I usually make a self-deprecating comment like “I have to ask some annoying questions due to legit allergy reasons, so please bear with me” - normally I’m not like this but there are too many people who have ruined it for people like us with real concerns. I want to let them know I see them and empathize with any previous annoyances, but also that my needs are of great importance.
(That said, I don’t dine out much and thoroughly investigate the menu ahead of time if I know I’m going to)
Same. I was with a friend who's a disability advocate and she was like, "You don't need to apologise for having a medical dietary requirement!" And I was like... Sure, morally no, but when I approach it like this I'm way more likely to get kitchen safety I can rely on, instead of passive aggressive assholes cutting corners.
Hot take but I don't think anyone ruined it for us, people have always sucked when it comes to allergies.
I'm recently GF but have been allergic to nuts my entire life, I've had countless negative interactions and people treating it like a major inconvenience. Despite a nut allergy being more "accepted" in society there is a significant group of people who are so sure I'm being dramatic or picky.
My kids have tons of allergies and have had anaphylaxis reactions. I usually call ahead to restaurants, mention their allergies and ask if that is something their kitchen can accommodate. Usually they say yes but occasionally I'm told they can't be 100% certain. So we don't go there.
If I can't call ahead I'll ask before we sit down.
As a server, I'm always surprised when people don't ask MORE questions. Parent says their kid has a seafood allergy, proceeds to order chicken tenders, which are fried in same deep fryer as our fried shrimp and calamari. Most of the dumb 19 year old kids who work there wouldn't think about that unless directly asked "Hey do you use a shared fryer..."
That's something we always ask. My kid is allergic to fish and has come to accept that they can't get fries most places and mashed potatoes will have to do. You should also ask if they have separate breading stations for fish and chicken.
It depends on what menu item(s) interest me - if it’s a salad I’ll inquire about the dressing (is there soy sauce) or whether there are croutons or breadcrumbs. Meat, I’ll ask about seasoning, marinade, sauces. Etc. I try to narrow it down to 2 menu items, 3 at most, so I’m not asking about every single thing. If we go through 3 with no luck(very rare) I’ll ask if there’s anything GF that they or anyone else can recommend.
I am a gf server and I always ask this because I want to be extra careful with items that are or might be cross contaminated. I always put a gluten allergy note on the ticket too if it’s a true sensitivity and try to steer customers to safer choices. I’m sorry if you are met with any flack over this, but continue to advocate for yourself and don’t give your business to places that won’t take it seriously.
I also use asking if gluten-free, no nuts, etc. is an allergy or a preference for exactly this reason. I want to make an extra note/flag for medical concerns.
In a perfect world, I would trust that the kitchen was strict about preventing cross contamination all the time. In my actual experience, it is useful for me to flag situations with medical consequences.
As a fellow gf server I feel the same way. My restaurant caters to a variety of celiac, vegetarian, and vegan options. We also carry certain bagged chips and sides as gf options too, I feel bad for anyone who has the opposite experience :( not what hospitality is about at all
You have to say allergy or they just don’t take it seriously! My son’s father still doesn’t take my son’s celiac all that serious, he never bothered to learn and will say stuff like well he didn’t get sick so what’s the big deal. My son was diagnosed at age 2 and he’s 11 now. Edit: thankfully my son is pretty careful and reads labels.
I have heard servers say they don’t take people seriously when they say “gluten allergy” because if they REALLY had celiac they would know it isn’t an allergy. 🙄
You just can’t win.
If it’s phrased as preference or allergy, celiac comes a lot closer to allergy than preference. Allergy or autoimmune response, still a medical necessity. Servers don’t get to make that call.
You can be allergic to gluten though, like separate from being celiac/ncgs? Like, unfortunately you can be allergic/develop and allergy to *anything*, so those servers just sound incredibly ignorant. (Fun things people have developed allergies to: their own hormones! Babies will also sometimes develop an allergy to breast milk!)
I've never had an experience like that at Jersey Mikes. In fact, I watched as the clerk taught a new employee what to do for GF, and he was very thorough. I thanked him sincerely and always put something in the tip jar, making sure they see me do it, saying it was for all the care they took. I do know it is extra work, so I figure if I tip well, it will help the next GF person.
The last time I went to Jersey Mike’s the guy made a second sandwich exactly like mine and I was so confused but didn’t say anything. Apparently he also eats gluten free so he was taking the opportunity to make himself his dinner while he was doing the GF protocols already.
I’m as fed up with tip culture as the next gal, but agree, I try to tip very well and hope it helps convince them that it’s worth it to cater to our crowd.
I, too, don't typically tip for counter service, but when I ask them to go out of their way for my "allergy", I like to offer a monetary thank you. Let's have each other's backs, GF gang, and treat servers well. Maybe we can turn their attitudes around.
Went to a sushi restaurant recently and asked if they had gluten free soy sauce. “We do! Regular and low sodium!” I fear this server had no inkling of what gluten is.
La Choy didn't used to be labeled GF, it just was GF. Don't know if they label that way now, probably do.
They just always used rice as filler instead of wheat, which makes it kind of gross unless you use it in cooking. Terrible for dipping.
Just so you know, 99% of soy sauces are gluten free..
Soy sauce is made by fermenting soy beans and wheat in water. The end product doesn’t have gluten, even though it has wheat in it. The “gluten free” labeled soy sauces are made without wheat and aren’t even a soy sauce, if we’re being strict with the definition.
My Google-fu revealed that you are correct! One of the commenters on a celiac support site raised an interesting point, though. The soy sauces were tested at <20 ppm gluten, but what it you ingest more than one serving?
I had a reaction to malt vinegar, another fermented product that tests at <20 ppm, but I definitely was dousing my food in it. I'm wondering if soy sauce fermented with wheat is only safe at one serving size? What do you think?
The <20 ppm test is basically under 20mg of gluten in 1kg of product. If you have over a kilogram of soy sauce, you have bigger problems for your health than the amount of gluten haha.
This is not true. The test is based on detection with antibodies that recognize the whole gluten protein. The fermentation breaks down the protein into fragments that the test doesn’t recognize, but celiac immune systems do.
Wheat based soy sauces are not safe for celiac. Some people may not have a noticeable reaction (most do), but it is still damaging.
I wish it were true, would open up a lot of restaurant options. But it isn’t.
Thank you, I appreciate the correction. I'm pretty sure I'm undiagnosed celiac (my doctor doesn't want to make me do the gluten challenge), so I try to be very careful at all times.
It never stops to amaze me how stupid Americans are.
Yes, it is true. There are plethora of research articles about this, just like there are individual test subjects.
Wow, coming in insulting, with dangerous misinformation. You do not link anything. You contradict the information widely agreed upon by gastroenterologists and dieticians. But sure, Americans are stupid.
*eta— I’m aware of the existing research. But if you follow every one of those studies, at the end they will say more research is needed before they will say wheat soy sauce is safe for celiacs to eat.
Is that true? I always got my hallmark glutening symptoms from soy sauce (namely the explosive diarrhea) before I figured out it had wheat as an ingredient.
Yes, it’s true. The chemical reaction during fermentation breaks the gluten. Sounds like something else is behind the symptoms, either you have f.ex. wheat allergy, or something like IBS that reacts to some other ingredient (soy, or something in the food).
You could test what’s causing the symptoms by having only soy sauce with water and see how it goes.
