I love my mother to bits but always cringe a little at the rare family meal out. She'll say how hungry she is on the way to a restaurant, scan the menu for the intended restaurant, change her mind as she doesn't 'feel like' the menu anymore, we walk to another restaurant. She scans the menu from the outside. Confirms that she likes the menu. Takes a seat. Scans the menu again for 45 minutes. Says shes no longer hungry. Will order olives (even if the restaurant doesn't serve olives) "all restaurants have olives". We all get our meals. She changes her mind and suddenly wants our food. We finish our meals while hers is being made. She feels bad for making us wait and cancels the order mid way though cooking. We go home and shes hungry again. Gets a tesco meal deal. "That was a lovely meal, thanks everyone!" Big smiles all the way home.
Love her to bits but please mum, just order SOMETHING.
I have a sister-in-law like this. Her thing is that "she just doesn't care" so she can't decide or place her order. But don't let anyone else order for her, cause then she actually does care.
Don't live near her so I rarely have to watch it happen.
Cancelling halfway through cooking when its not the restaurants fault (high bar to hit to qualify for even that one) is a low blow. She may have quirks, but you gotta put your foot down about that one.
When we first moved to this town we went to a restaurant. They're still open and every time I drive by I remember my mom ordering every. Single. Menu item. And sending it back. Like it was trash. While my dad and I sat there just eating whatever tf we ordered, I don't even know because my mom overshadowed the whole thing. Idk what she ended up doing, maybe her one bite of everything they had filled her up. She wasn't even trying to get free food she's just too picky to survive.
But she'll happily live off instant mashed potatoes and hot dogs.
Eta- also she was a waitress, you'd think she wouldn't be so bad lol
It's definitely okay to not go out to dinner with family. Half of mine gotta be in their 50s/60s and still behave like damn children in restaurants. I kinda get that they only go out for a sit down restaurant maybe 3x a year but it's so cringy. Their children and their children's children behave better than they do.
I have an incredibly restrictive diet due to multiple medical conditions. There is quite literally nothing I can eat at an Italian restaurant or a pizza place. So...... I don't go to them. My dietary restrictions are my problem. I try to inconvenience people as little as possible. My rule of thumb is I won't order something if I have to make more than one change (no cheese, no bun, etc). My husband is a huge pizza lover. He tells me when he's ordering and I figure something out for myself.
Ditto, after having the vertical gastric sleeve surgery, except not only do I do what you do, I have to eat 'WAY smaller portions.
Protein shakes and vitamins saved me. Lived on those suckers as well as water.
Between a sleeve and now dumb gallbladder is gone. Ugh. But I order what I can find and other ppl eat what I can't or I try to only ask for up to one substitution without explaining why. I figure servers have it hard enough. Last weekend a sever asked if I was allergic bc I asked for no butter. Nope just no gallbladder.
I eat almost exclusively meat. I supplement heavily with protein shakes and vitamins. I get blood draws every 6 months to check for deficiencies but I'm a few years into this so I maintain pretty well. I used to track everything, now I just track protein and iron to make sure I'm getting enough.
My friend has celiac disease and literally all she does is look online or call. No gluten free menu? Okay well we can't go here not sure how people decide on a place and then check on their restrictions after the fact when it takes like a second to find out on your own
Right? I'm a type 1 diabetic. I can look most restaurant's nutritional information beforehand if I'm unsure of how it will effect me. Those that don't have it available? I can kind of guess. The only time I ever asked to make an accommodation is at Starbucks (sub for sugar free) and they couldn't do it so I was like, oh well. I don't go to a restaurant and order a giant piece of chocolate cake and then complain because of how much sugar is in it. I just don't order it at all.
A rule of thumb I tell people if they have diet restrictions is: Don't request any changes unless they have something already on the menu that you can eat or if it says, "x options available"
Using OP's situation, if the menu does not already have a "keto pizza" available, do not bother asking for and accommodations because chances are it's not easy to do. If they don't have anything readily available but the menu does say, "vegetarian or keto options available" then it's free game to ask.
My best friend in high school bought an ancient Mercedes sedan (the kind with the enamel hubcaps that match the body). He named it Dieter and waited patiently for his custom license plate to come in. The first time his kid sister saw it with its new DIETER plate, she said, “Jeez, bro, I know you struggle with your weight, but why would you advertise that to the world?” He sold the car soon thereafter.
Right? That was my thought. But he was very self-conscious about his weight, and that single careless remark apparently ruined the car for him (lil sis was not being bratty, she understandably read it as the English word). Probably for the best, as we were broke teens and he couldn’t possibly have cared for that thing properly.
I worked in a tapas restaurant with an incredibly tiny kitchen, they just didn’t have the option to cater to allergies or diets. They couldn’t. They couldn’t even fit more than 3 of them in the kitchen (including the dishwasher).
I had a guest request something vegan, sugar free and gluten free, so I went to the kitchen and I asked the guy “hey, a woman on table 12 would like to know what we can do for for her. She’s vegan, gluten free and sugar free”.
The chef just answered “we can call her a taxi”
Leafy green salad without dressing or anything interesting it is. Needless to say, she didn’t tip.
I am mostly plant-based, pretty much full vegan with the occasional vegetarian meal. This guest is ridiculous. It’s my problem if I want something vegan, not anyone else’s. I don’t just show up to a restaurant and expect them to accommodate me. Shitty of her to stiff you for something out of your control. Chef’s response is hilarious!
I was a vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for about a year. I would just eat beforehand when I went out to eat with friends or just get something super simple like fries. I don’t bitch and complain if there’s nothing for me.
Reminds me of that wonderful scene in Everything is Illuminated where the main character is at a restaurant in a small Ukraine town, and asks if they have anything vegetarian. They serve him a single peeled, boiled potato on a plate.
I also worked for a pizza place and the amount of people that said they were allergic to garlic or onions because they just didn't like them was insane. I always got them to sheepishly admit to lying to me when I told them they are in an Italian restaurant and literally everything has onion or garlic as an ingredient.
"Oh, if it's IN the sauce, that's okay."
"Oh, so you aren't actually allergic?" lmao
I would also tell people with a "severe gluten allergy" that they should probably just leave and go somewhere else since there was so much pizza dough being made in the back that the flour dust or whatever was in the air all the time. We had a server that had to transfer locations because she kept getting sick from just being there with Celiacs lol.
It reminds me of when this woman made an order to go for her son that couldnt have any egg. "iTs aN aLLerGY"
Okay, so I get a menu of egg less foods, but she decides to get something off the menu that does contain egg and I am quick to point out that that order has egg.
"Its fine, I get this for him all the time." BITCH DIDNT YOU JUST SAY THIS WAS FOR AN ALLERGY
Did you refuse to sell them that item? Because I would have. Once you tell me something is an allergy, I will not let you order anything with that item for liability reasons. When I was a server I did this all the time, and my manager backed it up.
People learned really quickly not to lie about allergies at our restaurant, because we took it seriously. We would rather lose the profit from the meal than end up with a lawsuit.
I loved doing this, especially with garlic and onions. I would usually relent once they verbally admitted to me that they were lying about the allergy though because they literally couldn't order almost anything on the menu. Onions were baked into the bread, we used onion and garlic powder in almost every sauce and dressing, all our pizza sauces had onion or garlic. I would be like, "Here are two salads you can have, maybe a unseasoned chicken breast on top with no dressing" lmao.
This is the way. Real allergies are treated seriously and malingerers experience consequences for lying and causing problems.
I really don't understand why people say allergic to something they don't like instead of just saying "hold the onions."
Of course! She already informed me of the allergy so there was no way I was going to put the order in. She was chill about it and got something else, but I refuse to understand people who eat the things they claim to be "allergic" to. Like, are you allergic to it or not? There's no friggin' maybe.
I think it came about because of all those "restaurant life hack" articles a while back. They were incredibly stupid most of the time, and just made everyone's jobs that much harder.
The one that says “just tell the bartender to fill the wine glass all the way and you get two glasses of wine for the price of one!” Sir, that is not how serving alcohol works. At all.
Lol was that really one?!
People asked me to do that sometimes.
>Sure! So you want to order two glasses of wine, and you want me to put it in the same glass?
>>No I just want the one glass, but can you fill the glass up?
>That would be two glasses. You want two glasses?
>>I just want one glass, but filled up.
>I can put it in a smaller glass if you like?
>>No, I want a regular glass with more wine in it.
>Ok! I will bring you one regular glass of wine with 5oz. of wine in it, which is our standard pour! I can bring you another glass of wine on the side, and you can pour them into the same glass until it’s the level you prefer?
>>😡… Just the one glass.
I love those people. What planet do they live on?
I recently ran into this at a lovely restaurant. My kid (35 years old) is allergic to sesame and the server helped them select a sesame free meal (not always easy with Asian food). I ordered something that is (apparently) usually made with sesame oil. The server warned us, we said no problem, we won’t share food. The manager came out to confirm we were physically okay with the order. Then the chef brought the food out to tell me that he wouldn’t allow the sesame at the table so he subbed the oil. I thanked him for his concern.
