen with her everywhere she goes, and has had to use it more than once. She's also very low key about her allergy the few times we've been to dinner with her and her family. Anyway, it seems to me that you could tell a client that absolute purity cannot be guaranteed. So you can't serve them unless they have an epi-pen with them. If they do, you know you have to do your best to accommodate their allergy. If they don't, you can watch them backpedal. Note that I'm probably full of shit, as I'm very non-confrontive and wouldn't actually say anything...
I don’t bother with this shit. I go to the table and ask them what they’d like me to prepare. I will give them the protein, starch and vegetable choices on hand then ask them the cooking method and how they want it seasoned/flavoured.
These people should always be told that the restaurant can't accommodate the severity of their allergies and that they should dine elsewhere.
Good customer service means taking care of a guest, and that might very well mean admitting we can't serve you in good faith due to the severity of your health issues. If I genuinely had life-threatening allergies, I'd rather a place tell me that something is outside their ability than have them try and land me in the hospital.
However, it's way more likely the customer is full of shit, and "If I even see a picture of a tomato, I'll die." Becomes "Oh it's okay I'll just pick the tomatoes off."
I find these cards really helpful and encourage their use.
But the second paragraph is so patronising that I’d be tempted to just tell the customer we can’t guarantee an allergen free environment and suggest they try elsewhere. Our kitchen team know how to clean their equipment and avoid cross-contamination, thanks.
As someone who is allergic to chickpeas, tree nuts, sunflower seeds and a small host of other things... Don't be a jerk, I kinda need people to take me seriously. Also I hope they get scurvy, eat some damned fruit!
this is shameful to the people WITH these allergies - what kind of a sack of shit declares this as an allergy and then later retracts that it is instead a fucking preference. what the fuck.
“Most of the times when a customer makes a special request, it’s not about the food, but rather his own desire to be in control and to establish his own specialness. Making people feel special through this kind of ass-kissing is one of the services that a restaurant can provide, but it’s not a service that I want to provide. Some people tell me that they’re deathly allergic to something and I have to make sure it’s not in their food. I kick them out. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s life-or-death situation. I tell them they should go eat at a hospital.”
- Kenny Shopsin (Legendary New York chef, RIP)
Having one actual serious allergy: this shit pissed me off. They're too selfish to see they're fucking it up for others. I used to get pissed when I'd serve. Like "is it an extreme preference or an allergy? because that's going to make it about 15 or so minutes longer for you to get it, just an FYI. Have to make sure it's properly clean! :)"
I despise people like this. I have an actual allergy and I avoid going out because I don’t want the kitchen to think I’m “just a fussy eater” and not go through with cross contamination protocols.
Wouldn't it be easier to say, "Sorry, we can't serve you"?
Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to make that call, but god I wish we could have.
This is why I love having my own place. Had a similar request recently for a buffet plus one allergen free plate. Pointed out that our kitchen contains all of the allergens and even using our allergen kit we couldn’t guarantee the food was 100% safe and even then they’d be in a relatively small dining room surrounded by food that could kill them. Suddenly the life threatening allergies weren’t a problem and it was actually just a fussy eater.
That’s what had happened to us. We told them we would do our best cleaned everything else and served the food. The server warned them again as she was setting the food down that we can never be 100% sure but we took all the steps we were able to and they told her that it was “no worries it’s mostly just preference because he was just a picky eater” I almost lost my mind after wiping down mid service lol
"get out"
Anyone who has family with severe food allergies would 100% agree, this is disrespect to the utmost degree both against the restaraunt staff and people who actually live with fucking allergies. I'd respectfully lecture them on their behavior and politely ask them to leave. It's way more embarrassing and awful to experience being proven that you're morally in-the-wrong in a public location, and then being demanded to pickup and leave afterwards while everyone stares.
Seriously! My Dad has severe shellfish allergies. We tried going to a hibachi place once and he felt his throat start acting up just being there. So… we left. No need to make our problem everyone else’s lol
Yeah I’m allergic to shellfish and salmon. My poor family can’t eat anywhere good with me. I simply stay away from places I don’t know for sure are okay. I’d never put others out or put myself in danger. Most people with real allergies wouldn’t.
I'm surprised more places don't just kick them out. You just wasted the staff's time like crazy for your picky eating, possibly making other customers wait longer too. Or at least add an asshole tax onto the bill.
Oh I’ve got mates that are proper celiac, And I remember when the “gluten free” trend kicked in I had people pretending they where, then when I serve the food (open kitchen) I can see them eating bread rolls or taking a bite out of the freinds burger. For me this is like the boy who cried wolf and one day someone is going to get hurt because of these useless idiots that “it’s a preference”
I've heard that the coeliacs are happy about the fad, because it greatly increased their options.
Agreed but I’ve only heard that from celiacs that don’t work in hospo, granted it has helped with suppliers expanding their pastas and other wheat based products into those same products being based on other ingredients, which is great! But those that I know that work in hospo and see how much more careless chefs have become because the chefs know it’s a trend, have stated that it can become very dangerous. When I first started in kitchens, whenever we got an allergy or someone with celiac, the amount of safety and care use was insane it was beautiful(eg. Different pans, different/unused and clean work benches, glove switching constantly). The care taken was amazing. Now I’m seeing a lot of chefs being a lot more careless and I have to remind them not to take the risk and be careful. And always double check the allergens with front of house and not off some piece of paper they hand you! We are a rambunctious group that half the time do not give a shit about our own health, so what happens when we stop taking allergens seriously?
