Eating Out with Allergies
Manage Special Diets with Ease & Get Good Restaurant Service
Don't let food sensitivities stop you from eating out! It's possible to enjoy your favorite foods in restaurants and keep to your diet with a few friendly precautions.
For those with food allergies, grocery shopping, cooking, and creating a varied menu can be a lot of work! Once in a while, just like anyone else, it's nice to be able to go out to a restaurant and let someone else cook. But for those with allergies or sensitivities to wheat, sugar, gluten, dairy, MSG, corn, soy or other common allergens, eating out can be almost as much of a challenge as eating in – and traveling can be much worse. The following tips, based on lifelong practice at eating out with food restrictions, may help to streamline the restaurant experience.
Know Your Questions in Advance
First and foremost, make sure you come equipped with a mental list of all the foods and ingredients you're not supposed to eat.
It is up to you to let restaurant staff know about your allergies. Some facilities actually discourage waitstaff from asking about food allergies, since doing so can make them liable if you are unhappy with your order. Take responsibility for yourself and don't feel shy about asking for what you need – after all, it's your health on the line.
For those with newly discovered allergies, it may be helpful to bring a notecard or piece of paper on which you've written the foods you're avoiding, so that you can easily share the list with your waiter and, if necessary, with the kitchen staff.
Be Prepared with Options
No matter how restrictive your diet may be, there are almost always options if the restaurant is willing to simplify an item or two on the menu.
In her book The Raw Food Detox Diet, Natalia Rose discusses how she accommodates her raw food diet while eating out. If nothing else works for her, Rose says, she'll order a simple salad and add her own toppings, like raw nuts and seeds. She'll ask the restaurant for additional ingredients like protein-rich avocado and any other raw vegetables they may have in the kitchen, and a simple dressing like olive oil and lemon.
If most restaurants can accommodate a raw foodist, then they can work with almost any allergies, provided you know how to give them options.
- Celiacs or those avoiding wheat, yeast, or gluten can order a burger without the bun
- Those with nut allergies can ask for the kitchen to leave off peanuts or other nuts
- Indian restaurants will usually have one or two curries on the menu that include neither milk nor food coloring, but many have one or both (so ask)
- Pasta dishes usually come with a parmesan garnish, so make sure to request no milk or cheese
- Thai restaurants are a mecca for those with wheat or gluten intolerance since they offer rice as a staple, rather than bread, and rarely use soy sauce
Make it Fun for the Waiter!
Your allergies mean extra work for everyone involved in preparing and serving your meal. Being pleasant to your waiter or waitress can go a long way toward getting good service.
Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People is full of gems for ensuring good customer service, among other things. Being polite, friendly and likeable makes waitstaff more willing to help you by shuttling questions and requests back and forth to the kitchen.
A hefty tip may also be appropriate, depending on the amount of extra work your waiter provides, and will ensure good repeat service next time you and your allergies return.