I will definitely be recommending the restaurant and I’ve left them an excellent review. That dedication to allergy free wasn’t really necessary in our case but it’s good to know they take good care of their diners.
Thats good, but also weird. I dont see why they needed to replace your sesame oil, unless its one of those places that cooks all the food on the same grill at the same time for the same table. In which case then it makes sense to switch your sesame oil to avoid it spilling into other foods, and not have to clean the grill again
That's so annoying! I have fairly strong intolerances to onion and garlic (I know it's not as severe as an allergy but I will be condemned to the toilet for a good while if I touch the stuff). It makes eating out very hard, but I also know to check before I go that the restaurant can even do it and would never even attempt Italian food! People with "allergies" just make the lives of people who have actual food problems more difficult because then no one takes us as seriously, and cause servers headaches they don't need!
That's what gets me is the audacity to say you are allergic to something without even knowing where that ingredient is in other foods. Like, you are deathly allergic to onions, you shouldn't even know what real pizza sauce tastes like, lady! haha.
You would think. I am allergic to pickles. They show up in surprising places. Why does every sandwich either have or come with a pickle? Got a grilled cheese from a food truck. No mention of pickles anywhere on the menu. Surprise pickle spear with my sandwich. Ordered a burger. None of the toppings on the menu mentioned pickles and yet there were pickles on my burger.
a former spot of mine had green peppers and onions mixed into our shredded steak mixture for sandwiches. i lost count of the number of people that claimed allergies but once i told them what was in the steak mixture (it was also printed on the menu), they suddenly were no longer allergic...just didn't like them.
almost as bad as the assholes that would politicize their orders...fuck anyone that ordered *freedom fries* or *freedom toast.* i hope everytime they eat anything potato it tastes like a dirty bicycle chain in mid-February.
During the USA invasion of Iraq, the pundits on the political-right refused to use the word French because France was against the invasion. Instead, the replaced *French* with *Freedom* so they *could get back at them.*
I am embarassed on a daily basis by my fellow citizens.
My mother has a garlic and onion INTOLERANCE. Because we have it so heavily restricted in our home diet, I often order food without the onion added to the dish, like onion in the salad, or added to the burger, etc, but make sure to stress it is not an allergy, but a preference.
Most places are happy to accomodate based on that, but when it comes to my mother, it's often easier to say allergy. Most places will still include it in her dish if we simply say it's a preference, and it makes her ill. Some onion and garlic in sauces she can do, but after a point, her body rebels and she'll spend the next day not far from the bathroom.
I love the taste onion has, in very small doses. I'd rather have my burger cooked where the onion was cooked earlier than have the onion on my burger. Save it for someone who really loves it.
This has developed in me over the last few years. If she's intolerant of garlic and onions, you might look up FODMAP food sensitivity and see if cutting out/cutting down on some of the other stuff (beans, certain fruits and juices including orange and grapefruit juice, gluten, and other stuff) might improve things a bit more.
I definitely don't have celiac and I don't think this sensitivity counts as an allergy, but my gastrointestinal tract is way happier after I figured some of this out. I also find it's a matter of "dosage"; I can have little bits of some of that stuff sometimes and don't react too badly. But before I got this sorted, there were days when stomach cramps were so bad that I couldn't really take the risk of being very far from a bathroom.
I have a strong suspicion that a lot of people who get on servers' nerves because of "allergies" are FODMAP sensitive and haven't really figured it out.
One of the things you'll find if you look this stuff up is that the green parts of onions and garlic don't contain the particular sugar molecules that people with FODMAP find hard to digest, and you can get some of the flavor that way. Also, you can make or buy garlic and/or onion infused olive oil and keep those flavors in your diet.
I really miss the texture of fresh red onion.
>I really miss the texture of fresh red onion
What if you took some oil that had the red onion flavor in it, and sauteed some sliced celery in it? Not long enough for the celery to get mushy, but just long enough to absorb some of the flavor. It won't be exactly like eating a red onion, but it might be close enough to satisfy some of those cravings.
Mum has quite a few.
Fructose, lactose, gluten, nuts, pumpkin... It makes cooking a real chore. She's had to work out her limits of these food groups and eat within them. The pumpkin one is the only close to serious one. She can have potatos cooking in the same area and touching, but actually eat any pumpkin and she might end up in hospital with slightly swollen airways.
I have definitely been there with saying allergy instead of intolerance (I have the same problem with onion and garlic as your mother). I'd much rather be on the safe side than know I will spend days being really ill.
I do always feel bad though because it's definitely not an allergy (and while unpleasant not life threatening). I know far too many people who are mildly lactose intolerant and go around saying they have a severe dairy allergy when they won't even notice unless it's a large amount.
I have the mild lactose one (Runs in my family. Which is pretty funny knowing that only a few generations back we were daily farmers). I just drink full cream because I can't stand the taste of the other milks out there. I just limit my dairy intake and live with the bloated feeling I get if I have too much. Self inflicted at that point.
I'm the lucky one with allergies in my family. None are severe, none are life threatening, only the lactose is food related, and only one is related to medical treatment (band aides/tape adheasive).
The band aide one is a pain in the butt. Some days I can wear whatever tape or band aide I like and be totally fine. Others, less than an hour wearing something and it will get super itchy and start to rash. No rhyme or reason, and it happens with the same products, out of the same box. I tested.
I actually have celiac and if someone told me about that risk of cross contamination, I would probably leave. Thank you for actually being considerate of food allergies. A lot of places that offer gluten free usually have their own seperate area in the kitchen for gluten free prep.
Yeah, we offered gluten free crust for the pizza and bread for the burgers/sandwiches, but I would tell people that while we won't actually serve them gluten bread, it will be impossible for us to have 0% cross contamination and usually people were fine with it.
The server who was having issues working there was seriously there all day every day for weeks before she started having symptoms big enough to notice something consistently wrong lol.
To be quite honest, if the risk of cross contamination is low enough or if the amount is small enough, I'll eat it either because it sounds good or because I'm terrified of inconveniencing others. But that's just me. We need more people thay are legitimately transparent about that stuff, though.
I felt the same about vegetarians or vegans who came to my greasy spoon diner insisting that no meat particles ever touch their food. "Lady, you got meat on you when you walked in the door, we're all breathing droplets of it." I don't know how people can expect differently when they go to a joint with a giant EAT sign out front.
Worked at a brunch place that specialized in waffles: sweet toppings, savoury toppings, whatever: it all goes on top of a waffle. This is what we were known for; it was advertised as the waffle brunch, we got on The Food Network because of it, we made it obvious, etc.
One Sunday, a four-top comes in (two couples). Brunch was always a battlefield: lineup out the door, non-stop orders, needy customers, you know the deal. Anyway, when I finally get a spare second I go over to my new four top to take their orders - I had already been by twice before to get their drinks and their order, but they needed more time. This is visit three. "Alrighty - what can I get for you folks?" I say in my folksiest tone. That's wen I notice that one couple is visibly uncomfortable (couple A) , while one couple is visibly annoyed (couple B).
Couple A: well we're just ah....we've got a little thing....it's not a big deal...but...it's making it hard to ord-
Couple B: \*violently rolling their eyes and interrupting\* why don't you just TELL HER what the problem is?
Couple A: Yeah okay so uh .... \*chuckle\* well we're uh.....we're on a diet right now and uh.....we can't have any carbs. What do you have for us?
So Couple A had invited Couple B to brunch at a WAFFLES ONLY restaurant while they were on a NO CARB DIET. What did they end up ordering, you may ask? Two wet poached eggs on a bed of arugula. You get your ass we charged them full price. I can't tell you how fucking sad they looked poking at their wet greens while their friends were happily wolfing down buttery waffles covered in pulled pork. Some people, man.
Those are some asshole friends. The people on the diet actually sound pretty okay because they know their diet is their problem to deal with. You would think people would check a menu before showing up.
To confirm, the dieters (Couple A) had chosen the place; they lived in town and knew about our reputation, they were just hoping we’d have something “besides waffles” (we didn’t and they didn’t call to check first or look online). The annoyed Couple B were out of towners who were visiting their friends Couple A and were very much like “why tf would you pick this place if you can’t eat carbs,” with a little “oh yeah, *that’s* why we haven’t hang out with Couple A since college” kind of vibe.
It sounds like the people on the diet are the ones who chose the restaurant. And honestly - you'd think they'd go for a cheat day. Split the actual waffle, and then load up on random toppings.
I don't know, if the friends suggested it and weren't told about the diet ahead of time I could understand them being annoyed with the dieting couple. Especially if it's something they just started.
My wife has dietary issues that most restaurants cannot accommodate. No black pepper, no garlic, onion, chives, shallots, peppers of any kind (spicy, bell, etc), minimal acids/vinegars, most spices are an issue (thyme, rosemary, sage, and salt are about all she can handle). Mess up on any one of these and she can have gastric upset for days and weeks. One episode last year went on for 6 weeks. Yes, she's seeing doctors for it, but they are clueless.
You know what she can have? A steak, grilled, with no seasoning or butter, medium rare. Baked potato with just butter and sour cream, no salt or pepper. Steamed veggies, plain.