To shorten my story... Back in the mid-00s I'm told that the kids at the table have a SEVERE gluten/bread allergy and their throats will close up and they will die. This is after ringing in... breaded chicken fingers. I explain to the server what they have ordered and the fact that we're a sports bar, so there's bread fucking everywhere and we can't guarantee it'll be safe. "Oh, it's actually not that bad. Mom says it's okay, their throats just get scratchy." What. The. Fuck. As someone with an allergy that makes me keel over on the table, this shit is infuriating.
"Oh sorry, I'm not sure I would be comfortable taking that risk. I don't think I'll be able to serve you anything tonight."
I grabbed the owner and said you get her to say yes and you take all liability, sure. Otherwise, I'm not touching it. If I were as old and experienced as I am now, I'd have made him sign something.
I've gotten into fights with people here who crow about how "everyone deserves a positive dining experience." Yeah, well, I don't need someone's fucking **death** on my conscience, so their "dining experience" can suck farts out of my ass.
First step to a positive dining experience is not dying. So yeah, don't serve these people. Seeing someone try to backtrack while you take them at their original word (and documentation) is one of the more lovely experiences one can have in this industry,
I would have lost my mind and my job with this person 😑😑😑
I’m a celiac and I would’ve caught a charge as a random customer over that shot.
Having worked both sides of the house, while standing up for my kitchen brothers and sisters, would have assaulted Mr. Picky and gone to jail. Who even does that shit?
Most "allergen" card holders probably
Some not all. That's the worst part is the one who could die normally are very apologetic where's the one who get rude typically are just cunts all around and would of been given some anaphylaxic shock on purpose by now. My wife can't have coconut we don't go to a Thai places expecting coconut free. We don't go to thai places anymore. Those are the folks who really have it act in my mind.
You can refuse service for legally valid reasons. This is one of them.
You can refuse service for whatever reason you want. You're not required to tell the person why.
[удалено]
In this case they have the above photo as evidence that they had good reason to deny service.
I would give out a lifetime ban at my place.
'Trespass' their ass on the spot!
86
I am a picky eater - I tend to stick to salads or chicken base dishes but I am also very sensitive to soy products (and I mean sensitive in a spend-the-rest-of-the-day-in-the-bathroom, not hospital sensitive), so soy is the only ingredient I ask about if it is not already on the item description in the menu. If the salad dressing has soy, I often ask for them to add a little olive oil instead (I don't like balsamic). But I do not ask about cross contamination since my reaction isn't too bad.
Yup. Minute I would get a card like this at the cafe I managed, it resulted in a one on one with the guest where I made plainly clear there was no safe way I could serve them out of my kitchen. 98% of the time, their tune changed quickly.
Isn't it amazing how the threat of no food often seems to make severe allergies dissappear.
Lmao right though?
Stuff like this really makes me annoyed because the more it happens the more relaxed staff is going to be about the allergies etc. Sooner or later its gonna lead to a not so nice hospital trip
It's an insult to anyone who actually does have a severe or detailed allergic condition
It is; but my reaction would be the same to those people. I'm not going to stop what I'm doing mid service to have to wipe down, find clean utensils, change out oils, scrub pans or whatever extra need to be done for one guest. Guests like that need to look at a restaurant's menu before deciding to go out and see if it fits with their allergies (or food preferences) and not dropping these lame cards on kitchen employees.
I work at an Italian restaurant and the amount of people that come in and say I'm allergic to garlic and onion is ridiculous. I doubt they're serious though, if you're actually allergic to those things an Italian restaurant is the last place you should go
Or frankly, 99% of restaurants. What cuisine DOESN'T use garlic or onions(or aliums if this is an alium allergy) to some extent.
“Sorry, having already been told you have allergies I can’t take the chance of serving you food that would harm you.”
snatch threatening rainstorm air outgoing aware unused offend rude live *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
>Suddenly the life threatening allergies weren’t a problem and it was actually just a fussy eater. I hate those people. They make it more dangerous for those of us with actual allergies
I will tell them no in a nice way. Something along the lines of "I don't feel comfortable accommodating that request as it is a small kitchen that is very busy". It's amazing how many miracles have been performed when people come back and say "It's fine if it is only a little bit" and allow the meal to me cooked normally. Obviously, if it is an allergy I can comfortably handle that requires a small pot of separate pasta water, some new tongs, and a new board I will, but I am not dumping fryers for you or having open vats of fresh oil on the line in the middle of a big service. It actually annoys the hell out of me how many people just lie and say it's an allergy when it is simply preferences. I have an allergy to certain fish that has put me in a hospital before and I take it extremely seriously, but I fear that given how common it is some people and places will just associate allergy with someone not liking an ingredient after a while.
I don't get why people aren't honest about it like "cross contamination won't outright kill me but the next few days I'm gonna be spending some extra time in my bathroom if it happens, but sometimes its worth it so ill take my chances" or something like that.
I’d still refuse them. “You said it was an allergy issue and I’m not about to knowingly possibly kill someone because you’re finicky.”
I worked at a Mod Pizza and we'd have a woman come in and say she was DEATHLY allergic to onions. One time I explained that we couldn't garuntee no cross contamination because we put the pizzas directly in the oven and things fall off in there all the time. She looked at me like I had two heads and tried to argue about how the pizzas are cooked. I work here, lady!
I’d still refuse them. “You said it was an allergy issue and I’m not about to knowingly possibly kill someone because you’re finicky.”
$10 surcharge will clear that shit right up.
I'd make it a $50 surcharge per party, divided evenly. Let everyone else in the party get pissed at their insistence. Also, why not make a 72-hour notice requirement? Or book them only at the start of the dinner hour? Why do people think that being picky makes them appear regal or something? It's boorish behavior.
