Food Allergies and Restaurants

For someone with the same or similar allergies to my sons I have created the following list as a *quick* reference for when he is visiting other people:

No matter what he says he cannot eat Oreo’s!  He is a teenager and bound to lie about this LOL.  He cannot eat Chinese at a restaurant- they use soy like American’s use peanuts.  Taking him out to eat is almost impossible however the following chain restaurants are okay and they have at least 2 things that he can have on their menu aside from a salad:

**Always remember to inform your server immediately of any food allergies.  Do not be surprised if the manager themself takes care of you.  Do be surprised if the manager doesn't at least make one appearance at your table!

1. Macaroni Grill (let them know his allergies but they can accommodate them in anything that isn’t bread or crusted like pizza)

2. McDonald’s- you may laugh but when I say he can have anything at McDonald’s he really can have anything that he wants.  YOu may think this is nuts- wait til you are out running errands and he’s hungry but you can’t hand him a granola bar b/c of the nuts or crackers b/c of the soy.  Trust me, a $1 McDouble only ketchup and pickles will take you all the way for him.

3. Dominos- regular, hand made crust pizza but NOT deep dish and NOT thin crust.  Couldn’t tell you why 2 have soy in them and one doesn’t but hey, who am I to judge?  Any fruit or veggie topping is fine and they don’t have contact with nuts.  My kiddo can have the pepperoni but the toppins stop there. No sausage, no burger stuff.

4.  Cracker Barrel has a few items he can have such as eggs, bacon, mashed potatoes, and mac n cheese.

5.  Starbucks- he can have a hot chocolate or chocolatey chip frappaccino.  That’s it.

6. Skyline Chili- no bread (like hot dog buns) and no breading due to soy but spaghetti, hot dogs, chili are all A-OK.

7. Coldstone- check their allergen list for up to date ingredients and make sure you tell them about the allergies but they can accommodate both soy and nut allergies in a different work station so everyone can enjoy their deliciousness.

Don’t bother with the following restaurants:

1. Mellow Mushroom- although they will let me bring my own food in for my kiddo while I eat there and that’s pretty cool.
2. Chili’s- only the chicken fingers on the kids menu are okay but he doesn’t like them
3. Hooters- this has nothing to do with food and everything to do with his age!! HAHA
4. Applebee’s- Selection is too limited.
5. Wendy’s= very limited selection, I have to review their allergen list every single time we go due to changes.

Definitely don’t go here:

1. Burger King- sesame seeds are on all of their buns and nope, unlike McDonald’s you cannot order a different type of bun.
2. Checkers- same as BK with the sesame seeds.  Plus almost everything has soy in it and/or has been exposed to nuts.  He can have the vanilla milkshake and that’s it!
3. Chik Fil-a - everything has the potential to have been in contact with nuts.  Soy is in a few things here and they also use sesame seeds but I do believe you can get a non-seed bun.
4. Chinese- they use soy in everything for this cuisine.  Nuts are also common kitchen items.
5. Thai food- same as Chinese.  I would just be asking for trouble to take him to an Asian restaurant.
6. Five Guys- free peanuts out in the open, need I say more?
7. Any restaurant that ends in “Roadhouse”- peanuts at every table, on the floor, in barrels.  Not to mention the amount of items on the menu with Soy in them.
8. Anything with a Hibachi grill- sad but true, they use soy sauce in their grill cooking and there isn’t anyway to seperate his food at a level that would prevent cross-contamination.