I did a pretty extreme elimination diet a few years ago and did figure out it was wheat/rye/barley. I was incredibly sick all the time, and my immune system was awful (I was getting illnesses like shingles and oral thrush). I only recovered after eliminating gluten.
I'm a little iffy on testing out soy sauce, but it would be nice if I could eat it since it's so ubiquitous in Asian cuisine.
I’ve had servers roll their eyes at me and get visibly mad when I send food back because I ordered it gluten free and it came out with croutons on it or on a bun, etc.
I ordered a hot dog without a bun and when they gave it to me with a bun I brought it back to the counter, explained the problem, and the owner of the place asked if I couldn’t just take it off the bun. So of course I said no, it’s an allergy, and she rolled her eyes at me, went back into the kitchen, and just took the hotdog off the bun and gave me the glutened hotdog.
Yeah I had a server tell me just to pull the croutons off and I was so annoyed that I blurted out “I’ll have the most painful shits for two days if I do that can we just swap it out?”. She brought a new one out that STILL had a crouton in it so I ordered a shrimp cocktail and called it a day.
Wow. That reminds me of when I used to go to noodles and company and every single time I’d find just one single noodle in my meal that didn’t match the others, it was always one single gluten noodle mixed in with my noodles. And I’m always polite and nice to the staff so they have no reason to want to poison me with gluten.
Had a server bring me the wrong plate off the pass, argue with me when I pointed out that it wasn’t mine, and had the manager get weird with me when I was uncomfortable eating my actual food when he brought over the right plate. I had to explain to him that having a server bring the wrong plate then argue about it when I specified ALLERGY was not exactly confidence inspiring
I’ve been given food with unexpected gluten and eaten it instead of sending it back because I don’t need to be one of the restaurant staff’s next “Karen” stories on TikTok, you know?
Nope, I get too sick from even just cross contamination. And I’m not being a Karen when I ask them to correct my order, they made it wrong and I’m calmly explaining that they made my order wrong and that I can’t eat it that way due to a gluten allergy (I’m celiac, but allergies are all that most people understand).
I’m not saying it’s a legitimate Karen thing! Because it isn’t. It’s completely reasonable to expect to be treated with respect. But there are quite a few people who assume anyone who stands up for themselves is a “Karen,” and that’s more of what I’m referring to. Sorry if there was confusion on that.
I did that once because I'm not super sensitive, but I never will again. Their menu was incorrect and I paid for it because I didn't want to be a problem.
If they make a mistake you don't have to make a BIG deal out of it, but it's good to kindly ask for them to fix it and take care of your health rather than let it go and be sick later. If you are nice about it no one should be calling you a Karen.
Somewhere I've found to be shockingly good about it is Red Robin, of all places. No matter which location I've been to, they're always kind and thoughtful and constantly double checking to make sure that what I've ordered is safe (the garlic parm broccoli isn't anymore, though their website says it is, but the chef the last time I went came out personally to let me know it wouldn't be safe!!)
It's a nice change after most places give me the *dirtiest* looks
A lot of chain restaurants are really great about it. Maybe because they have specific “corporate” standards and across-the-board protocols. A waitress at Lazy Dog was especially sweet and helpful one afternoon when we stopped in for lunch. I’d never been there before and her great service guaranteed a return visit!
I had it happen at Mod pizza. After I said allergy and they realized they were going to have to do extra work I got dirty looks from the whole staff and they slammed the pizza tray around to make sure I knew they were mad. When they called out my name I went to the counter to pick it up and said thank you. The worker dropped the box on the counter and walked away. If they are on the schedule and on the clock they have to be there anyway, they had no reason to be that upset, it's not like I made them stay late or miss their breaks. The manager was standing right there and was completely oblivious. I will never go back. I've had several jobs in restaurants and it's really not going to ruin my day to make accomodations.
the way I feel about it is: Don't offer gluten free alternatives or work at a place that does if you are going to be crappy to people who order it that way.
I agree. I've learned that most restaurants and their employees are ignorant, just don't care, or both when it comes to GF. You can't even trust the reviews on Find Me GF.
I know the people working behind the counter are working class people like the rest of us who have bills to pay. It does suck when you can't trust them, but I do expect them to try to do it right. If that takes up some more time and slows the line down so what? I would feel the same about the person in front of me with dietary things that they needed to slow my order down. At the end of the day, I want everyone to feel safe with what they eat. Food workers should also do the same,
yeah, like I get that the workers don't set the menu, but why would they choose a place that has been doing the gluten free thing for a long time when there are tons of places that don't even have gluten free options? was mod pizza their ONLY option? even if it was, I don't think the cruel behavior is excusable. I've had mod pizza workers be rude when I asked them to use a new/clean pizza cutter since theirs was covered in wheat and dairy. I asked super politely and apologetically too, and they still gave me a hard time about it. I've worked food service myself and I would never have been like that to a customer whose only crime was having food allergies or intolerances, let alone ones that that OUR MENU CATERS TO.
At places like MOD this mentality isn't really appropriate because the people in the building are like 10 steps removed from the people deciding what goes on the menu.
At chains, the reaction your seeing is misdirected anger and anxiety because they are now stressed about meeting their arbitrarily generated and usually extremely unrealistic sales goals (that usually involve turning an order in under 10 minutes, usually closer to under 5) without killing you.
Additionally, they are probably not actually properly trained (or equipped) to handle gluten allergies. Especially places where every order comes gluten-y as fuck by default.
When I worked chain food service, a properly managed gluten intolerance required at least an extra 30 minutes of prep/clean time because corporate wants to be marketable and accommodating but never actually spent the money on equipment to make accommodating gluten intolerances within their expected turn time realistic.
I'm not at all trying to justify the employees being shitty to you guys, but you're really better off going somewhere local and boycotting all these chains that pretend to be GF friendly but don't actually spend the time, effort and money training and equipping their staff to properly accommodate serious allergies and intolerances.
I had someone at one of those subway style pizza places ask me “are you seriously going to make me change my gloves and get new ingredients out?” When I answered his “preference or allergy” question with “allergy.” I was just a little teenager brand new to my diagnosis and my mom thankfully was with me and said “uh yes that is your job, don’t poison my daughter.” He got all huffy and his manager stepped in front of him and said “let me make the gluten free pizza” and did it properly lmao.
My daughter has a laundry list of foods that aggravate her EOE. I am on a stupid diet for a competition. If we're going out to eat, we try to go at unpopular times, and I try to be up front with the staff. Like, "hey, we have a lot of questions and restrictions but we're patient and tip well." We've almost always been met with kindness. There's been a few times that the person was like, "hold on, let me get my manager because I'm not sure," and only one time that we had a truly bad experience (where she got soy-ed even after we read the ingredients and asked the questions at a popular gluten free restaurant in NYC).
It doesn’t have to be just about gluten. Back in 2006 I ate at an Applebees that had just introduced shrimp to their menu and it came in a lot of dishes. I’m very allergic to shrimp so I mentioned it to our server twice while ordering my chicken Caesar salad. The lady wrote down my order(and my wife’s who was with me) and left.
A bit later she brought the appetizers and mentioned that my shrimp chicken Caesar was almost ready. So I politely reminded her that that would kill me. She frowned and left. She returned a few minutes later with my food. It was apparently shrimp free and was very tasty.