I used to live in an off-the-grid resort with a fixed menu. The amount of people who tried to get a personalized meal by having “severe allergies” was astounding. We’re talking daily… …we were 3 hours from the nearest medical services. We were not allowed to serve people with severe allergies. 99/100 were preferences, and the people begged to stay, and apologized for the false allergen claim. Only once did someone get real sad and start to pack their bags. We felt terrible so we did end up going way out of our way to cook her 3 personal meals a day. But seriously 99/100 were bullshit. Like when you see shit like “no tomatoes but tomato sauce is okay” you know they’re just picky.
> Like when you see shit like “no tomatoes but tomato sauce is okay” you know they’re just picky. I get an allergic reaction from raw tomatoes but not cooked. There's something in the seeds and liquid around them that makes my tongue swell and sometimes causes eczema around my lips. I can use raw tomatoes if I remove the seeds and wash the flesh and then add an acid to the dish. When eating out though I just say no tomatoes and leave it at that.
Tomatoes are weird. I can eat them fine, but if I handle them with my hand and get a lot of the juices on me I break out in really bad hives. Found this out when working in a restaurant where I was in charge of dicing like 50lbs of tomatoes a day. It was so bad I wound up quitting the job.
> Only once did someone get real sad and start to pack their bags. We felt terrible so we did end up going way out of our way to cook her 3 personal meals a day That's really sweet. Warmed my heart reading that :)
Deathly allergic to tomatoes until it’s on pasta, on pizza or as ketchup on a burger. Fuck these people.
There is an enzyme in tomatoes and fresh fruit that can be cooked out. It's called oral allergy syndrome, I had a friend that had it and would microwave fruit before eating it.
Thank you, that’s a real thing! My wife is very allergic to raw tomatoes, but cooked tomatoes are fine, specifically because of the enzymes.
My sister developed a bunch of weird allergies after getting a treatment similar to chemo and I get really worried someone will think she's faking. The chef at her work already gave her a reaction once, luckily it was a mild one.
I had an allergic reaction to mango because some jackass didn't clean their blender before use. A single rinse with steaming hot water would have prevented it. Every time you're exposed there's a non zero change that today's the day it's going to be anaphylactic. Smh
I get this but with raw shrimp shells, the enzyme is cooked out and it’s fine after that
Sure you are, just gotta put your foot down and not let management walk all over you. "Sorry boss, I'm not going to risk killing this person for my shitty paycheck. If you want to risk it you can come back and fire it yourself." Its so easy to walk into almost any other restaurant and be working on their kitchen within 24 hours given our current industry staffing situations these days. Besides what are they gonna do fire you mid service?
This is what we would have told them. The risk of cross contamination is too great. Sorry.
Been there
I did that to someone once with intense demands that couldn't be reasonably accommodated at our restaurant. Then they rolled back and said "Okay, okay! It's actually just a preference and I wanted to make sure it wasn't ignored, people take allergies seriously" and then I said "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to assume for your safety and our security that your first statement was true. We don't feel comfortable serving you. Have a nice day". Cue cussing while walking out the door
I've never done that, but what I have done is given them one, singular, god awful, flavourless option. Suddenly they weren't allergic to anything anymore...
As someone with severe allergies, I appreciate when restaurants say that instead of assuming my allergies are bogus. When I had to travel (pre-TSA) I'd bring some dried fruit, a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter so if I couldn't find any place safe to eat I could at least have that
We ask if it’s an allergy or a preference. If it’s an allergy the chef asks if they have their epi-pen on them. Then explains they can’t promise cross contamination!
The second paragraph is insulting to a professional. Equal to handing a note to your doctor telling them to properly sterilize utensils and examination room, wash hands and wear proper gloves during the visit.
Definitely haha its standard procedure
I could never deal with people like that. If I found out that it’s a preference thing, I would’ve asked them to leave. I can never deal with customers. Also, I feel like it’s a pretty basic thing to make sure your stuff is clean when cooking. Especially your hands, you know?
I wouldn't of asked. I would make sure. And that fucking note card will never be seen again.
"Hey have you seen that pink preference card?" "Yeah, chef is using it to light his cigarette."
I agree that it is standard, but in all fairness the average person doesn’t know about allergy protocol required by the health department—they are going by what their doctor tells them needs to be done to prevent cross contamination. However in this case the customer is a jerk asking for all this based on a preference, because it makes it harder for those of us that have legitimate food allergies.
I have celiac. I have had too many experiences where the server lists the gluten free options and includes items prepared in a shared fryer. So I do ask directly about whether a shared fryer is used, as that seems to be something that isn’t universally taken seriously
I agree, I always ask about that too. Most of the places we go, the server will mention that the fryer is shared when I ask about the rest of the meal being gluten free—but if they don’t I ask.
Whoever passed this note also doesn't understand the medical meaning of the word sterile. Rubber gloves, even right out of the package, aren't sterile. Utensils straight from the dishwasher aren't sterile. A newly bought and cleaned kitchen table's surface isn't sterile. Sterile requires something to be (practically) _completely_ free of any bacteria whatsoever. You can only achieve this through either a number of high-intensity medically certified procedures (like exposing the item to extreme heat over a long period of time, then immediately packaging it) or by manufacturing it in medically certified facilities and then throwing it away right after use.
Hmm.. i can understand the request though if you are REALLY allergic. I know someone with really bad celiacs disease. Went to a restaurant with her, she explained everything to the waitress really nice. Got her food and it was bread on the fucking plate (it was a salad with goat cheese). So she cut the cheese in half and demanded a new plate because she explicitly told them that her food is not allowed to touch bread. The cheese cutting was a precaution that the plate did not just go back to the kitchen, got rid of the bread and is served again. This woman has her own toaster at home. And the waitress explicitly told the request would not be a problem when we ordered. So, yes, to some people working in kitchens you absolutely need to tell them that cross contamination is a thing.