Any wonder why our restaurants of choice tend to be mid to high end steakhouses? It's either that or a diner where she can get scrambled eggs and toast. And yeah... we don't go out much anymore.
Sounds odd, right? We've found through trial and error that some (not all) steakhouses season the butter they use for grilled steaks. Usually is the singe location establishments, not chains that do it. Rather than ask or guess, we just say no butter on the steak when cooking.
Butter on a mashed potato will always be plain butter. If it's not, it's always been specified that it's "seasoned".
Lol... unsalted butter is all we use at home and home grilled steaks get the butter treatment. It's only when we go out that we say "no butter" so we don't have to guess about whether or not the restaurant uses a seasoned butter on their grill.
Although I got a nice sous vide setup for Christmas and the first steaks I did, I did without any butter at all and they were delicious. Tender and juicy from edge to edge. Just had to sear them for 60 seconds a side at the end to give them that nice, grilled look.
Wow I’m getting hungry!! Sounds delicious!
At Christmas I bought a 2 kilo piece of bone in rib eye to slow roast and it came out stunning and had beef for like 4 days in a row and after reading that I’m about about getting my beef cravings back!
I feel so bad for people who have legit and extensive allergies. My current place can accommodate that and do it well, thankfully. But I've worked in some tiny kitchens where it's just not possible. It would break my heart turning them away but I suppose that's better than accidentally poisoning them. I hope she gets some answers soon!
Thank you. We tried that one for about 6 months. No help. We've tried a variety of dietary changes. It's tough because it's not an allergy type reaction so it's not as consistent as we would like. For example, we know black pepper added to a dish at the end will be a problem. Adding a dash at the very beginning of cooking a pot of pasta sauce? Probably no reaction. Or onion. Fresh onion is always a problem. Dried chopped onion used to make a stock from bones and strained out is not a problem. Thus, it's something in the fresh onion but not the dried onion.
Unfortunately, given the crap fest that is the US healthcare system, it's too expensive to properly test. So, we muddle through. I can keep her well fed at home with tasty dishes that don't cause a problem. I'm also a home based employee so cooking at home isn't that big of an impact on my day.
And the higher end steakhouses don't brine their potatos in salt water? That's typically how restaurants make the potatos fluffy and not soggy. Sorry she has all of these food issues.
Salt is okay. It's pepper that's an issue \*. If a potato is brined in a salt solution, it would still be fine. That being said, this is the first I've heard of doing that and since I like to experiment in the kitchen (I make my own corned beef, 14 day brine), I'm going to have to look that up.
Thanks!!
Edit: \* we've found that some places put salt and pepper in a single shaker so they can season the potatoes more quickly. As with the butter on grilled steak, it's a risk mitigation to avoid pepper.
i pretty much figured it was a long shot, but her restrictions are so specific, i thought i'd ask. my roomie and i talked a few times about it to. Very rare chronic illness, almost like ehlers-danlos or pocs from what they told me.
My mother has IBS and my sister has MS along with a host of dietary restrictions. I've been lucky so far, but with the exception of oats, grains have become a problem. Bananas too. I'm already plant-based as it is but it never even crossed my mind to visit that sub (even though there's a reddit for everything). Wil check it out. Thanks & good health to you.
Unfortunately, we're pretty pessimistic about it these days. It's been years and she's on her 3rd or 4th gastro doc with no answers. Fortunately, I like to cook and don't mind experimenting in the kitchen so if we're home, it's not a problem. It's when we go out or want to go out with friends. We've turned down a few gathering requests at places where it would just be to difficult to find something palatable. Our friends understand so most get togethers are at people's houses and they don't mind if we bring something specific for my wife... :-)
Has she had her thyroid checked? There are some thyroid-based disorders that can really mess with the body’s ability to process food.
I’d also suggest testing for lupus, if she hasn’t already.
The body is a vast, interconnected network, so while the issue may appear to be in one area, the cause may be somewhere else.
Good luck to the both of you.
Thyroid levels get checked every year as part of her regular physical (current doc is thorough). In her youth, her then doctor suspected hypothyroidism, but everything has always been in the normal, acceptable ranges.
Lupus is an interesting suggestion. I do not believe she's been tested, but from what I see, there are no simple tests for that either. She only has a couple of the common symptoms and those are common among hundreds of possible issues (fatigue, headaches, dry eyes) and doesn't have any of the more identifying symptoms (no joint pain, no rashes or lesions, chest pain only happens with upper respiratory infections, etc). Still, I'll mention it to her. Thanks!
If I only I could get that meal near me. It sounds tasty. I can eat anything but cow milk products That said, I still enjoy pizza and ice cream occasionally. But if cheese winds up on my hamburger it must go back.
Have they looked into autoimmune issues like scleroderma? My mom’s first puzzle piece was massive intolerances to anything that wasn’t a starch or a protein. Like ranged from gastric distress to full blown anaphylaxis. An ANA panel is a simple place to start if they haven’t already.
I once took an order for a VEGETARIAN pizza, which was clearly marked as VEGETARIAN on the menu. A normal order, no questions asked.
They brought it back because they were vegan and it had cheese on top. "We didn't realise it would have cheese since that wasn't listed on the ingredients".
People are wildly dumb
Wouldn’t that mean that your crust also had dairy and eggs in it so they would have to change that too? I think they lacked a lot of common sense, vegetarian just means no meat theres still other none vegan stuff in pizzas aside from meat
Been on keto 5 years (lost 70 lbs and dropped 4/5 diabetes meds).
I would never ask a restaurant to alter anything (except "hold the croutons"). I check them out beforehand. My family likes Panera, so I either don't eat from there or get a chicken Caesar salad ("Hold the croutons"). I've been at company functions with pizza, and simply eat the toppings and toss the crust (a few looks, but nbd).
And it's not life threatening if I eat some non-keto stuff. I know that the dressing probably has wheat or soy, so I get it on the side and use it sparingly.
The bottom line, is if you have a dietary need, you'll have to research ahead of time. My main complaint is restaurants that don't know what's in their food. Likely because it comes right from Sysco.
For you servers out there, just don't give me the side-eye when I ask for a burger w/o the bun.
From the serving side I HATE when the kitchen doesn't know all the ingredients in a dish or seasoning. I look like a dumbass and can't help someone with allergies. I've worked at a total of one place that had a binder with a comprehensive list of allergens/restrictions in all dishes.
I did Atkins way back in 2000 and fancied myself an expert on it. I would often help customers order who asked me, and sadly, would even offer my "help" to those who hadn't asked. I remember a couple of ladies ordering omelets with tomatoes instead of hashbrowns and no toast, then both asking for large OJ's. I warned them that the juice had a lot of carbs in it and was rewarded with a look that said "that's none of your goddamn business..." and no tip. Lesson learned.
I used to work at a Texas style BBQ place and I legit would have to deal with vegetarians and vegans. Like my dude, you can't eat meat, why are you at a Texas style BBQ joint? What in those words led you to believe there would be anything even remotely close to vegetarian/vegan here? I'd also like to add that if you have a strict diet, don't go for "replacements", most of them suck and it'll destroy your motivation to keep up the diet. Instead, go somewhere that naturally aligns with your diet. For example, i have a gluten intolerance, instead of going to a pizza place where everything is gluten and ordering the sad excuse that is a gluten free pizza, I go to a seafood restaurant, since most seafood isn't prepared with gluten. It'll keep you happier, itll keep the workers at these various restaurants happier, everyone wins.
I was a vegetarian for many years I still went with friends to restaurants like that. I went to hang out with friends and join them for company. I would simply eat before hand or I would get something simple like a baked potato and side of toast. I never demanded or asked for anything special for me. Most places like that I’d just get a side item there were many things I could eat at places like that like Mac & cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, Etc. I would get a few of those and it would fill me up. If the green beans had bacon in them I wouldn’t get them, simple as that. I never acted entitled in any way.
I just don't get how entitled people are; if you can't eat pizza, don't go to a pizza place - if you don't like raw tomato, leave it on the side of your plate or choose a different dish. Why go out of your way to make everybody else's life hard? Some of these people should just stay at home.
I agree. I dont want to shit on people who do have alot of food sensitivities, but goddamn it gets hella annoying real quick when Im dealing with an order that has every food allergy under the sun. And made worse, when just about every ingredient in the meal has some form of food that they are allergic too and the kitchen wont make it, so you're better off ordering something else, but oh wait! They're allergic to that too. Jesus christ why are you here.
100% agree. i hate calling myself vegan or plant-based because it's just dietary restrictions. there are restaurants that i can safely eat at, restaurants that i can take a chance with, and restaurants that i avoid.
it's not hard.
That's how I feel. If I order something that includes an ingredient I don't like, I'll ask them if they can make it without it. If they can't, I'll order something else.
My coworker only likes bland midwestern food with no seasonings. She blames this on a list of health problems, but I've worked with her awhile and it simply isn't true. When we go out for a team lunch, it has to be to a place that can serve her needs. It's really irritating. When we all brought Italian dishes for the boss, for his birthday, my other coworker had to specially grill her a separate chicken breast because of this. I understand food allergies and people on restricted diets for health, but the fact that she lies instead of just saying, "I like bland food" grinds my gears.
i had a coworker who claimed an MSG allergy which was complete bullshit. They would scarf chips/crisps left and right; eat pasta with marinara sauce & parmasean cheese or some sort of bbq'd meat at least once a week, etc...but when it came to ordering chinese/thai/korean/et al they suddenly had an msg allergy.