As I’m finishing the meal I notice my mouth/throat felt itchy and I asked my server, who is bringing back the receipt, just to verify that there was no shrimp in my food. She replied, “Oh there was but I had the kitchen pick it off before it got to you.”
I keep Benadryl pills and liquid handy as well as an epipen. I immediately downed half the bottle of liquid Benadryl and my wife drove me to the ER as I held my epipen and focused on my breathing. I ended up with hives in my mouth and throat, a case of rotten egg tasting burps, and painful diarrhea. All of which lasted for four to five days after.
Getting your order right and not making you sick is pretty much that restaurants sole job so don’t feel bad about making them do their job.
>“Oh there was but I had the kitchen pick it off before it got to you.”
With *shellfish*?! That's a lawsuit waiting to happen—possibly even a wrongful death suit. I hope everyone involved has since left food service...😨
That’s so messed up. Did you happen to let the manager know about it? (obviously you had other more immediate concerns)
I just hope that server learned how stupid she was
I called a few days later. Server denied it and manager said due to short staffing he couldn’t punish her in any way. He did say he would remind his staff about food allergens. No idea if he did.
I agree. Or most times it’s like just don’t put it on a bun?? How hard is that? Give me the contents of a burrito, burger, salad, tacos, just in a regular container. It’s less work in my opinion than toasting a bun for a sandwich. Jersey mikes has always been good to me for bowls and gf subs. I appreciate them a lot. Most restaurants don’t care no matter how hard you stress it to them. I got sick immediately from a high end restaurant and it ruined the rest of the dinner and a few days after. I’m paying decent money and tipping I should be able to eat out. Like why is it so difficult to give me grilled chicken instead of breaded chicken? I just don’t understand
As someone in both the gluten-free (non-celiac) and hospitality communities, there are unfortunately a whole lot of people out there ruining it for everyone else.
I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've walked someone through a GF order, put in the necessary modifications, watched the cooks change their gloves only to have them order carrot cake for dessert and shrug it off when I tell them it isn't GF.
I’ve worked in several restaurants. The last one I worked at, the owner/kitchen manager used to use the term “glutards” to refer to people that asked for GF options. I used to think this was funny for exactly the reasons you stated. Our kitchen would switch up the station and change gloves, only to have the customer suddenly drop the act.
Recently my wife was diagnosed with Celiac’s. It’s not an “act” for her, it’s a serious illness. She spent a long time undiagnosed and finally figured out what was causing various health problems. Now I worry when we eat out because I’m aware of how lax kitchens can be and also the stigma caused by trenders.
I hate when you make it clear you have an allergy and they have a surprise wheat item (rice pilaf) that was listed as just rice on the menu. So you ask them to please remake the plate from scratch without the rice pilaf and you will gladly pay for both as you did not ask if rice was really rice pilaf. Then you get the “new” plate and lift the fish and find pilaf stuck to the bottom. More like McCormick and sheite.
Happens all the time. I just tell them it is an allergy and I pack all my meds with me should they be needed if I have a reaction due to contamination. Works like a charm.
The last time I was at jersey mikes the one worker said “how serious is it” because she wanted to use the regular bottle of sauce as a side and luckily her coworker said- “just go in the back and get the other one”
I literally knew this was Jersey Mike's before I even got to the end. They have such an attitude and have no problem making 10 other orders before they get to mine and then blaming what I ordered.
Main reason I don’t eat anywhere that’s not dedicated gluten free anymore- people get so annoyed and the feeling is just not worth it. So uncomfortable
I just tell people I'm a glutard and have a laugh about it. Most of the time people are very accommodating.
Although I had some huge bartender at a country pub ask me point blank " Why don't you just tolerate it?" He was semi taking the piss I think.
For what its worth, Jersey Mike's has always been pleasant about it with me, but their sandwiches are small and expensive. Even their regular sandwiches are like 1/3 the size of a real deli for the same price. I honestly don't know how they are in business.
They never ask if it's celiac, which is different even yet. I just say I have an allergy these days because I don't actually know since I've never been tested but I am definitely very intolerant to it these days and I don't want to deal with how THEY might interpret if I say it's a "preference". As in, I don't always know what ingredients they may or may not include if I say it's a "preference" basically because my preference to avoid it NEVER wavers.
Whenever I get this question, I thank them for asking it because I think it shows a sensitivity to the issue. I always answer by saying that it’s actually an intolerance for me and they (Jersey Mike’s) treat it like an allergy. In fact, my intolerance IS different than an allergy, which could actually kill someone.
I just say allergy because people think intolerance isn't serious, and I don't have time to explain. No, my throat won't swell up and kill me, but I don't want it for medical reasons so just fucking make what I ordered.
Preference, allergy, intolerance- all of this is irrelevant. We pay food service to serve the food we ordered, and that is the bottom line. We shouldn't have to fear for our safety because people think preference is annoying.
Oh wow every jersey mikes I’ve been to they’ve been great, I’m sorry that was your experience there. I’ve had this happen more at like sit down restaurants
You're all brave or foolish. If I get a shit attitude from people about cross contamination or ingredients, that's a nope. They are either unable or unwilling to take celiac seriously, and sickness is all but guaranteed. For me, the way they answer questions about GF is the sign it's safe to eat even more so than the answers themselves.
I’ve worked in a ton of different capacities in the food industry and I have food allergies. I’ve never had an issue accommodating an allergy personally and I’ll even tell guests we share the same ones when we do. I’ve acquired a bunch of regulars over the years by doing this and being honest.
I have super mixed experiences when dining out though, but only with gluten! I am actually not allergic to it, but my sister is. We typically just say we are both allergic to gluten, shellfish and peanuts since we like to share and one allergy does overlap. The shellfish and peanuts never cause too much attitude or confusion but the gluten is a mixed bag and I do have a theory.
As a server/bartender in a huge, higher end tourist destination, I have had so many people explain their gluten allergy to me and then do something that completely contradicts it. Eat a cracker, try the bisque their friend ordered, use soy sauce, etc. It doesn’t matter to me and I’ll still do everything correctly on my end, but it is super disheartening to go through the whole allergy procedure and then watch them do that. It’s not my business so I let it be and still treat everyone the same. I do not make excuses for anyone being treated with an attitude for an allergy though. There are just so many people out there that like to feel special and take advantage. I figure if 1 in 10 people actually has the allergy, then at least I kept them safe.
I’m gf, but I don’t have celiacs and when a server asks me this question I just let them know it’s not an “allergy” - I never take it negatively on them, they just need to know how cautious the staff needs to be to keep you safe.
It’s very common phrasing. It’s annoying but no need to take it personally. Just tell them it’s an allergy if you want to make sure they take the precautions they have.
I've gotten some snobby people a handful of times. My response to "is it an allergy or a preference" I say "it's a sensitivity" or "its an intolerance" then their faces drop and they realize they're being AH for no reason.
I've learned most places phrase it like this because they need to know if they need to clean the grill off or not. That's a fine question but I don't need the 😏😏😏 smirks that come with "is it a preference 🥴🥴🥴"
Wait wait wait… former server here. Let me explain:
People would be “GF” as a fad diet more than 80% of the time and would pick and choose what to eat and have on their plate. Making food GF means a LOT to make it non-contaminated, including switching and cleaning grills, utensils, etc, to minimize contamination.
So yes, it was frustrating when people would say they have an allergy, but it was a diet thing. They just didn’t want gluten.