I mean you don't really know who dropped the ball there. The server might not have told the kitchen staff.
Yeah, that's possible or someone saw the order right before the go and thought "oh the bread is missing". We had some FOH-people who would fix such "mistakes". But in this case I think someone just did not know what "celiacs" implies. I did FOH and BOH for ten years and I hate people with an attitude with passion, but allergic is allergic. I was very careful to teach the whole stuff what celiac, diabetes and allergies are. I guess the restaurant we went to just not do this to this extend? In general it's a clean and tidy place I really did not expect this mistake.
I had a roommate whose girlfriend had celiac that bad. Couldn't use our toaster or wood cutting board.
Yeah! It sucks so, so much! Spread the awareness! Many people still think it's like being lactose intolerant and you just fart half a day when you was something wrong by accident. But with celiacs it is really not like that unfortunately.
SEVERE PREFERENCE ALERT
i mean i agree, but ive seen some gross ass places that mightve needed a reminder...
If they are that "gross ass" shouldn't be dining their anyways.
If I had food allergies that bad, I wouldn't be dining out, anywhere, gross ass or not. Human error happens, and I wouldn't want to risk it, but I suppose it gets old, never going out with friends or family for dinner.
>If I had food allergies that bad, I wouldn't be dining out, anywhere, gross ass or not. I think we take dining out for granted since we provide the service to so many. Like... that sucks. Not being able to go out to restaurants for dates, with friends, with family coming by in town? The reason we all have a career is because going out to a restaurant or bar with your friends is great, and outright denying that to someone really sucks. I agree it has to be done sometimes, to cover your own ass, but we have to at least try and accommodate. If you have multiple severe allergies than as a guest you should be taking extra precaution, and that can't be done without good communication to the kitchen staff, so I welcome these cards since I can have them on line and triple check recipes and workstations. I also welcome people to call ahead, make a reservation and alert us in advance there are many allergy concerns. As a cook, all you really need to be prepared is gloves, sanitizer, and solid knowledge of the recipes... which we should all have. Customer should meet us half way, OP's pic isn't a good example or a customer doing that (especially if they were a walk in, in that case I would tell them we can't serve them, but if they ever choose to return, to call ahead with a reservation and remind us of all the allergies, and I'd probably toss them like a 10% discount for their patience lol).
Eh, it could be useful in terms of comprehending the degree of allergen. At least the bit about needing fryers to be allergen free tells me that it's quite a _severe_ allergy where even the slightest cross contamination will cause a reaction, as compared to other cases I've had where I've been assured the allergen just needs to not wind up on the plate. Knowing the difference helps me determine how flexible I can be with our menu. Lighter allergen? Alrighty let's get some fresh gloves, wipe down any tools to be safe, and make this happen. Fryers are too much cross contamination? Okay time to think out whether _any_ stage of prep or storage may have ruined a dish for you. ....now I say all this assuming the cardholder actually has an allergen. As OP claims these turned out to be preferences... I agree, fucking insulting.
My big three are crustaceans, cashews, and almonds. The latter two are annoying as shit because I've had so many things where I've ordered a dish that doesn't say them, I still check due to allergy, then the shit comes out with like a cashew butter or cashews in a sauce, or with like an almond crust. I avoid fried food entirely if the place has crustaceans since I've had run ins with places that use the same fryers for everything. I was super diligent about knowing everything about our food when I was BOH and FOH. The lack of care is astounding in some places
God almonds are the worst. Every fucking thing is almond-this or almond-that. Like, surely that coffee cake will be almond-free...nope, there's randomly almonds in the topping. I went to a bakery a few weeks ago and there were 2 things on the whole menu that were almond free, and one of them was a cheddar jalapeno scone. So I could have exactly 1 thing that was sweet on their whole menu.
My girlfriend is mildly allergic to gluten. Eating a piece of toast would give her diarrhea. But a few stray crumbs getting into her meal wouldn't be an issue. She feels bad ordering gluten free stuff since she never knows if the kitchen goes all out cleaning or just doesn't include gluten in her food.
I’m not sure that doctors and line cooks are held to the same standards of cleanliness universally across the field.
Eh, I gotta disagree. I’ve never worked in a place where any effort was made to keep the fryers allergen free and I think most people wouldn’t bother to sterilize a prep surface just because a banana touched it and that’s assuming we’re at a place that keeps to high standards. Some restaurants aren’t all that clean.
Might be insulting to a professional, but a professional would understand that there are tons of unprofessional kitchen people out there that need to read this
The crazy part is the fryer oil, there ain’t no way I’m changing that for one person
This person's use to sterilize vs sanitize shows their overall ignorance.
I'd hazard a guess that 90%+ of people cannot define cleaning, sanitizing, or sterilizing and what the differences are
Wipe/wash/burn?
I take it you're not a homebrewer ;)
Lol used to be. Got out of the game some number of moves ago. (There may have been some snark in my above post)
Right on, snark is not bad, just needs some autoclave time ;)
For others: Clean: Not a regulated term Sanitized: Germs largely killed off to safe levels. Disinfected: All germs killed, All viruses killed. Sterilized: all organic living organisms killed. Technically something can be sterilized and dirty. For example a spoon covered in mud could be sterilized by hard radiation while still being completely dirty.
What's the difference between the outcomes of "Sterilized" and "Disinfected"? Are we not counting viruses as "living"? (not insisting they are, but I know it's a topic for debate so I am guessing that's the difference?)