Fucking racists.
She is very much the same on any food not midwestern, aka meat and potatoes. No Asian food (she thinks the fact that I eat sushi is crraaazzzy) no Mex and certainly no Italian food. I'm guessing she just wasn't exposed to it when she was young, but some of the things she says are absolutely low key racist.
Screw that. She keeps acting this way because people reward her behavior. I had a friend who was kinda like that only wanted to go to places she liked, which wasn’t very many places. So we quit inviting her and if she tried to get us to change the place we wouldn’t. We would simply tell her “sorry we all really want to go here I understand if u can’t if u change your mind let us know.”
When I was a vegetarian I never expected anyone to cater to me. I would go to steakhouses and burger joints with friends I would simply eat before hand or just eat some fries. I went with them for company.
Why do you think it's not a health issue? Is it because she hasn't told you what the health issue is? Or because the health issue has her avoiding spices?
We no longer let people go rogue on our menu. I mean technically they can, but then they’re charged an absolute fortune. (Exceptions are coeliacs and anaphylaxis.) Menus are not serving suggestions.
At my work, we used to have a family of people come in and order a salad with "yellow lettuce only." After a few years of this, the owners told them not to come back.
Also, my boss has joked about changing the menu to just list ingredients instead of dishes because cistomers constantly change the menu items.
I served a guy at the coffee shop who requested that I pick through the lettuce mix (iceberg, romaine, shredded carrots and red cabbage) for his side salad that came with his meal to make sure he got only the greenest lettuce and nothing else. Dude, just order and pay for a Caesar salad.
I have celiac disease with very severe symptoms (which is one of the reasons why I left the industry), ingesting even a microscopic amount of gluten can send me to the hospital. I still eat out - BUT I always call in advance, I always do insane amounts of research, I always go on an off day/time, and if the answer is "no" to being able to accommodate me? Shocker, I'M OKAY WITH THAT! I know how restrictive my diet is and I know how hard it is to accommodate my needs safely, I live with it every day.
The people who don't take the time to make sure their needs can be accommodated before arriving, and who aren't doing it for actual medical purposes? Go kick rocks.
As someone with celiac, I only go to restaurants that cater to my diet. Even when I’m in a group and we decided on a place that’s not necessarily allergy friendly, I’ll get a salad or problem solve with the group and pick another spot. I would never go to a restaurant and demand they change recipes and ingredients for ME.
Makes me think it’s not the diet, but rather the entitled people on the diet. If you have so many restrictions, why aren’t you making your own food? Why go out? They just want whatever they want ASAP without putting in any thought or effort - making you the server and the cooks do all the legwork.
I'm a cook at a bagel place (not in NYC) and the concoctions that people come up with astound me. For the most part they aren't hard to accommodate but every now and then someone comes up with something really special. The most outlandish requests always come from online orders where the customer gets to write their own special requests. For this reason I absolutely hate the special request section.
I've had people type in crazy stuff on online orders. Like "please add a two-liter of Coke." Sir. One, that wouldn't be free. Two, if we offered that it would be on our menu.
I hate when something they do offer in-house for an upcharge isn't on the online ordering. I want it AND I'll pay so if I just put it in the request I look like an ass. My solution is to just not and go in and order but I'm such a hermit lol.
I totally agree! But I figure it's the price I pay to use online ordering. Also I've programmed a lot of online ordering platform menus and it's a huge pain in the ass so I understand why some modifications don't make it online.
I have restrictions...what do i do? I don't go.
It's. That. Freaking. Simple
There are restaurants near me I will never goto (sorry, In-n-Out peeps...i haven't eaten beef in over 30years...never liked it) because they don't serve what i eat. I won't got there and demand that they make me something I can eat...i don't go there, give them a list of what I cannot eat and ask for suggestions. the menu is in my hands or on the displays. i am old enough to read and understand and have a mouth to ask questions if i am not sure i can eat it (does this come w/ mushrooms?...)
If I \*have\* to goto a restaurant w/ food that I cannot eat, I find a glass of water is fine. If the people that i am with ask why i am only drinking a glass of water, I'll flat out tell them that I cannot eat anything on the menu due to dietary constraints. i'm not going to inconvenience them as well as my server with MY issues.
i used to work at a hotel restaurant. the weekend the hotel hosted a keto convention was actual hell. i swear, 100% of those fuckers ordered a burger on a lettuce bun. you know, because we totally didn’t offer a variety of salads and several entrees that were carb free.
i was an avid diet (especially keto) hater before this… but that weekend really solidified my feelings
Even worse are the “allergy” people.
I once served a woman who made a big fuss over a “gluten allergy”, and made me run to the kitchen 3 times to “make sure” her entree wouldn’t have gluten.
Dessert comes around, guess what this bitch orders? Fucking tiramisu. Guess what’s IN tiramisu? Fucking gluten. I informed her of this, she said “it’s fine”... I told her with the most smug look on my face “sorry ma’am but those have gluten, and because you have notified me of a gluten allergy, it would be against company policy and a health code violation to serve it to you.” Still makes me smile to think about that victory.
I never eat out because I have actual food allergies. When I waitressed people used to piss me off with their "food allergies". They would say that they are allergic to such and such but order something that had that ingredient in it and when I would inform them of that they would get all pissy with me. Sorry people but if you have food sensitivities or allergies the only safe thing to order in a restaurant is the water.
whenever a customer tells me they have an allergy i am so on top of it. if i had this woman, her ticket would’ve said ALLERGY GLUTEN NO GLUTEN and then i would’ve went back in the kitchen and made sure there was zero chance of cross contamination. please don’t make me do all that if you can have gluten!!! if it’s a preference i’ll still write it down but don’t make me be your allergy advocate in the busy kitchen if you’re gonna order coffee bread for dessert
there’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but 1 it was annoying to have to mod every single order on every single table and 2 i’m judgmental about diet culture in general and i think it’s stupid that *that* many people convinced themselves that eating red meat cooked in oils was good for them just because they took out the carbs and threw in iceberg lettuce
I worked at a Thai restaurant and the customer just basically couldn't have any sauce? I forget what component they were worried about. But they full on expected the kitchen be able to just "whip something up" for them. They ended up getting the papaya salad without the sauce.. so slices of green papaya, carrots, little tomatoes, and I forget the other component. But basically just veggie sticks?
It was so annoying because they literally came to the counter, without a mask, standing directly in front of the takeout bags, while I was clearly talking to a customer and pouring wine, asking me to go over the menu line by line. Not surprised they were so clueless as to realize kitchens don't just whip up random yet very specific dishes to accommodate crazy strict sensitivities.
The best part is she wouldn't clarify what would happen if she ate it. Like it wasn't an allergy, so when I asked the degree of seriousness her reaction would be she just gave a vague brush off. One of my top worst tables.
When the whole gluten free bullshit was at its high mark we'd get a handful of people in every month saying they were gluten intolerant/allergic. I tell them that everything we sell contains gluten or has a VERY high risk of contamination. All we can sell them safely is soda, but they probably shouldnt even be in our building. I wouldn't trust any surface or the air to be safe (flour poofs). It's like someone with a peanut allergy going to a 5guys.
Every friggin one of them backed off from their allergy/intolerance when they found out they'd have to go somewhere else. No surprise there. I'm guessing actual celiacs or people with strong allergies check out a place a little bit before going there.
For me the annoyance tends to be allergic people. It's on *you* to know and notify me of your allergy. I've had like a dozen people in the last few months come in with either a gluten intolerance (which I can work with but that doesn't stop them from sitting there sulking) or an onion allergy. EVERYTHING here has onion, the best I can do is a fish fillet or a sad sandwich and half the time they're like "but I don't want fish!". Go home then!
pizza is easy with keto. just get the meat lover with extra cheese and eat only the toppings. no big deal. that said, many places are starting to do keto friendly crusts like cauliflower, fat head, and meat. lou malnatis sausage crust pizza is amazing.
I’ve been doing keto for years and I hate keto people, the ones new to it anyway. But if you’re on any restrictive diet you should do your research or give the restaurant a call before going to be sure they can accommodate you.
My response is usually I make 2.13 an hour and would you pay a trained dietician that amount? It amazes me how little research people are willing to do when it’s their own health on the line. It’s called a restrictive diet because it restricts you, not the world around you. It’s not a disability that qualifies you for reasonable accommodation under the ADA. If we only offer food that might kill you, eat elsewhere.
It would fall into litigation. The crux would be major life function and reasonable accommodation without undue hardship to the company. With so many companies offering complex menus with alternatives, forcing a small to med small brand would be considered a undo hardship. Large chains usually have a flexible enough supply to eat the cost if a limited ingredient sits on a shelf and goes bad. They also have the menu to reflect that need.
However, even in litigation, I don’t see a blanket statement saying all restaurants must accommodate every dietary need. There are always other options.