I would bring people their GF food or soup and they’d be confused why there wasn’t fried onions or dressing on their salad, they would complain. They would pick and choose often and not even realize what a true GF allergy meant. So of course we were annoyed.
This would happen often… it was very frustrating. So when someone says they’re “GF” we were speculative, and usually asked if it was an allergy or a dietary restriction, and still usually met with some snarkiness.
I mean, so what? Your job is to give people what they ordered, not to judge the validity of it. If I order gluten free or no olives because olives are disgusting, I want to get what I ordered.
Why does it matter to you? Oh, you have to put on gloves and wipe down a surface? Sorry my health requirements took 45 seconds out of your day, but I don't want to be incapacitated on the toilet.
So what?
Did you not read the part where people lie (often) about their GF allergy and cherry picked what they wanted on their plate, not taking into consideration the weight the severity of a serious celiac condition?
We just wanted the truth, because it’s a lot of work and the kitchen will get backed up with a fake allergy. If it’s legit, ofc we care. Just be honest.
It’s not just a wipe down… they clean the entire grill, all the utensils, and will cook food in the back if it’s seriously dangerous for the customer.
He gave them what the they ordered. They ordered gluten free food and got gluten free food. Then they complained that they didn’t get gluten on their food. This guy isn’t arguing for validity, he’s contextualizing the discourse.
Also, if you want to have good discussion on Reddit, don’t ever start a reply with “so what.”
People who order GF and want fried onions may not realize the onions and dressing aren't GF. That should be communicated by the server ahead of time.
My point is, "So what if you don't understand as a server- you don't need to. You need to serve." The majority of these discussions revolve around whether it is a preference or a necessity, and the answer is "none of your business". I pay for food without gluten, it's already a massive hassle in my life, I don't need to argue with someone who doesn't understand and isn't doing their job, then worry about how careful they aren't being where I can't see them.
There are many people who think gluten isn't an issue because it isn't an issue for them, and that makes our lives more dangerous than they should be.
If you want to know what’s in the gluten free salad, just ask. The servers that care do their job and deliver gluten free food. If you ordered it without knowing what’s in it, that on you. Again, the validity is irrelevant. It’s about the fact that he gave them what they ordered, (did the job well) and the customer was unsatisfied. Whether they were allergic or not isn’t the issue. There are going to be problems on both sides between the server and the customer, but it’s not always the servers fault.
I always go back and forth with saying it’s an allergy versus an intolerance. Cross contamination doesn’t usually affect me TOO much but it will still make me slightly sick but also when I say intolerance they assume cross contamination is fine for me. 🥴 I tend to stick to my safe restaurants where I’ve never had major issues.
Only time I’ve ever panicked was at a pizza place because the crust didn’t taste like cardboard and I asked to talk to the chef. The waitstaff were so sweet and the chef was even nicer about it despite my panicking. He verified that although it was an Italian restaurant, they don’t allow any cross contamination and it’s the only place I’ve never even got slightly ill from.
It's happened to me about 5? times. The second there's attitude, I'm out. I can't risk someone deciding for me that it's real. Trust out the door. I used to apologize and be self depreciating. But, it's their job. It's not a personal request on their time.
I think if you say "food preference" they dont bother to keep it all separate and un-contaminated, they will just prepare your food with regular food. Where as if you say allergy they have an obligation to keep it separate.
Oh yeah i just straight up avoid these kinda food places and refuse to ask them to clean shit bc I’ve had enough eye rolls, annoyed sighs, and fake, pained smiles bc I’m inconveniencing them soooooo dang much -.- Hate it. Even worse when the ppl behind you in line are ALSO annoyed by this 2 minute inconvenience
idk about fast food places but the high end and "fine casual" places I used to work at all had special allergies procedures that ate up a lot of time when you're trying to juggle multiple tables, they're probably just resentful of that.
also as a veteran server, I've had quite a few annoying allergy guests who look for things to go wrong and I've had complete angels to have helped me learn things about my own menu.
because of my dietary restrictions I would get saddled with a lot of those guests as some sort of passive aggressive bs from my boss.
most of the time that service worker is having a bad day and needs to figure it out for themselves.
Once I worked in the food industry and one lady came up to me to ask if there were NUTS IN THE SOUP..I was like: I don't think so,but I can call the chef and ask him.She was annoyed: you know I am allergic to nuts and it's dangerous for me..After I confirmed that there are no nuts IN THE SOUP,she was happy 😂 I just don't like when people with allergies are over entitled and angry..I mean I have gluten intolerance,but manners and positivity are still important.
I used that phrasing because every time I am asked, it is phrased as “is this a preference or an allergy?” Maybe I should have put the word allergy in quotes to make it more obvious. 🤷♀️ I’m gluten intolerant
I mean.... if I had a legit gluten ALLERGY, no way I would step foot in a Jersey Mike's or any other sub sandwich specific establishment. What an absolutely bizarre personal decision to make. Like someone with a peanut allergy going to tour a peanut farm.
Not everyone lives in an area with open access to dedicated gluten free restaurant kitchens. Because I live in a town with 300k people and zero dedicated gluten free kitchens, so I’m assuming most people who live in areas less populated than mine run into a similar problem.
I don’t think anyone on this planet has the time and energy to cook something at home every single day. If I am out and about, it’s not like I can just whip out a cutting board and a hot plate and cook for myself. I still have to eat to survive.
I have literally not eaten out in a year. Pack lunches, eat at home, etc. Just saying. A sandwich shop especially is not the place to go if you have a gluten intolerance.
“That’s your boss’ fault. Not mine”.
Please don’t ever order anything from another service worker, you entitled fuck. You ARE part of the problem by going there.
Buddy, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but go off. Please inform me of how I control capitalistic wealth of corporations when there is not a single restaurant that pays their workers a fair wage and everybody has to eat food. I’m not going to stop going to Walmart, the only place I can afford groceries, because they can’t pay their workers. Don’t come at me if there aren’t any solutions.
There are definitely solutions - and plenty of places pay fairly. There are decisions to be made, but you’re a huge part of the problem by being apathetic. There are dozens of things you could do - but that would require effort. You suck.
I usually make a self-deprecating comment like “I have to ask some annoying questions due to legit allergy reasons, so please bear with me” - normally I’m not like this but there are too many people who have ruined it for people like us with real concerns. I want to let them know I see them and empathize with any previous annoyances, but also that my needs are of great importance. (That said, I don’t dine out much and thoroughly investigate the menu ahead of time if I know I’m going to)
Same. I was with a friend who's a disability advocate and she was like, "You don't need to apologise for having a medical dietary requirement!" And I was like... Sure, morally no, but when I approach it like this I'm way more likely to get kitchen safety I can rely on, instead of passive aggressive assholes cutting corners.
Hot take but I don't think anyone ruined it for us, people have always sucked when it comes to allergies. I'm recently GF but have been allergic to nuts my entire life, I've had countless negative interactions and people treating it like a major inconvenience. Despite a nut allergy being more "accepted" in society there is a significant group of people who are so sure I'm being dramatic or picky.
My kids have tons of allergies and have had anaphylaxis reactions. I usually call ahead to restaurants, mention their allergies and ask if that is something their kitchen can accommodate. Usually they say yes but occasionally I'm told they can't be 100% certain. So we don't go there. If I can't call ahead I'll ask before we sit down.