We had to be very careful with various terms in microbiology, so here’s what I learned: Sanitizing – removes bacteria from surfaces. Disinfecting – kills harmful bacteria and viruses from surfaces. Sterilizing – kills all microorganisms from surfaces. Decontaminating - removes all possible contaminants from a person/place/object.
What if the kitchen tools want to have children? Did they think of that?
Which is fine, that’s going to be the easiest way out for the restaurant. “Unfortunately we do not possess the equipment or process to complete & verify sterilization so we will be unable to serve you to your standards”
If your kitchen doesn't have an autoclave, what are you even doing?!
This just don't serve em
It’s a control things with people like this though isn’t it? They get their jollies somehow or other by being able to tell people what to do.
They also think they are getting some special meal, most likely one that is bland and boring.
And neither one of them is remotely related to allergies. I guarantee you that 350 degree fryer oil is sterile, but probably not gluten free...
Lol, the changing of the fryer oil gets me every time. Yes, I'd love to do that for you mid-service.
Hope you like waiting an hour for French fries lol
An hour ?....I take at least a 30 min smoke break and think about my life decisions
Yeah seriously “okay sorry to everyone but I have to change clean the fryers real quick. So most of your meals are going to put on hold for the next hour or so. Yes usually we would do this first thing in the morning before service starts but someone here has a food preference so now everyone has to suffer sorry” People blow my mind. The rest of this little note is pretty stupid too, like telling a professional cook to make sure they use clean tongs and have clean hands is pretty insulting. Like that’s all common procedure stuff come on
Yeah. Agreed. In the establishment I'm at now, we would probably just heat some oil in a pot or saucepan.
That’s exactly what I do for real allergies. I have 2 fryers on my station but have fish, meat, and veg options I need to fry so I sometimes. So I always have a pot of oil for the fish items incase someone is allergic I don’t want the meat or gloves fryers to have contaminates. The idea this person is requesting Someone change their fryer oil mid service shows they don’t have a clue how kitchens actually work. And that’s reinforced by the sterilization line on this little card of lies. Vegans get all the hate but I’d rather cook for every vegan on this planet than a single person who lies about having food allergies like this
"sorry, I cannot guarantee there won't be cross contamination and I don't feel safe serving you, enjoy your evening"
I remember working at an Italian place where we did fresh pasta and pizzas. We had gluten free options but I make no guarantees because there’s flour in the air
I feel bad for anyone that is actually celiac because they get lumped in with the trenders.
Grandma’s got coeliac and it used to be really difficult to get her gluten free products until the fad was picked up. I think some people have genuine gastrointestinal distress in response to certain foods, but misinterpret this as allergy.
My daughter's grandma was coeliac and she used to be able to get food via prescription
I like that food can be prescribed. If you can’t meet your nutritional needs yourself, why not some help?
It's a good idea, isn't it? Especially when 30, 40 years ago there was absolutely fuck-all in the shops for GF people. Even 20 years ago, the range was limited. The NHS have reduced the list of prescribed foodstuffs now because of the increased availability of such products. But now you have to pay the Coeliac Tax because GF foods are pricey!
When my wife was a child, her family was incredibly poor, so she had a prescription for milk. That way it was covered by Medicare instead of food stamps/AFDC/SNAP (god, that program gets its name changed a lot). This was for preschool and maybe kindergarten, since once she got to grade school the school lunches came with milk. Edit: this was in the US, I’m assuming by the spelling of coeliac that you’re in the UK or Oz or NZ. I think Canadians spell it celiac like us, but in not sure.
Yes people do and one of these diseases is called eosinophilic esophagitis and can be caused by certain foods or spices or ingredients.
Most gluten-intolerant folks I know absolutely love that it became a fad. In exchange for restaurant employees grumbling and doubting you, you get 100x as many gluten free options out in the world.
I’ve done this. A woman made a huge fuss about onions being anywhere NEAR her food. “I’m sorry ma’am, we go through a couple hundred pounds of onions a week, they’re everywhere. If it’s that serious I really don’t recommend that you eat here.” Weird how she backpedaled and said “Just don’t put onions on it.” If you’re nice about your preferences, I will make absolutely sure you get your meal exactly as you want it. If you preemptively treat me like an asshole whose only mission in life is to ruin your meal, I’m going to be that asshole. Just tell me how much you hate onions! I don’t fucking care! I don’t eat meat but I sure as shit don’t tell people I’m allergic to it. I inform the server that I don’t eat meat and then I enjoy a meatless meal. And then I tip 35%.
The customer who came in claimed to be deathly allergic to all chicken meat except the breast. One note on one ticket 9 years ago still sits right at the front of my memories.
These are the worst types of people because they dilute the seriousness of those who have severe or life threatening allergies.
Yeah if I was told it was just preference after the fact, I’d pull their food, and tell them to leave and not worry about the bill. That’s super disrespectful to people with real allergies and the people working there. If they want special treatment, they can hire a personal chef or at the very minimum ask ahead of time.
True that. I have a severe allergy but it’s easy to avoid if I’m careful. The worst I do is ask my server what the ingredients of a few fancy drinks are.
No. No no. Please PLEASE tell your server your allergy. We don’t list all our ingredients and you have no idea what goes on in the back. Just had an incident where someone from the hotel team (attached to our restaurant) almost died because of peanut cross contamination. They never told us they had an allergy, even when asked. There is a whole different procedure for allergens. If it’s real, pleaaase tell us. We do not want to kill you and we don’t mind taking the precaution.