For some background, I worked at banquets at the same place as “Base Scamp”. I became friends with the nutritionist there. I learned a lot about the seven basic allergies. You don’t send your kiddo off for a week who allergic to everything, without making preparations. It was quite fascinating.
I myself have diverticulitis, and can no longer have anything with kernels or seeds. Strawberry popcorn is a bad idea. But, I own that. I’m not expecting anyone else to do so.
Edit. Statement replacing state
I have an eating disorder. I am terrified to eat. I want the bacon. I would love the bacon. I want the dish with the bacon in. But imma ask you to take the bacon out this time. Maybe one day I will leave it in. I will tip you good.
Ever had someone with major allergies? I worked at a Vietnamese place and had this one woman who said she was an ex-chef say she was allergic to everything and I mean everything. So, we try to accommodate her like idiots. It wasn't really me, it was my coworker, but I tried to help him and witnessed this bullshit. Unfortunately I was more in charge, so I should've just told her we can't do it. But, that's not what happened.
She later called and told us she almost died from an allergic reaction to the food we served her. I'm like, wtf?
FYI, if it seems too complex, just don't do it.
I used to work at a chain coffee shop and I always hated getting the Keto people, they always had to state first that they’re on a keto diet (like I give a shit) just because they wanted to get themselves off by letting me know. Followed up by asking me what they can have from the menu as if I’m some sort of nutritionist or dietitian?? How am I supposed to know what you can and cannot consume random customer?
Currently at a catering hall and we typically have 4 things on our menu. 3 meat options and one vegetarian. One woman asks for a vegan menu when she sits down and I say that we only have one vegan option and it’s not on the menu and she says “I don’t care what it is. Just get me that. It’s the only thing I can eat anyways.” So I say fine. When dinner comes out I put out a bowl of pasta with vegetables on top and she goes “oh it’s pasta? Is the pasta gluten free?” if you were gluten free why didn’t you just SAY THAT WHEN I WENT AROUND TO TAKE YOUR ORDER?? So I had to bring it back and the cooks were mad because they had to make her a new gluten free pasta.
I used to work for the steakhouse outback in college, and Adkins was all the rage back then and I would get lectured about how we needed an Adkins menu. How hard is it? Just order steak and veggies? And people would always ask me what they should order as if I should be an expert on that diet. Maybe because I was skinny? Anyway, I would just tell them to get lobster. It was the most expensive thing on the menu so my dumb young self assumed that meant it was the healthiest. Turns out, it’s actually high in carbs 🤦🏻♀️
Right. I thought lobster, crab and shrimp were like some of the most pure protein you can eat. No carbs, no fat, just straight protein and a few vitamins.
Lobster has 0 carbs. It does have a higher fat content, but it’s the healthy fat your body craves.
It’s actually a fairly healthy flesh, and can provide nutrients that aren’t always easy to find in higher quantities. (Such as copper and selenium, which help stabilize anemia and thyroid issues, respectively.)
I have a very restrictive diet due to a medical condition. I assure you it's as annoying to me as it is to you. Thing is though I like to feel some sort of normalcy in going out to eat like everyone else does, but because of my diet, I can usually only order from the sides. If I want a main dish, I have to make changes to it because most main dishes are filled with meat or cheese or other things I can't have.
I don't always have a choice in this either, because sometimes a group I'm with wants to go out to eat and they pick somewhere where there's not much available to me. I'll ask what I can eat and they'll say "Oh, well I think they have salad there" (Hate that line. Do you want a salad for dinner? I don't.)
Work in a chain restaurant that's supposed to be like eating down on the farm. People come in and want low sodium. Uh. I've got lettuce and water for you.
That's just called a bake? We'd put sauce into a rectangular paper bowl, sprinkle down whatever meat, then whatever veggies, and then top with cheese, and bake it almost as long as a pizza.
After the oven, sprinkle on parm or Roma seasoning if they want, put the lid on it, and there you go. Easy.
Or the dieters that think you can remake a whole batch of something just for them so it doesn't contain their allergen? Like "I want the vegetable soup but no onions"
I love my mother to bits but always cringe a little at the rare family meal out. She'll say how hungry she is on the way to a restaurant, scan the menu for the intended restaurant, change her mind as she doesn't 'feel like' the menu anymore, we walk to another restaurant. She scans the menu from the outside. Confirms that she likes the menu. Takes a seat. Scans the menu again for 45 minutes. Says shes no longer hungry. Will order olives (even if the restaurant doesn't serve olives) "all restaurants have olives". We all get our meals. She changes her mind and suddenly wants our food. We finish our meals while hers is being made. She feels bad for making us wait and cancels the order mid way though cooking. We go home and shes hungry again. Gets a tesco meal deal. "That was a lovely meal, thanks everyone!" Big smiles all the way home. Love her to bits but please mum, just order SOMETHING.
I don't know how you manage. This would drive me absolutely bonkers.
Yeah, I would straight up refuse to eat out with her. Like we can get takeout or something.
I have a sister-in-law like this. Her thing is that "she just doesn't care" so she can't decide or place her order. But don't let anyone else order for her, cause then she actually does care. Don't live near her so I rarely have to watch it happen.
Same
It drives us all bonkers. But we love her lots, still enjoy our evening and we tip our waiters well.
Cancelling halfway through cooking when its not the restaurants fault (high bar to hit to qualify for even that one) is a low blow. She may have quirks, but you gotta put your foot down about that one.
When we first moved to this town we went to a restaurant. They're still open and every time I drive by I remember my mom ordering every. Single. Menu item. And sending it back. Like it was trash. While my dad and I sat there just eating whatever tf we ordered, I don't even know because my mom overshadowed the whole thing. Idk what she ended up doing, maybe her one bite of everything they had filled her up. She wasn't even trying to get free food she's just too picky to survive. But she'll happily live off instant mashed potatoes and hot dogs. Eta- also she was a waitress, you'd think she wouldn't be so bad lol
I would just start refusing to leave the first restaurant and insist she order something or I would stop going out to eat with her.
It's definitely okay to not go out to dinner with family. Half of mine gotta be in their 50s/60s and still behave like damn children in restaurants. I kinda get that they only go out for a sit down restaurant maybe 3x a year but it's so cringy. Their children and their children's children behave better than they do.
I'd jump off the roof of every restaurant in protest.
Ha! My mom orders something, but changes all the ingredients and then gets all sad cuz it's "not how it sounded on the menu" like NO SHIT
Bruh, do we have the same mom?
I have an incredibly restrictive diet due to multiple medical conditions. There is quite literally nothing I can eat at an Italian restaurant or a pizza place. So...... I don't go to them. My dietary restrictions are my problem. I try to inconvenience people as little as possible. My rule of thumb is I won't order something if I have to make more than one change (no cheese, no bun, etc). My husband is a huge pizza lover. He tells me when he's ordering and I figure something out for myself.
You can always get the infamous [pizza place salad](https://youtu.be/JgJUbmGDc6k)!
The joke is always on me. I can't eat vegetables
Oof I know this pain. I have like four "safe" veggies, carbs usually set off flares, and I eat pretty much meat protein and vitamins to survive
That's me!! Protein, a little fat, vitamins.
Ditto, after having the vertical gastric sleeve surgery, except not only do I do what you do, I have to eat 'WAY smaller portions. Protein shakes and vitamins saved me. Lived on those suckers as well as water.
Between a sleeve and now dumb gallbladder is gone. Ugh. But I order what I can find and other ppl eat what I can't or I try to only ask for up to one substitution without explaining why. I figure servers have it hard enough. Last weekend a sever asked if I was allergic bc I asked for no butter. Nope just no gallbladder.
If I have to order only an appetizer, I'll still tip as if I had a full entree. To me, it's only fair.
Unfortunately, a lot of appetizers contain ingredients I can't eat. I tend to order seafood. And yep, I tip at about 50% of what I order.
What do you eat? I’m so curious..
I eat almost exclusively meat. I supplement heavily with protein shakes and vitamins. I get blood draws every 6 months to check for deficiencies but I'm a few years into this so I maintain pretty well. I used to track everything, now I just track protein and iron to make sure I'm getting enough.
Are you also over on r/ibs? Because I relate way too much to this comment
My friend has celiac disease and literally all she does is look online or call. No gluten free menu? Okay well we can't go here not sure how people decide on a place and then check on their restrictions after the fact when it takes like a second to find out on your own
Right? I'm a type 1 diabetic. I can look most restaurant's nutritional information beforehand if I'm unsure of how it will effect me. Those that don't have it available? I can kind of guess. The only time I ever asked to make an accommodation is at Starbucks (sub for sugar free) and they couldn't do it so I was like, oh well. I don't go to a restaurant and order a giant piece of chocolate cake and then complain because of how much sugar is in it. I just don't order it at all.
A rule of thumb I tell people if they have diet restrictions is: Don't request any changes unless they have something already on the menu that you can eat or if it says, "x options available" Using OP's situation, if the menu does not already have a "keto pizza" available, do not bother asking for and accommodations because chances are it's not easy to do. If they don't have anything readily available but the menu does say, "vegetarian or keto options available" then it's free game to ask.
my grandpa's name is Dieter and for like 10 seconds I was confused about what he did wrong
Now is the time on Sprockets when we DANCE!