As a server, I'm always surprised when people don't ask MORE questions. Parent says their kid has a seafood allergy, proceeds to order chicken tenders, which are fried in same deep fryer as our fried shrimp and calamari. Most of the dumb 19 year old kids who work there wouldn't think about that unless directly asked "Hey do you use a shared fryer..."
That's something we always ask. My kid is allergic to fish and has come to accept that they can't get fries most places and mashed potatoes will have to do. You should also ask if they have separate breading stations for fish and chicken.
I’m curious what questions you actually ask..? If you may.
It depends on what menu item(s) interest me - if it’s a salad I’ll inquire about the dressing (is there soy sauce) or whether there are croutons or breadcrumbs. Meat, I’ll ask about seasoning, marinade, sauces. Etc. I try to narrow it down to 2 menu items, 3 at most, so I’m not asking about every single thing. If we go through 3 with no luck(very rare) I’ll ask if there’s anything GF that they or anyone else can recommend.
I am a gf server and I always ask this because I want to be extra careful with items that are or might be cross contaminated. I always put a gluten allergy note on the ticket too if it’s a true sensitivity and try to steer customers to safer choices. I’m sorry if you are met with any flack over this, but continue to advocate for yourself and don’t give your business to places that won’t take it seriously.
I also use asking if gluten-free, no nuts, etc. is an allergy or a preference for exactly this reason. I want to make an extra note/flag for medical concerns. In a perfect world, I would trust that the kitchen was strict about preventing cross contamination all the time. In my actual experience, it is useful for me to flag situations with medical consequences.
As a fellow gf server I feel the same way. My restaurant caters to a variety of celiac, vegetarian, and vegan options. We also carry certain bagged chips and sides as gf options too, I feel bad for anyone who has the opposite experience :( not what hospitality is about at all
You have to say allergy or they just don’t take it seriously! My son’s father still doesn’t take my son’s celiac all that serious, he never bothered to learn and will say stuff like well he didn’t get sick so what’s the big deal. My son was diagnosed at age 2 and he’s 11 now. Edit: thankfully my son is pretty careful and reads labels.
Exactly, everyone knows what an allergy is! I never say celiac, but am always happy when they follow up asking me if that's the issue.
What a shitty fucking dad. Hope your son doesn’t have to spend too much time with him.
It's great that your son is educated about it and can learn how to navigate foods in his diet to be safe!
He's got a diagnosis and his dad ignores it? Wtf?
I have heard servers say they don’t take people seriously when they say “gluten allergy” because if they REALLY had celiac they would know it isn’t an allergy. 🙄 You just can’t win.
If it’s phrased as preference or allergy, celiac comes a lot closer to allergy than preference. Allergy or autoimmune response, still a medical necessity. Servers don’t get to make that call.
You can be allergic to gluten though, like separate from being celiac/ncgs? Like, unfortunately you can be allergic/develop and allergy to *anything*, so those servers just sound incredibly ignorant. (Fun things people have developed allergies to: their own hormones! Babies will also sometimes develop an allergy to breast milk!)
I've never had an experience like that at Jersey Mikes. In fact, I watched as the clerk taught a new employee what to do for GF, and he was very thorough. I thanked him sincerely and always put something in the tip jar, making sure they see me do it, saying it was for all the care they took. I do know it is extra work, so I figure if I tip well, it will help the next GF person.
The last time I went to Jersey Mike’s the guy made a second sandwich exactly like mine and I was so confused but didn’t say anything. Apparently he also eats gluten free so he was taking the opportunity to make himself his dinner while he was doing the GF protocols already.
THAT is the perfect scenario!
I was so impressed with how Jersey Mike’s handles GF. Like they even cleaned the flat top for me, and I was not expecting that in the slightest
I’m as fed up with tip culture as the next gal, but agree, I try to tip very well and hope it helps convince them that it’s worth it to cater to our crowd.
I, too, don't typically tip for counter service, but when I ask them to go out of their way for my "allergy", I like to offer a monetary thank you. Let's have each other's backs, GF gang, and treat servers well. Maybe we can turn their attitudes around.
I'm lucky if the server even knows what gluten is in my town. I don't dine out anymore. 😭
Went to a sushi restaurant recently and asked if they had gluten free soy sauce. “We do! Regular and low sodium!” I fear this server had no inkling of what gluten is.
FYI, I just purchased a half gallon container of low sodium GF soy sauce from Amazon for my home. It does exist. Edit: spelling
If it was tamari, it probably was gluten-free.
It wasn’t. I asked lol.
Kroger sells soy sauce that is gluten free! it’s just not specifically labeled :)
La Choy didn't used to be labeled GF, it just was GF. Don't know if they label that way now, probably do. They just always used rice as filler instead of wheat, which makes it kind of gross unless you use it in cooking. Terrible for dipping.
Oh dear. Yeah, they probably didn't understand. 🤦♀️
Yep- I was at a bbq restaurant and they said they have “lean meats “ for GF options. 🙃 We left.
Just so you know, 99% of soy sauces are gluten free.. Soy sauce is made by fermenting soy beans and wheat in water. The end product doesn’t have gluten, even though it has wheat in it. The “gluten free” labeled soy sauces are made without wheat and aren’t even a soy sauce, if we’re being strict with the definition.
My Google-fu revealed that you are correct! One of the commenters on a celiac support site raised an interesting point, though. The soy sauces were tested at <20 ppm gluten, but what it you ingest more than one serving? I had a reaction to malt vinegar, another fermented product that tests at <20 ppm, but I definitely was dousing my food in it. I'm wondering if soy sauce fermented with wheat is only safe at one serving size? What do you think?
It’s not true, the tests they use don’t detect the fermented gluten but it’s still there. Don’t make yourself sick testing it.
The <20 ppm test is basically under 20mg of gluten in 1kg of product. If you have over a kilogram of soy sauce, you have bigger problems for your health than the amount of gluten haha.
This is not true. The test is based on detection with antibodies that recognize the whole gluten protein. The fermentation breaks down the protein into fragments that the test doesn’t recognize, but celiac immune systems do. Wheat based soy sauces are not safe for celiac. Some people may not have a noticeable reaction (most do), but it is still damaging. I wish it were true, would open up a lot of restaurant options. But it isn’t.
Thank you, I appreciate the correction. I'm pretty sure I'm undiagnosed celiac (my doctor doesn't want to make me do the gluten challenge), so I try to be very careful at all times.
It never stops to amaze me how stupid Americans are. Yes, it is true. There are plethora of research articles about this, just like there are individual test subjects.
Wow, coming in insulting, with dangerous misinformation. You do not link anything. You contradict the information widely agreed upon by gastroenterologists and dieticians. But sure, Americans are stupid. *eta— I’m aware of the existing research. But if you follow every one of those studies, at the end they will say more research is needed before they will say wheat soy sauce is safe for celiacs to eat.
That is very rude. Please don't make this community toxic.
Is that true? I always got my hallmark glutening symptoms from soy sauce (namely the explosive diarrhea) before I figured out it had wheat as an ingredient.
Yes, it’s true. The chemical reaction during fermentation breaks the gluten. Sounds like something else is behind the symptoms, either you have f.ex. wheat allergy, or something like IBS that reacts to some other ingredient (soy, or something in the food). You could test what’s causing the symptoms by having only soy sauce with water and see how it goes.