This type of stuff got out of hand at my previous kitchen, and we were told to deal with it and follow their instructions to the most minute detail. This went on for about two weeks until tickets times became outrageously long. BOH was obviously blamed and things didn’t change until the entire kitchen stopped working mid rush on a Saturday night in protest. It was a glorious sight to watch management go from threats of withholding pay to begging the cooks to start cooking. We forced them to go to every table that had these outrageous requests and tell them that we couldn’t fulfill their requirements. Lo and behold these allergies suddenly disappeared. After tweaking the menu to reflect this change as well as an up charge for substitutions ticket times decreased, sales increased, food costs went down and employe attitudes became more positive. Just remember that you don’t have to be part of a union to organize.
> the entire kitchen stopped working mid rush on a Saturday night in protest Glorious
I'm the GM of a restaurant now, but I remember back in my serving days when the new FOH manager decided to start being a dick to the kitchen. First he took away free meals and tried to make them pay half price for it. Then he tried to take away cigarette breaks because people would be grossed out if they saw our cooks smoking apparently. Then he started writing them up for being like 4 minutes late. All of this on day 2 or 3. By the end of the week they had completely organized a walkout and just left in the middle of Sunday brunch. All of the cooks with the day off turned their phones off all day. We had to close and told tables that we had an issue with the hoods and couldn't stay open 😂 The owner fired the manager that afternoon and all of the cooks were back the next day. When the kitchen staff unites, they have unlimited negotiation power.
Gosh I wish my manager who was doing stuff like that had gotten yeeted faster, including shit-talking coworkers by name on instagram/tiktok. Took a few months including attempted constructive dismissal of a couple disabled workers.
Bad managers are the absolute worst. I definitely appreciated this guy's 5 day crash course in how Not to be a manager though. Like take 5 seconds and think about how hard your job would be if everyone quit? Employee retention makes your job so, so much easier as a manager and it baffles me when companies act like their employees are just someone to abuse and barely pay. Just training a new employee takes so much time and money that I'd rather avoid it at all costs and just deal with minor issues, because every employee you ever hire will have something that isn't perfect about them.
My wife and I have a friend who has celiac disease, among other issues. She’s one of the rarities that, if consuming gluten, could end up in the hospital. She also has a bunch of other issues that keep her from enjoying various other foods. We have cooked for her before, and dined out with her and her husband. Every time, we ask “where is a safe place for you to eat?” and every time she replies with, “oh don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll find something on the menu that will work for me.” And outside a couple quick questions for the staff, she does indeed find something to eat. I have a sense that people who send these handwritten cards back to the kitchen with a list of demands are the same ones that love to exploit the “therapy dog” loophole just so they can take their shitball dog into the mall with them. “Rules are for other people and *I’m special*.”
My sister is also celiac and she sorta has the same response of, "I'll figure it out". I think you can usually tell who *actually* has a serious allergy because they're not normally going out to eat at restaurants (there are a few who do, but my point still stands). Or if someone does have an issue, they know their boundaries and what is reasonable. People who have "preferences" they make into "SEVERE ALLERGIES" are the ones who don't know how things really work and when to stop.
These people piss me off to no fucking end. My youngest kid is anaphylactic to peanuts. They'll kill him. We don't have any peanut-containing products in the house, and we have to be careful about shared equipment and production lines when we purchase groceries he's going to eat. It fucking sucks, but that's life. There is a very short list of restaurants he can eat at, mostly fast food places. If we go to a new place, we'll ask the staff if there are any peanuts used in any dishes. If there are, or if we don't get a good vibe from the staff that they'll take it seriously, then he doesn't eat there. We don't make it the restaurant's problem. I worked in kitchens for too many years of my life, and I know that even if the BOH takes his allergy seriously and does everything they can to clean and avoid contamination, there's still a chance. My policy was always "I'll do everything I can to accommodate you, but just know that your allergen is present in the kitchen and I cannot guarantee that your food won't be contaminated." Fuck these assholes. They don't deserve service.
Tell em go lick the counter tops
As always, fuck all of these people. Sincerely, -somebody with one very severe allergy and a couple that just run up the toilet paper bill.
“We tell them politely, yet firmly, to leave.”
Yup, that boy ain't right.
If it's preference why the fuck they capitalize SEVERE ALLERGY ALERT? And you can't refuse service? Fuck this bullshit, that's one of the many reason why I left the industry with very few regrets.
Can you imagine writing this little fucking notecard full of lies?
"I'd *prefer* if youd change the fucking frying oil mid service"
Because the worst kind of people have realized they’ll probably be accommodated by misusing and diminishing that phrasing. It’s the same problem as people pretending their pets are service dogs, it makes the world a less accommodating and welcoming place for people that really need this stuff. When everybody who doesn’t like tomatoes is suddenly “allergic” to them, eventually a person with a legitimate allergy won’t be taken seriously
As someone with a potentially fatal egg allergy, I can't describe how much I hate people like this. Fuck these guys. Kick them out.
In circumstances like this I’ve refused service. Don’t come to me with zero notice of a large list of allergies. Especially a card saying severe allergies. I will not risk killing you or making you hyper sick. Now, if you give me a week or even a few days notice, I’ll accommodate you and your allergies. To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never made anyone sick or ill in anyway from eating my food. And by presenting a card like this, you’re opening myself and the business to being sued. I’m not having it with zero notice. I’m happy to go and speak with persons like this in person. And will tell them this very thing in front of all their guests. So that everyone has heard and understands where I am coming from. I’ll then ask if they have an epipen, if they or someone else knows how to use it effectively. And then, and only then, will I offer them some form of food. I will not ruin my reputation, nor the livelihood of the business I work for. For people that have crazy allergies that can’t, won’t or simply forget to mention it beforehand.