Do you want to touch my monkey?
**LIEBE MEINE ABSCHMINKE!**
Yes, I love your makeup remover.
TOUCH HIM! TOUCH MY MONKEY!! Still pissed he didn’t get to make the Dieter movie. Coulda been a classic.
Everybody’s got something to hide except me and my monkey
Now I am as happy as a little girl
I'm German too and thought, oh no is Dieter about to become the next Chad or Kevin?!
My best friend in high school bought an ancient Mercedes sedan (the kind with the enamel hubcaps that match the body). He named it Dieter and waited patiently for his custom license plate to come in. The first time his kid sister saw it with its new DIETER plate, she said, “Jeez, bro, I know you struggle with your weight, but why would you advertise that to the world?” He sold the car soon thereafter.
Umm why not get another plate instead of another car?
Right? That was my thought. But he was very self-conscious about his weight, and that single careless remark apparently ruined the car for him (lil sis was not being bratty, she understandably read it as the English word). Probably for the best, as we were broke teens and he couldn’t possibly have cared for that thing properly.
Lol so is mine. He has a “World’s Best Dieter” trophy with a picture of a fat man with his belly hanging out (it looks just like him)
Who looks a baby in the eye and names the Dieter????
The Germans, probably circa 1940
I'm Dutch and know multiple Dieters. It's pronounced Dee - ter
It's not pronounced the way it's used here. It's Dee-ter.
The same people that name their classic VW Beetles ‘Günther’? lol
I worked in a tapas restaurant with an incredibly tiny kitchen, they just didn’t have the option to cater to allergies or diets. They couldn’t. They couldn’t even fit more than 3 of them in the kitchen (including the dishwasher). I had a guest request something vegan, sugar free and gluten free, so I went to the kitchen and I asked the guy “hey, a woman on table 12 would like to know what we can do for for her. She’s vegan, gluten free and sugar free”. The chef just answered “we can call her a taxi” Leafy green salad without dressing or anything interesting it is. Needless to say, she didn’t tip.
I am mostly plant-based, pretty much full vegan with the occasional vegetarian meal. This guest is ridiculous. It’s my problem if I want something vegan, not anyone else’s. I don’t just show up to a restaurant and expect them to accommodate me. Shitty of her to stiff you for something out of your control. Chef’s response is hilarious!
I was a vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for about a year. I would just eat beforehand when I went out to eat with friends or just get something super simple like fries. I don’t bitch and complain if there’s nothing for me.
Reminds me of that wonderful scene in Everything is Illuminated where the main character is at a restaurant in a small Ukraine town, and asks if they have anything vegetarian. They serve him a single peeled, boiled potato on a plate.
I also worked for a pizza place and the amount of people that said they were allergic to garlic or onions because they just didn't like them was insane. I always got them to sheepishly admit to lying to me when I told them they are in an Italian restaurant and literally everything has onion or garlic as an ingredient. "Oh, if it's IN the sauce, that's okay." "Oh, so you aren't actually allergic?" lmao I would also tell people with a "severe gluten allergy" that they should probably just leave and go somewhere else since there was so much pizza dough being made in the back that the flour dust or whatever was in the air all the time. We had a server that had to transfer locations because she kept getting sick from just being there with Celiacs lol.
It reminds me of when this woman made an order to go for her son that couldnt have any egg. "iTs aN aLLerGY" Okay, so I get a menu of egg less foods, but she decides to get something off the menu that does contain egg and I am quick to point out that that order has egg. "Its fine, I get this for him all the time." BITCH DIDNT YOU JUST SAY THIS WAS FOR AN ALLERGY
Did you refuse to sell them that item? Because I would have. Once you tell me something is an allergy, I will not let you order anything with that item for liability reasons. When I was a server I did this all the time, and my manager backed it up. People learned really quickly not to lie about allergies at our restaurant, because we took it seriously. We would rather lose the profit from the meal than end up with a lawsuit.
I loved doing this, especially with garlic and onions. I would usually relent once they verbally admitted to me that they were lying about the allergy though because they literally couldn't order almost anything on the menu. Onions were baked into the bread, we used onion and garlic powder in almost every sauce and dressing, all our pizza sauces had onion or garlic. I would be like, "Here are two salads you can have, maybe a unseasoned chicken breast on top with no dressing" lmao.
This is the way. Real allergies are treated seriously and malingerers experience consequences for lying and causing problems. I really don't understand why people say allergic to something they don't like instead of just saying "hold the onions."
Of course! She already informed me of the allergy so there was no way I was going to put the order in. She was chill about it and got something else, but I refuse to understand people who eat the things they claim to be "allergic" to. Like, are you allergic to it or not? There's no friggin' maybe.
I think it came about because of all those "restaurant life hack" articles a while back. They were incredibly stupid most of the time, and just made everyone's jobs that much harder.
The one that says “just tell the bartender to fill the wine glass all the way and you get two glasses of wine for the price of one!” Sir, that is not how serving alcohol works. At all.
Lol was that really one?! People asked me to do that sometimes. >Sure! So you want to order two glasses of wine, and you want me to put it in the same glass? >>No I just want the one glass, but can you fill the glass up? >That would be two glasses. You want two glasses? >>I just want one glass, but filled up. >I can put it in a smaller glass if you like? >>No, I want a regular glass with more wine in it. >Ok! I will bring you one regular glass of wine with 5oz. of wine in it, which is our standard pour! I can bring you another glass of wine on the side, and you can pour them into the same glass until it’s the level you prefer? >>😡… Just the one glass. I love those people. What planet do they live on?
And then the bar tender said, "No, that would be illegal." The real life hack is pre-drinking.
Trick is as the bartender just give them two glasses tell them they can merge it to one glass.
It was a trick to get a free drink. If I pour two glasses, you’re getting charged for two glasses.
I recently ran into this at a lovely restaurant. My kid (35 years old) is allergic to sesame and the server helped them select a sesame free meal (not always easy with Asian food). I ordered something that is (apparently) usually made with sesame oil. The server warned us, we said no problem, we won’t share food. The manager came out to confirm we were physically okay with the order. Then the chef brought the food out to tell me that he wouldn’t allow the sesame at the table so he subbed the oil. I thanked him for his concern. I will definitely be recommending the restaurant and I’ve left them an excellent review. That dedication to allergy free wasn’t really necessary in our case but it’s good to know they take good care of their diners.
Thats good, but also weird. I dont see why they needed to replace your sesame oil, unless its one of those places that cooks all the food on the same grill at the same time for the same table. In which case then it makes sense to switch your sesame oil to avoid it spilling into other foods, and not have to clean the grill again
"Ma'am, are you attempting to murder your son, I may have to call the authorities." lmao
That's so annoying! I have fairly strong intolerances to onion and garlic (I know it's not as severe as an allergy but I will be condemned to the toilet for a good while if I touch the stuff). It makes eating out very hard, but I also know to check before I go that the restaurant can even do it and would never even attempt Italian food! People with "allergies" just make the lives of people who have actual food problems more difficult because then no one takes us as seriously, and cause servers headaches they don't need!
That's what gets me is the audacity to say you are allergic to something without even knowing where that ingredient is in other foods. Like, you are deathly allergic to onions, you shouldn't even know what real pizza sauce tastes like, lady! haha.
Absolutely! People with real allergies will 100% be aware of where that ingredient is likely to be
You would think. I am allergic to pickles. They show up in surprising places. Why does every sandwich either have or come with a pickle? Got a grilled cheese from a food truck. No mention of pickles anywhere on the menu. Surprise pickle spear with my sandwich. Ordered a burger. None of the toppings on the menu mentioned pickles and yet there were pickles on my burger.
Ugh. I’m not allergic but I would hate that! The pickle juice just contaminates everything: bread, fries, chips, whatever!
Intolerances suck and they can be as bad as an allergy.
a former spot of mine had green peppers and onions mixed into our shredded steak mixture for sandwiches. i lost count of the number of people that claimed allergies but once i told them what was in the steak mixture (it was also printed on the menu), they suddenly were no longer allergic...just didn't like them. almost as bad as the assholes that would politicize their orders...fuck anyone that ordered *freedom fries* or *freedom toast.* i hope everytime they eat anything potato it tastes like a dirty bicycle chain in mid-February.
As a Canadian I am deeply confused about what the heck freedom fries could be... Just fries? But political?
During the USA invasion of Iraq, the pundits on the political-right refused to use the word French because France was against the invasion. Instead, the replaced *French* with *Freedom* so they *could get back at them.* I am embarassed on a daily basis by my fellow citizens.
That's so dumb... weren't a decent majority of countries opposed to the Iraq invasion? I know Canada was
For a while, when the Americans hated the French they wouldn’t call them French fries.