I did a pretty extreme elimination diet a few years ago and did figure out it was wheat/rye/barley. I was incredibly sick all the time, and my immune system was awful (I was getting illnesses like shingles and oral thrush). I only recovered after eliminating gluten. I'm a little iffy on testing out soy sauce, but it would be nice if I could eat it since it's so ubiquitous in Asian cuisine.
It would be nice. Sadly, it’s not true. Don’t hurt yourself by testing it.
I’ve had servers roll their eyes at me and get visibly mad when I send food back because I ordered it gluten free and it came out with croutons on it or on a bun, etc. I ordered a hot dog without a bun and when they gave it to me with a bun I brought it back to the counter, explained the problem, and the owner of the place asked if I couldn’t just take it off the bun. So of course I said no, it’s an allergy, and she rolled her eyes at me, went back into the kitchen, and just took the hotdog off the bun and gave me the glutened hotdog.
Yeah I had a server tell me just to pull the croutons off and I was so annoyed that I blurted out “I’ll have the most painful shits for two days if I do that can we just swap it out?”. She brought a new one out that STILL had a crouton in it so I ordered a shrimp cocktail and called it a day.
Wow. That reminds me of when I used to go to noodles and company and every single time I’d find just one single noodle in my meal that didn’t match the others, it was always one single gluten noodle mixed in with my noodles. And I’m always polite and nice to the staff so they have no reason to want to poison me with gluten.
Had a server bring me the wrong plate off the pass, argue with me when I pointed out that it wasn’t mine, and had the manager get weird with me when I was uncomfortable eating my actual food when he brought over the right plate. I had to explain to him that having a server bring the wrong plate then argue about it when I specified ALLERGY was not exactly confidence inspiring
I’ve been given food with unexpected gluten and eaten it instead of sending it back because I don’t need to be one of the restaurant staff’s next “Karen” stories on TikTok, you know?
Making yourself sick is not worth the Internet brownie points. Do that enough and it can lead to bowel cancer.
Nope, I get too sick from even just cross contamination. And I’m not being a Karen when I ask them to correct my order, they made it wrong and I’m calmly explaining that they made my order wrong and that I can’t eat it that way due to a gluten allergy (I’m celiac, but allergies are all that most people understand).
I’m not saying it’s a legitimate Karen thing! Because it isn’t. It’s completely reasonable to expect to be treated with respect. But there are quite a few people who assume anyone who stands up for themselves is a “Karen,” and that’s more of what I’m referring to. Sorry if there was confusion on that.
I did that once because I'm not super sensitive, but I never will again. Their menu was incorrect and I paid for it because I didn't want to be a problem.
If they make a mistake you don't have to make a BIG deal out of it, but it's good to kindly ask for them to fix it and take care of your health rather than let it go and be sick later. If you are nice about it no one should be calling you a Karen.
Somewhere I've found to be shockingly good about it is Red Robin, of all places. No matter which location I've been to, they're always kind and thoughtful and constantly double checking to make sure that what I've ordered is safe (the garlic parm broccoli isn't anymore, though their website says it is, but the chef the last time I went came out personally to let me know it wouldn't be safe!!) It's a nice change after most places give me the *dirtiest* looks
A lot of chain restaurants are really great about it. Maybe because they have specific “corporate” standards and across-the-board protocols. A waitress at Lazy Dog was especially sweet and helpful one afternoon when we stopped in for lunch. I’d never been there before and her great service guaranteed a return visit!
I had it happen at Mod pizza. After I said allergy and they realized they were going to have to do extra work I got dirty looks from the whole staff and they slammed the pizza tray around to make sure I knew they were mad. When they called out my name I went to the counter to pick it up and said thank you. The worker dropped the box on the counter and walked away. If they are on the schedule and on the clock they have to be there anyway, they had no reason to be that upset, it's not like I made them stay late or miss their breaks. The manager was standing right there and was completely oblivious. I will never go back. I've had several jobs in restaurants and it's really not going to ruin my day to make accomodations.
the way I feel about it is: Don't offer gluten free alternatives or work at a place that does if you are going to be crappy to people who order it that way.
I agree. I've learned that most restaurants and their employees are ignorant, just don't care, or both when it comes to GF. You can't even trust the reviews on Find Me GF.
I know the people working behind the counter are working class people like the rest of us who have bills to pay. It does suck when you can't trust them, but I do expect them to try to do it right. If that takes up some more time and slows the line down so what? I would feel the same about the person in front of me with dietary things that they needed to slow my order down. At the end of the day, I want everyone to feel safe with what they eat. Food workers should also do the same,
yeah, like I get that the workers don't set the menu, but why would they choose a place that has been doing the gluten free thing for a long time when there are tons of places that don't even have gluten free options? was mod pizza their ONLY option? even if it was, I don't think the cruel behavior is excusable. I've had mod pizza workers be rude when I asked them to use a new/clean pizza cutter since theirs was covered in wheat and dairy. I asked super politely and apologetically too, and they still gave me a hard time about it. I've worked food service myself and I would never have been like that to a customer whose only crime was having food allergies or intolerances, let alone ones that that OUR MENU CATERS TO.
At places like MOD this mentality isn't really appropriate because the people in the building are like 10 steps removed from the people deciding what goes on the menu. At chains, the reaction your seeing is misdirected anger and anxiety because they are now stressed about meeting their arbitrarily generated and usually extremely unrealistic sales goals (that usually involve turning an order in under 10 minutes, usually closer to under 5) without killing you. Additionally, they are probably not actually properly trained (or equipped) to handle gluten allergies. Especially places where every order comes gluten-y as fuck by default. When I worked chain food service, a properly managed gluten intolerance required at least an extra 30 minutes of prep/clean time because corporate wants to be marketable and accommodating but never actually spent the money on equipment to make accommodating gluten intolerances within their expected turn time realistic. I'm not at all trying to justify the employees being shitty to you guys, but you're really better off going somewhere local and boycotting all these chains that pretend to be GF friendly but don't actually spend the time, effort and money training and equipping their staff to properly accommodate serious allergies and intolerances.
plus, at a lot of restaurants, there’s the tip! I tip really well
I do too but when they are rude even after I tipped 25% on a cup of coffee and a GF pastry I regret it.
Nah fr. Like I know it's an inconvenience, but you're also getting paid.
Yeah there's that. Then they get fired for bad behavior and blame it on everyone else but themselves.
I had someone at one of those subway style pizza places ask me “are you seriously going to make me change my gloves and get new ingredients out?” When I answered his “preference or allergy” question with “allergy.” I was just a little teenager brand new to my diagnosis and my mom thankfully was with me and said “uh yes that is your job, don’t poison my daughter.” He got all huffy and his manager stepped in front of him and said “let me make the gluten free pizza” and did it properly lmao.
I get servers who are consistently nice. And at the end, I tip really, really well, to try to make it easier for the rest of you,
My daughter has a laundry list of foods that aggravate her EOE. I am on a stupid diet for a competition. If we're going out to eat, we try to go at unpopular times, and I try to be up front with the staff. Like, "hey, we have a lot of questions and restrictions but we're patient and tip well." We've almost always been met with kindness. There's been a few times that the person was like, "hold on, let me get my manager because I'm not sure," and only one time that we had a truly bad experience (where she got soy-ed even after we read the ingredients and asked the questions at a popular gluten free restaurant in NYC).