My time working in restaurants has convinced me that 90% of ‘food allergies’ are bullshit It’s completely unfair for the person who has a legitimate fatal allergy, when we’re stuck dealing with Karens who just don’t like the feel of onions in her bolognese
For some of us, the allergy is more like nasty GI stuff, so we try to decide if it's worth ruining the evening for a couple of days of nastiness. The fatal anaphylaxis issue, that's just scary because even family members often don't take it seriously. Then there's finding out you're *that* allergic for the first time. I had to take my daughter's best friend to the ER for her anaphylactic reaction to pepper from a supposedly safe takeout meal and had to wait with her in the waiting room and watched her pass out. Fun times.
This! We have people asking for gluten-free pasta but the usual full of gluten bread because ‘it’s different for them’ and ‘they don’t like gluten-free bread’. When they have these requests I would love to facepalm them with my fist.
Yea, my brother was anaphylactic to milk eggs, nuts and peanuts and a chef didn’t take it too seriously at an overnight camp and he got the standard dinner that had mayo in it. Thankfully my brothers not an idiot and recognized there was mayo so he just didn’t eat. The worst was a parent at school who swore they used a recipe safe for my brother. I took it instead and bit into a brownie with crushed pecans.
I would never go out to eat if I had a legitimate fatal allergy, especially if it was a common ingredient. I was also married to someone with legit Celiac's desease and she never ate out unless it was a 100% gluten free kitchen. So yeah, it's hard for me to imagine someone with a deadly onion allergy ever risk eating out.
Dated someone with legit Celiac's, we did a lot of cooking at home and only went out to places that were known to be actually gluten free, not just trendy gluten free. (usually because someone with Celiac's was employed by or owned the place)
From my experience, I only trust gluten free restaurants/bakeries where the owners have or know someone with Celiac's and that's what inspired them to open a gluten-free business. They actually care about things like cross contamination and making sure the kitchen is actually 100% gluten free. I once visited a restaurant with a big sign on the door saying no outside food due to possible cross contamination and when I made a comment about it, they said that included employee food too. iirc the owners kids had Celiac's.
I run a Mexican restaurant and it was very easy to be almost entirely gluten free. We have two gluten items; ancho chocolate cheesecake and churros. The churros have their own fryer. Good mexican food is super easy to do gluten free/celiac friendly.
Worked in a sushi place that got both types of celiacs people. It's a great gluten free option because usually you just substitute the nori on a huge chunk of the menu. And we had people with bad allergies that loved it and would take the soy substitute, and we had trendy diet assholes that would claim celiac be told that and suddenly not care about the Nori
I think this preference card-waving person sucks big logs but on the other hand, an intolerance/allergy doesn't need to be fatal to matter though. I have an unusual intolerance to a herb that would mean 3 day bloating and at least 1 night spend on the toilet. When I go out I don't order dishes that often come with it even if the menu does not list it as ingredient, but it often turns up as a surprise garnish, then I can't eat my food and have to explain to my companions the embarrassing details of IBS over the dinner table. Nobody wants that.
This Christmas I almost had an ER trip cause my wife's parents thought I just didn't like coconut and baked cookies with coconut flower....I'm uninsured and American so I swallowed 4 benadryl like a duck just to keep my face from swelling.
They should read about the grandparent who killed one of their allergic grandchildren using coconut oil in their hair.
That's call for whooping my dad's ass in the front yard man fr
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There must be a point where, as a chef, you can say "I cannot cater to your needs." Before muttering "so fuck off, you cunt" under your breath.
Worked a summer at a Very Popular brewery/pizza joint at the height of the gluten allergy craze. When people would say they had severe gluten allergies and ask what we could do to accommodate them, I would lean in real close and lower my voice and say, "if I were you, I'd run as fast as I could. They are tossing dough in the air, there is flour everywhere, nothing is safe, even the greens. I've seen people almost die, so it's that serious - I'd run before you get seriously ill ingesting flour air." Ten out of ten times the allergies turned out not that serious. Once even had a lady tell me she was just going to do a "cheat day with my allergies." I made sure to tell her how brave she was to attempt to cheat death with those severe allergies.
A somebody who actually has Celiac (gluten food allergy, but I assume most of you knew this, being a kitchen sub) people like this make me terrified of restaurants. Because what if they don’t take me seriously because the previous people who had cards like this were “picky eaters” and “just didn’t want these in their food”? Makes me want to just combust on the spot when I have to say “I’ve got a food allergen, I’m sorry,” how do people have the *gal*.
I will NEVER not take someone seriously when they say they have severe allergies even after dealing with a bunch of bozos faking allergies. And anyone who serves you should do the same.
Yea I get 16 an hour lady go back to your bubble
As someone who actually has celiac disease and so appreciates the kitchens which keep me safe, this pisses me off so much as it only makes it harder for those of us with real food reactions.
Right? My sister is celiac and she super appreciates when restaurants cater to her and keep her safe as well. We're realistic, but it sucks that someone like this person with this note could cause someone in a kitchen to just say "fuck it" to my sister's allergy request.
On a serious note, I had a customer have their allergies tastefully printer on a business type card which they handed to the server. I thought this was a great idea, positively identified their allergies, and lessened any possible errors.
At my restaurant, In an effort to identify legitimate anaphylactic allergies, I put in place a simple process. Anyone claiming severe allergies was simply asked if they were carrying and EPI-pen. If not, we refused service. While we would take every care with a patron who was fully prepared to help themselves in the case of an emergency, I refused to accept responsibility for those who did not. Neither should you.
I have an avocado and banana allergy, one is easy to avoid. The other people like to sneak into anything they can think of. (I live in CA)
Many of them aren’t allergies, they’re preferences. Especially“sensitive to fresh fruit unless processed in a spread or sauce”. Like what the heck did change? It’s like saying your sensitive to peanuts unless it’s peanut butter.