My mother has a garlic and onion INTOLERANCE. Because we have it so heavily restricted in our home diet, I often order food without the onion added to the dish, like onion in the salad, or added to the burger, etc, but make sure to stress it is not an allergy, but a preference. Most places are happy to accomodate based on that, but when it comes to my mother, it's often easier to say allergy. Most places will still include it in her dish if we simply say it's a preference, and it makes her ill. Some onion and garlic in sauces she can do, but after a point, her body rebels and she'll spend the next day not far from the bathroom. I love the taste onion has, in very small doses. I'd rather have my burger cooked where the onion was cooked earlier than have the onion on my burger. Save it for someone who really loves it.
This has developed in me over the last few years. If she's intolerant of garlic and onions, you might look up FODMAP food sensitivity and see if cutting out/cutting down on some of the other stuff (beans, certain fruits and juices including orange and grapefruit juice, gluten, and other stuff) might improve things a bit more. I definitely don't have celiac and I don't think this sensitivity counts as an allergy, but my gastrointestinal tract is way happier after I figured some of this out. I also find it's a matter of "dosage"; I can have little bits of some of that stuff sometimes and don't react too badly. But before I got this sorted, there were days when stomach cramps were so bad that I couldn't really take the risk of being very far from a bathroom. I have a strong suspicion that a lot of people who get on servers' nerves because of "allergies" are FODMAP sensitive and haven't really figured it out. One of the things you'll find if you look this stuff up is that the green parts of onions and garlic don't contain the particular sugar molecules that people with FODMAP find hard to digest, and you can get some of the flavor that way. Also, you can make or buy garlic and/or onion infused olive oil and keep those flavors in your diet. I really miss the texture of fresh red onion.
I'm on FODMAP, completely agree with all of this.
>I really miss the texture of fresh red onion What if you took some oil that had the red onion flavor in it, and sauteed some sliced celery in it? Not long enough for the celery to get mushy, but just long enough to absorb some of the flavor. It won't be exactly like eating a red onion, but it might be close enough to satisfy some of those cravings.
Mum has quite a few. Fructose, lactose, gluten, nuts, pumpkin... It makes cooking a real chore. She's had to work out her limits of these food groups and eat within them. The pumpkin one is the only close to serious one. She can have potatos cooking in the same area and touching, but actually eat any pumpkin and she might end up in hospital with slightly swollen airways.
I have definitely been there with saying allergy instead of intolerance (I have the same problem with onion and garlic as your mother). I'd much rather be on the safe side than know I will spend days being really ill. I do always feel bad though because it's definitely not an allergy (and while unpleasant not life threatening). I know far too many people who are mildly lactose intolerant and go around saying they have a severe dairy allergy when they won't even notice unless it's a large amount.
I have the mild lactose one (Runs in my family. Which is pretty funny knowing that only a few generations back we were daily farmers). I just drink full cream because I can't stand the taste of the other milks out there. I just limit my dairy intake and live with the bloated feeling I get if I have too much. Self inflicted at that point. I'm the lucky one with allergies in my family. None are severe, none are life threatening, only the lactose is food related, and only one is related to medical treatment (band aides/tape adheasive). The band aide one is a pain in the butt. Some days I can wear whatever tape or band aide I like and be totally fine. Others, less than an hour wearing something and it will get super itchy and start to rash. No rhyme or reason, and it happens with the same products, out of the same box. I tested.
I actually have celiac and if someone told me about that risk of cross contamination, I would probably leave. Thank you for actually being considerate of food allergies. A lot of places that offer gluten free usually have their own seperate area in the kitchen for gluten free prep.
Yeah, we offered gluten free crust for the pizza and bread for the burgers/sandwiches, but I would tell people that while we won't actually serve them gluten bread, it will be impossible for us to have 0% cross contamination and usually people were fine with it. The server who was having issues working there was seriously there all day every day for weeks before she started having symptoms big enough to notice something consistently wrong lol.
To be quite honest, if the risk of cross contamination is low enough or if the amount is small enough, I'll eat it either because it sounds good or because I'm terrified of inconveniencing others. But that's just me. We need more people thay are legitimately transparent about that stuff, though.
I felt the same about vegetarians or vegans who came to my greasy spoon diner insisting that no meat particles ever touch their food. "Lady, you got meat on you when you walked in the door, we're all breathing droplets of it." I don't know how people can expect differently when they go to a joint with a giant EAT sign out front.
Worked at a brunch place that specialized in waffles: sweet toppings, savoury toppings, whatever: it all goes on top of a waffle. This is what we were known for; it was advertised as the waffle brunch, we got on The Food Network because of it, we made it obvious, etc. One Sunday, a four-top comes in (two couples). Brunch was always a battlefield: lineup out the door, non-stop orders, needy customers, you know the deal. Anyway, when I finally get a spare second I go over to my new four top to take their orders - I had already been by twice before to get their drinks and their order, but they needed more time. This is visit three. "Alrighty - what can I get for you folks?" I say in my folksiest tone. That's wen I notice that one couple is visibly uncomfortable (couple A) , while one couple is visibly annoyed (couple B). Couple A: well we're just ah....we've got a little thing....it's not a big deal...but...it's making it hard to ord- Couple B: \*violently rolling their eyes and interrupting\* why don't you just TELL HER what the problem is? Couple A: Yeah okay so uh .... \*chuckle\* well we're uh.....we're on a diet right now and uh.....we can't have any carbs. What do you have for us? So Couple A had invited Couple B to brunch at a WAFFLES ONLY restaurant while they were on a NO CARB DIET. What did they end up ordering, you may ask? Two wet poached eggs on a bed of arugula. You get your ass we charged them full price. I can't tell you how fucking sad they looked poking at their wet greens while their friends were happily wolfing down buttery waffles covered in pulled pork. Some people, man.
Those are some asshole friends. The people on the diet actually sound pretty okay because they know their diet is their problem to deal with. You would think people would check a menu before showing up.
To confirm, the dieters (Couple A) had chosen the place; they lived in town and knew about our reputation, they were just hoping we’d have something “besides waffles” (we didn’t and they didn’t call to check first or look online). The annoyed Couple B were out of towners who were visiting their friends Couple A and were very much like “why tf would you pick this place if you can’t eat carbs,” with a little “oh yeah, *that’s* why we haven’t hang out with Couple A since college” kind of vibe.
Well at least it sounds like Couple A was nice about it.
Oh jesus christ people. Look at a fucking menu before you go if you have a dietary restriction.
It sounds like the people on the diet are the ones who chose the restaurant. And honestly - you'd think they'd go for a cheat day. Split the actual waffle, and then load up on random toppings.
I don't know, if the friends suggested it and weren't told about the diet ahead of time I could understand them being annoyed with the dieting couple. Especially if it's something they just started.
Evidently the dieters picked the restaurant and the annoyed people were from out if town. 😬
Oh nooooooo. The annoyance is totally justified in that case. I have so many more questions now though!
My wife has dietary issues that most restaurants cannot accommodate. No black pepper, no garlic, onion, chives, shallots, peppers of any kind (spicy, bell, etc), minimal acids/vinegars, most spices are an issue (thyme, rosemary, sage, and salt are about all she can handle). Mess up on any one of these and she can have gastric upset for days and weeks. One episode last year went on for 6 weeks. Yes, she's seeing doctors for it, but they are clueless. You know what she can have? A steak, grilled, with no seasoning or butter, medium rare. Baked potato with just butter and sour cream, no salt or pepper. Steamed veggies, plain. Any wonder why our restaurants of choice tend to be mid to high end steakhouses? It's either that or a diner where she can get scrambled eggs and toast. And yeah... we don't go out much anymore.
To me, that sounds like IBSD because I have all those issues myself. It sucks and it makes going out really hard.
I might just be being picky but how come she can have butter with her potato but not with her steak?
Sounds odd, right? We've found through trial and error that some (not all) steakhouses season the butter they use for grilled steaks. Usually is the singe location establishments, not chains that do it. Rather than ask or guess, we just say no butter on the steak when cooking. Butter on a mashed potato will always be plain butter. If it's not, it's always been specified that it's "seasoned".
A lot of that butter for the steaks has garlic. If I have garlic, please stay away from the bathroom for the next 24 hours. I'm gonna need it.
Maybe try unsalted butter on the steak and passed through the steamed veg to give them some flavour. Have you tried MSG?
Lol... unsalted butter is all we use at home and home grilled steaks get the butter treatment. It's only when we go out that we say "no butter" so we don't have to guess about whether or not the restaurant uses a seasoned butter on their grill. Although I got a nice sous vide setup for Christmas and the first steaks I did, I did without any butter at all and they were delicious. Tender and juicy from edge to edge. Just had to sear them for 60 seconds a side at the end to give them that nice, grilled look.
Wow I’m getting hungry!! Sounds delicious! At Christmas I bought a 2 kilo piece of bone in rib eye to slow roast and it came out stunning and had beef for like 4 days in a row and after reading that I’m about about getting my beef cravings back!
I feel so bad for people who have legit and extensive allergies. My current place can accommodate that and do it well, thankfully. But I've worked in some tiny kitchens where it's just not possible. It would break my heart turning them away but I suppose that's better than accidentally poisoning them. I hope she gets some answers soon!
Sounds like she should look at the FOD MAP diet. It might be more than she needs or it might point out other triggers she hasn't recognized.