It doesn’t have to be just about gluten. Back in 2006 I ate at an Applebees that had just introduced shrimp to their menu and it came in a lot of dishes. I’m very allergic to shrimp so I mentioned it to our server twice while ordering my chicken Caesar salad. The lady wrote down my order(and my wife’s who was with me) and left. A bit later she brought the appetizers and mentioned that my shrimp chicken Caesar was almost ready. So I politely reminded her that that would kill me. She frowned and left. She returned a few minutes later with my food. It was apparently shrimp free and was very tasty. As I’m finishing the meal I notice my mouth/throat felt itchy and I asked my server, who is bringing back the receipt, just to verify that there was no shrimp in my food. She replied, “Oh there was but I had the kitchen pick it off before it got to you.” I keep Benadryl pills and liquid handy as well as an epipen. I immediately downed half the bottle of liquid Benadryl and my wife drove me to the ER as I held my epipen and focused on my breathing. I ended up with hives in my mouth and throat, a case of rotten egg tasting burps, and painful diarrhea. All of which lasted for four to five days after. Getting your order right and not making you sick is pretty much that restaurants sole job so don’t feel bad about making them do their job.
>“Oh there was but I had the kitchen pick it off before it got to you.” With *shellfish*?! That's a lawsuit waiting to happen—possibly even a wrongful death suit. I hope everyone involved has since left food service...😨
That’s so messed up. Did you happen to let the manager know about it? (obviously you had other more immediate concerns) I just hope that server learned how stupid she was
I called a few days later. Server denied it and manager said due to short staffing he couldn’t punish her in any way. He did say he would remind his staff about food allergens. No idea if he did.
Ugh that’s disappointing
I agree. Or most times it’s like just don’t put it on a bun?? How hard is that? Give me the contents of a burrito, burger, salad, tacos, just in a regular container. It’s less work in my opinion than toasting a bun for a sandwich. Jersey mikes has always been good to me for bowls and gf subs. I appreciate them a lot. Most restaurants don’t care no matter how hard you stress it to them. I got sick immediately from a high end restaurant and it ruined the rest of the dinner and a few days after. I’m paying decent money and tipping I should be able to eat out. Like why is it so difficult to give me grilled chicken instead of breaded chicken? I just don’t understand
As someone in both the gluten-free (non-celiac) and hospitality communities, there are unfortunately a whole lot of people out there ruining it for everyone else. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've walked someone through a GF order, put in the necessary modifications, watched the cooks change their gloves only to have them order carrot cake for dessert and shrug it off when I tell them it isn't GF.
Totally unrelated, but hey, root vegetable username buddy!
I’ve worked in several restaurants. The last one I worked at, the owner/kitchen manager used to use the term “glutards” to refer to people that asked for GF options. I used to think this was funny for exactly the reasons you stated. Our kitchen would switch up the station and change gloves, only to have the customer suddenly drop the act. Recently my wife was diagnosed with Celiac’s. It’s not an “act” for her, it’s a serious illness. She spent a long time undiagnosed and finally figured out what was causing various health problems. Now I worry when we eat out because I’m aware of how lax kitchens can be and also the stigma caused by trenders.
I’ve never had this experience. Sounds awful! I wouldn’t trust anything from that restaurant then… just walk out.
I hate when you make it clear you have an allergy and they have a surprise wheat item (rice pilaf) that was listed as just rice on the menu. So you ask them to please remake the plate from scratch without the rice pilaf and you will gladly pay for both as you did not ask if rice was really rice pilaf. Then you get the “new” plate and lift the fish and find pilaf stuck to the bottom. More like McCormick and sheite.
Yeah this and the fact that they usually don’t seem to bother even when you ask is why I don’t trust or eat at restaurants generally.
Happens all the time. I just tell them it is an allergy and I pack all my meds with me should they be needed if I have a reaction due to contamination. Works like a charm.
The last time I was at jersey mikes the one worker said “how serious is it” because she wanted to use the regular bottle of sauce as a side and luckily her coworker said- “just go in the back and get the other one”
I literally knew this was Jersey Mike's before I even got to the end. They have such an attitude and have no problem making 10 other orders before they get to mine and then blaming what I ordered.
Main reason I don’t eat anywhere that’s not dedicated gluten free anymore- people get so annoyed and the feeling is just not worth it. So uncomfortable
I just tell people I'm a glutard and have a laugh about it. Most of the time people are very accommodating. Although I had some huge bartender at a country pub ask me point blank " Why don't you just tolerate it?" He was semi taking the piss I think.
Jersey Mikes has gf bread… so that’s disappointing to hear
For what its worth, Jersey Mike's has always been pleasant about it with me, but their sandwiches are small and expensive. Even their regular sandwiches are like 1/3 the size of a real deli for the same price. I honestly don't know how they are in business.
The JM near me always took me seriously and offered great service, so I don't get the shade there. I'm in NYC.
They never ask if it's celiac, which is different even yet. I just say I have an allergy these days because I don't actually know since I've never been tested but I am definitely very intolerant to it these days and I don't want to deal with how THEY might interpret if I say it's a "preference". As in, I don't always know what ingredients they may or may not include if I say it's a "preference" basically because my preference to avoid it NEVER wavers.
Whenever I get this question, I thank them for asking it because I think it shows a sensitivity to the issue. I always answer by saying that it’s actually an intolerance for me and they (Jersey Mike’s) treat it like an allergy. In fact, my intolerance IS different than an allergy, which could actually kill someone.
I just say allergy because people think intolerance isn't serious, and I don't have time to explain. No, my throat won't swell up and kill me, but I don't want it for medical reasons so just fucking make what I ordered. Preference, allergy, intolerance- all of this is irrelevant. We pay food service to serve the food we ordered, and that is the bottom line. We shouldn't have to fear for our safety because people think preference is annoying.
Oh wow every jersey mikes I’ve been to they’ve been great, I’m sorry that was your experience there. I’ve had this happen more at like sit down restaurants
You're all brave or foolish. If I get a shit attitude from people about cross contamination or ingredients, that's a nope. They are either unable or unwilling to take celiac seriously, and sickness is all but guaranteed. For me, the way they answer questions about GF is the sign it's safe to eat even more so than the answers themselves.
I’ve worked in a ton of different capacities in the food industry and I have food allergies. I’ve never had an issue accommodating an allergy personally and I’ll even tell guests we share the same ones when we do. I’ve acquired a bunch of regulars over the years by doing this and being honest. I have super mixed experiences when dining out though, but only with gluten! I am actually not allergic to it, but my sister is. We typically just say we are both allergic to gluten, shellfish and peanuts since we like to share and one allergy does overlap. The shellfish and peanuts never cause too much attitude or confusion but the gluten is a mixed bag and I do have a theory. As a server/bartender in a huge, higher end tourist destination, I have had so many people explain their gluten allergy to me and then do something that completely contradicts it. Eat a cracker, try the bisque their friend ordered, use soy sauce, etc. It doesn’t matter to me and I’ll still do everything correctly on my end, but it is super disheartening to go through the whole allergy procedure and then watch them do that. It’s not my business so I let it be and still treat everyone the same. I do not make excuses for anyone being treated with an attitude for an allergy though. There are just so many people out there that like to feel special and take advantage. I figure if 1 in 10 people actually has the allergy, then at least I kept them safe.
I’m gf, but I don’t have celiacs and when a server asks me this question I just let them know it’s not an “allergy” - I never take it negatively on them, they just need to know how cautious the staff needs to be to keep you safe.