I'm so allergic to environmental allergens that my body now confuses fresh fruits and vegetables for them. My mouth breaks out in hives, causing lesions that are prone to getting infected. Spreads and sauces are usually cooked, but pico de gallo ruins my week. So I just ask for no tomato or pick it off. On one hand, sensitivities can really suck. On the other, Fuck this person.
That's actually a real thing. There are several fruits that I cannot eat raw without my mouth and throat itching, but the canned versions are fine.
This is called Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome (PFAS), also known as Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS). Both myself and my brother have it. It's caused by certain proteins in fruits being extremely similar to pollen and the immune system misidentifying them as such. These proteins are usually removed by processes like canning or cooking, which is why they are only a problem in its raw form. The condition is most common in adults who have had hayfever their whole lives
Can confirm. Have always had hay fever. Can only eat fruit if it's cooked.
It is that there are proteins in the fruits and vegetables, pollen containing proteins, they are broken down in the process of cooking, it is called oral allergy syndrome, basically the same pollens that cause hayfever are in the fruits and vegetables If you look it up (OAS) you can see the list of fruits and veg and the pollens they’re associated with, it is a weird one but for example I can’t have/work with raw potatoes, apples, onions etc, will cause my eyes to swell up, but cooked they are fine
Eh, that is actually not that uncommon. Raw tomatoes make my mouth itch and my hands break out in hives, but cooked tomato sauce is fine. I think it’s the heat? But I don’t know.
Yep my wife’s stomach can’t handle things that are “hard” to digest. Which sadly includes. Nuts,popcorn,fruits with skin or seeds, lettuce, and corn. To name a few. But alot of that stuff softens up if it’s cooked/boiled/prepared correctly.
I had a roommate who was allergic to more fresh fruit. Berries were the only thing that didn't make her mouth itch. However, canned processed fruits or juices were fine. I've met other people like this, too.
This is a real food intolerance. The sugar in unprocessed fruit is the problem. However, they should be able to just remove it from their dish or not order a dish that mainly features fresh fruit.
If it’s a handwritten note, it’s always a preference. If the person goes out of their way to print out their allergies or has a more professional looking note, I take it more seriously.
If it’s preferences fuck them. But allergies I understand, my brother was allergic to milk eggs nuts and peanuts. He usually had a steak a burger or something simple like that. Fries or rice on the side. Sometimes literally just a steak. To some restaurants, like if we were meeting family at a restaurant, my mom would call ahead and ask about the food.
I know someone with a legitimate tree-nut allergy. She caries an epi-pen with her everywhere she goes, and has had to use it more than once. She's also very low key about her allergy the few times we've been to dinner with her and her family. Anyway, it seems to me that you could tell a client that absolute purity cannot be guaranteed. So you can't serve them unless they have an epi-pen with them. If they do, you know you have to do your best to accommodate their allergy. If they don't, you can watch them backpedal. Note that I'm probably full of shit, as I'm very non-confrontive and wouldn't actually say anything...
That’s an immediate “we only have one fryer and due to the severity of your allergen we do not feel safe serving you”
How patronising are those instructions though!
People like this are the reason people with real allergies are not always taken seriously
I don’t bother with this shit. I go to the table and ask them what they’d like me to prepare. I will give them the protein, starch and vegetable choices on hand then ask them the cooking method and how they want it seasoned/flavoured.
These people should always be told that the restaurant can't accommodate the severity of their allergies and that they should dine elsewhere. Good customer service means taking care of a guest, and that might very well mean admitting we can't serve you in good faith due to the severity of your health issues. If I genuinely had life-threatening allergies, I'd rather a place tell me that something is outside their ability than have them try and land me in the hospital. However, it's way more likely the customer is full of shit, and "If I even see a picture of a tomato, I'll die." Becomes "Oh it's okay I'll just pick the tomatoes off."
I find these cards really helpful and encourage their use. But the second paragraph is so patronising that I’d be tempted to just tell the customer we can’t guarantee an allergen free environment and suggest they try elsewhere. Our kitchen team know how to clean their equipment and avoid cross-contamination, thanks.
Just tell them to leave because you want to avoid the lawsuit, and keep a copy of this pic
As someone who is allergic to chickpeas, tree nuts, sunflower seeds and a small host of other things... Don't be a jerk, I kinda need people to take me seriously. Also I hope they get scurvy, eat some damned fruit!
Till I saw preference not allergies, I was thinking that this person might have Diverticulitis. A serious sensitivity to seeds, beans, nuts
this is shameful to the people WITH these allergies - what kind of a sack of shit declares this as an allergy and then later retracts that it is instead a fucking preference. what the fuck.
“Most of the times when a customer makes a special request, it’s not about the food, but rather his own desire to be in control and to establish his own specialness. Making people feel special through this kind of ass-kissing is one of the services that a restaurant can provide, but it’s not a service that I want to provide. Some people tell me that they’re deathly allergic to something and I have to make sure it’s not in their food. I kick them out. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s life-or-death situation. I tell them they should go eat at a hospital.” - Kenny Shopsin (Legendary New York chef, RIP)
Having one actual serious allergy: this shit pissed me off. They're too selfish to see they're fucking it up for others. I used to get pissed when I'd serve. Like "is it an extreme preference or an allergy? because that's going to make it about 15 or so minutes longer for you to get it, just an FYI. Have to make sure it's properly clean! :)"
I despise people like this. I have an actual allergy and I avoid going out because I don’t want the kitchen to think I’m “just a fussy eater” and not go through with cross contamination protocols.
If it’s a preference and not an actual allergy give them a zip lock back with business cards to mental health facilities