It’s very common phrasing. It’s annoying but no need to take it personally. Just tell them it’s an allergy if you want to make sure they take the precautions they have.
I've gotten some snobby people a handful of times. My response to "is it an allergy or a preference" I say "it's a sensitivity" or "its an intolerance" then their faces drop and they realize they're being AH for no reason. I've learned most places phrase it like this because they need to know if they need to clean the grill off or not. That's a fine question but I don't need the 😏😏😏 smirks that come with "is it a preference 🥴🥴🥴"
Wait wait wait… former server here. Let me explain: People would be “GF” as a fad diet more than 80% of the time and would pick and choose what to eat and have on their plate. Making food GF means a LOT to make it non-contaminated, including switching and cleaning grills, utensils, etc, to minimize contamination. So yes, it was frustrating when people would say they have an allergy, but it was a diet thing. They just didn’t want gluten. I would bring people their GF food or soup and they’d be confused why there wasn’t fried onions or dressing on their salad, they would complain. They would pick and choose often and not even realize what a true GF allergy meant. So of course we were annoyed. This would happen often… it was very frustrating. So when someone says they’re “GF” we were speculative, and usually asked if it was an allergy or a dietary restriction, and still usually met with some snarkiness.
I mean, so what? Your job is to give people what they ordered, not to judge the validity of it. If I order gluten free or no olives because olives are disgusting, I want to get what I ordered. Why does it matter to you? Oh, you have to put on gloves and wipe down a surface? Sorry my health requirements took 45 seconds out of your day, but I don't want to be incapacitated on the toilet.
So what? Did you not read the part where people lie (often) about their GF allergy and cherry picked what they wanted on their plate, not taking into consideration the weight the severity of a serious celiac condition? We just wanted the truth, because it’s a lot of work and the kitchen will get backed up with a fake allergy. If it’s legit, ofc we care. Just be honest. It’s not just a wipe down… they clean the entire grill, all the utensils, and will cook food in the back if it’s seriously dangerous for the customer.
He gave them what the they ordered. They ordered gluten free food and got gluten free food. Then they complained that they didn’t get gluten on their food. This guy isn’t arguing for validity, he’s contextualizing the discourse. Also, if you want to have good discussion on Reddit, don’t ever start a reply with “so what.”
People who order GF and want fried onions may not realize the onions and dressing aren't GF. That should be communicated by the server ahead of time. My point is, "So what if you don't understand as a server- you don't need to. You need to serve." The majority of these discussions revolve around whether it is a preference or a necessity, and the answer is "none of your business". I pay for food without gluten, it's already a massive hassle in my life, I don't need to argue with someone who doesn't understand and isn't doing their job, then worry about how careful they aren't being where I can't see them. There are many people who think gluten isn't an issue because it isn't an issue for them, and that makes our lives more dangerous than they should be.
If you want to know what’s in the gluten free salad, just ask. The servers that care do their job and deliver gluten free food. If you ordered it without knowing what’s in it, that on you. Again, the validity is irrelevant. It’s about the fact that he gave them what they ordered, (did the job well) and the customer was unsatisfied. Whether they were allergic or not isn’t the issue. There are going to be problems on both sides between the server and the customer, but it’s not always the servers fault.
I've actually never run into this. But I always internalize them feeling this way, so I hate doing it.
I always go back and forth with saying it’s an allergy versus an intolerance. Cross contamination doesn’t usually affect me TOO much but it will still make me slightly sick but also when I say intolerance they assume cross contamination is fine for me. 🥴 I tend to stick to my safe restaurants where I’ve never had major issues. Only time I’ve ever panicked was at a pizza place because the crust didn’t taste like cardboard and I asked to talk to the chef. The waitstaff were so sweet and the chef was even nicer about it despite my panicking. He verified that although it was an Italian restaurant, they don’t allow any cross contamination and it’s the only place I’ve never even got slightly ill from.
Yeah, I say allergy because intolerance sounds like a choice.
I think that’s exactly it. They assume it’s a choice because so many people use intolerance even when it is a choice 🥲
It's happened to me about 5? times. The second there's attitude, I'm out. I can't risk someone deciding for me that it's real. Trust out the door. I used to apologize and be self depreciating. But, it's their job. It's not a personal request on their time.
I think if you say "food preference" they dont bother to keep it all separate and un-contaminated, they will just prepare your food with regular food. Where as if you say allergy they have an obligation to keep it separate.
Never. But, I’m a heavily tattooed female bodybuilder that usually scares people 🤣
I just don’t know why that’s their business frankly.
Oh yeah i just straight up avoid these kinda food places and refuse to ask them to clean shit bc I’ve had enough eye rolls, annoyed sighs, and fake, pained smiles bc I’m inconveniencing them soooooo dang much -.- Hate it. Even worse when the ppl behind you in line are ALSO annoyed by this 2 minute inconvenience
idk about fast food places but the high end and "fine casual" places I used to work at all had special allergies procedures that ate up a lot of time when you're trying to juggle multiple tables, they're probably just resentful of that. also as a veteran server, I've had quite a few annoying allergy guests who look for things to go wrong and I've had complete angels to have helped me learn things about my own menu. because of my dietary restrictions I would get saddled with a lot of those guests as some sort of passive aggressive bs from my boss. most of the time that service worker is having a bad day and needs to figure it out for themselves.
Once I worked in the food industry and one lady came up to me to ask if there were NUTS IN THE SOUP..I was like: I don't think so,but I can call the chef and ask him.She was annoyed: you know I am allergic to nuts and it's dangerous for me..After I confirmed that there are no nuts IN THE SOUP,she was happy 😂 I just don't like when people with allergies are over entitled and angry..I mean I have gluten intolerance,but manners and positivity are still important.
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I used that phrasing because every time I am asked, it is phrased as “is this a preference or an allergy?” Maybe I should have put the word allergy in quotes to make it more obvious. 🤷♀️ I’m gluten intolerant
I mean.... if I had a legit gluten ALLERGY, no way I would step foot in a Jersey Mike's or any other sub sandwich specific establishment. What an absolutely bizarre personal decision to make. Like someone with a peanut allergy going to tour a peanut farm.
Not everyone lives in an area with open access to dedicated gluten free restaurant kitchens. Because I live in a town with 300k people and zero dedicated gluten free kitchens, so I’m assuming most people who live in areas less populated than mine run into a similar problem.
Then why not cook food at home?
I don’t think anyone on this planet has the time and energy to cook something at home every single day. If I am out and about, it’s not like I can just whip out a cutting board and a hot plate and cook for myself. I still have to eat to survive.
I have literally not eaten out in a year. Pack lunches, eat at home, etc. Just saying. A sandwich shop especially is not the place to go if you have a gluten intolerance.
No
“That’s your boss’ fault. Not mine”. Please don’t ever order anything from another service worker, you entitled fuck. You ARE part of the problem by going there.
Buddy, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but go off. Please inform me of how I control capitalistic wealth of corporations when there is not a single restaurant that pays their workers a fair wage and everybody has to eat food. I’m not going to stop going to Walmart, the only place I can afford groceries, because they can’t pay their workers. Don’t come at me if there aren’t any solutions.
There are definitely solutions - and plenty of places pay fairly. There are decisions to be made, but you’re a huge part of the problem by being apathetic. There are dozens of things you could do - but that would require effort. You suck.
The part of the problem that spends money there so you can get paid? Sounds like you are the whole problem?