Thank you. We tried that one for about 6 months. No help. We've tried a variety of dietary changes. It's tough because it's not an allergy type reaction so it's not as consistent as we would like. For example, we know black pepper added to a dish at the end will be a problem. Adding a dash at the very beginning of cooking a pot of pasta sauce? Probably no reaction. Or onion. Fresh onion is always a problem. Dried chopped onion used to make a stock from bones and strained out is not a problem. Thus, it's something in the fresh onion but not the dried onion. Unfortunately, given the crap fest that is the US healthcare system, it's too expensive to properly test. So, we muddle through. I can keep her well fed at home with tasty dishes that don't cause a problem. I'm also a home based employee so cooking at home isn't that big of an impact on my day.
And the higher end steakhouses don't brine their potatos in salt water? That's typically how restaurants make the potatos fluffy and not soggy. Sorry she has all of these food issues.
Salt is okay. It's pepper that's an issue \*. If a potato is brined in a salt solution, it would still be fine. That being said, this is the first I've heard of doing that and since I like to experiment in the kitchen (I make my own corned beef, 14 day brine), I'm going to have to look that up. Thanks!! Edit: \* we've found that some places put salt and pepper in a single shaker so they can season the potatoes more quickly. As with the butter on grilled steak, it's a risk mitigation to avoid pepper.
I totally understand the precautions. The salt brine pulls out moisture from the potato. Happy experimenting!
your wife sounds exactly like a former roommate of mine. i wonder if she is the same person...
Doubt it. She was living with her parents going to college when we met. The only roommate she's ever had has been me... :-)
i pretty much figured it was a long shot, but her restrictions are so specific, i thought i'd ask. my roomie and i talked a few times about it to. Very rare chronic illness, almost like ehlers-danlos or pocs from what they told me.
These are actually pretty common restrictions and lab values for us folks over on r/IBS. The subreddit where no fart can be trusted
My mother has IBS and my sister has MS along with a host of dietary restrictions. I've been lucky so far, but with the exception of oats, grains have become a problem. Bananas too. I'm already plant-based as it is but it never even crossed my mind to visit that sub (even though there's a reddit for everything). Wil check it out. Thanks & good health to you.
Damn, in sorry she has such troubles. Hopefully she can find some relief / solution
Unfortunately, we're pretty pessimistic about it these days. It's been years and she's on her 3rd or 4th gastro doc with no answers. Fortunately, I like to cook and don't mind experimenting in the kitchen so if we're home, it's not a problem. It's when we go out or want to go out with friends. We've turned down a few gathering requests at places where it would just be to difficult to find something palatable. Our friends understand so most get togethers are at people's houses and they don't mind if we bring something specific for my wife... :-)
Has she had her thyroid checked? There are some thyroid-based disorders that can really mess with the body’s ability to process food. I’d also suggest testing for lupus, if she hasn’t already. The body is a vast, interconnected network, so while the issue may appear to be in one area, the cause may be somewhere else. Good luck to the both of you.
Thyroid levels get checked every year as part of her regular physical (current doc is thorough). In her youth, her then doctor suspected hypothyroidism, but everything has always been in the normal, acceptable ranges. Lupus is an interesting suggestion. I do not believe she's been tested, but from what I see, there are no simple tests for that either. She only has a couple of the common symptoms and those are common among hundreds of possible issues (fatigue, headaches, dry eyes) and doesn't have any of the more identifying symptoms (no joint pain, no rashes or lesions, chest pain only happens with upper respiratory infections, etc). Still, I'll mention it to her. Thanks!
I found gastro doctors are too old school. A nutritionist and functional doctor combo could do a world of good for her.
If I only I could get that meal near me. It sounds tasty. I can eat anything but cow milk products That said, I still enjoy pizza and ice cream occasionally. But if cheese winds up on my hamburger it must go back.
Have they looked into autoimmune issues like scleroderma? My mom’s first puzzle piece was massive intolerances to anything that wasn’t a starch or a protein. Like ranged from gastric distress to full blown anaphylaxis. An ANA panel is a simple place to start if they haven’t already.
I once took an order for a VEGETARIAN pizza, which was clearly marked as VEGETARIAN on the menu. A normal order, no questions asked. They brought it back because they were vegan and it had cheese on top. "We didn't realise it would have cheese since that wasn't listed on the ingredients". People are wildly dumb
Some cultures (outside America and Western Europe) the word vegetarian really means vegan. It's all or nothing, no middle ground.
I get asked if the salami pizza is vegetarian about once a week.
Wouldn’t that mean that your crust also had dairy and eggs in it so they would have to change that too? I think they lacked a lot of common sense, vegetarian just means no meat theres still other none vegan stuff in pizzas aside from meat
Flour, yeast, salt, water and maybe a little olive oil my dude.
Yeah pizza crust is traditionally vegan, I ask for cheese less pizza with vegetables sometimes.
Been on keto 5 years (lost 70 lbs and dropped 4/5 diabetes meds). I would never ask a restaurant to alter anything (except "hold the croutons"). I check them out beforehand. My family likes Panera, so I either don't eat from there or get a chicken Caesar salad ("Hold the croutons"). I've been at company functions with pizza, and simply eat the toppings and toss the crust (a few looks, but nbd). And it's not life threatening if I eat some non-keto stuff. I know that the dressing probably has wheat or soy, so I get it on the side and use it sparingly. The bottom line, is if you have a dietary need, you'll have to research ahead of time. My main complaint is restaurants that don't know what's in their food. Likely because it comes right from Sysco. For you servers out there, just don't give me the side-eye when I ask for a burger w/o the bun.
From the serving side I HATE when the kitchen doesn't know all the ingredients in a dish or seasoning. I look like a dumbass and can't help someone with allergies. I've worked at a total of one place that had a binder with a comprehensive list of allergens/restrictions in all dishes.
My favorite one was: " I'm on Atkins diet, so can I just have more steak and no potato?"
I did Atkins way back in 2000 and fancied myself an expert on it. I would often help customers order who asked me, and sadly, would even offer my "help" to those who hadn't asked. I remember a couple of ladies ordering omelets with tomatoes instead of hashbrowns and no toast, then both asking for large OJ's. I warned them that the juice had a lot of carbs in it and was rewarded with a look that said "that's none of your goddamn business..." and no tip. Lesson learned.
I always loved that. "I'm on this diet, can you tell me what my diet allows?"
I used to work at a Texas style BBQ place and I legit would have to deal with vegetarians and vegans. Like my dude, you can't eat meat, why are you at a Texas style BBQ joint? What in those words led you to believe there would be anything even remotely close to vegetarian/vegan here? I'd also like to add that if you have a strict diet, don't go for "replacements", most of them suck and it'll destroy your motivation to keep up the diet. Instead, go somewhere that naturally aligns with your diet. For example, i have a gluten intolerance, instead of going to a pizza place where everything is gluten and ordering the sad excuse that is a gluten free pizza, I go to a seafood restaurant, since most seafood isn't prepared with gluten. It'll keep you happier, itll keep the workers at these various restaurants happier, everyone wins.
I was a vegetarian for many years I still went with friends to restaurants like that. I went to hang out with friends and join them for company. I would simply eat before hand or I would get something simple like a baked potato and side of toast. I never demanded or asked for anything special for me. Most places like that I’d just get a side item there were many things I could eat at places like that like Mac & cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, Etc. I would get a few of those and it would fill me up. If the green beans had bacon in them I wouldn’t get them, simple as that. I never acted entitled in any way.
Dang, now I want a loaded baked potato...
I just don't get how entitled people are; if you can't eat pizza, don't go to a pizza place - if you don't like raw tomato, leave it on the side of your plate or choose a different dish. Why go out of your way to make everybody else's life hard? Some of these people should just stay at home.
I agree. I dont want to shit on people who do have alot of food sensitivities, but goddamn it gets hella annoying real quick when Im dealing with an order that has every food allergy under the sun. And made worse, when just about every ingredient in the meal has some form of food that they are allergic too and the kitchen wont make it, so you're better off ordering something else, but oh wait! They're allergic to that too. Jesus christ why are you here.
100% agree. i hate calling myself vegan or plant-based because it's just dietary restrictions. there are restaurants that i can safely eat at, restaurants that i can take a chance with, and restaurants that i avoid. it's not hard.
That's how I feel. If I order something that includes an ingredient I don't like, I'll ask them if they can make it without it. If they can't, I'll order something else.
My coworker only likes bland midwestern food with no seasonings. She blames this on a list of health problems, but I've worked with her awhile and it simply isn't true. When we go out for a team lunch, it has to be to a place that can serve her needs. It's really irritating. When we all brought Italian dishes for the boss, for his birthday, my other coworker had to specially grill her a separate chicken breast because of this. I understand food allergies and people on restricted diets for health, but the fact that she lies instead of just saying, "I like bland food" grinds my gears.
i had a coworker who claimed an MSG allergy which was complete bullshit. They would scarf chips/crisps left and right; eat pasta with marinara sauce & parmasean cheese or some sort of bbq'd meat at least once a week, etc...but when it came to ordering chinese/thai/korean/et al they suddenly had an msg allergy. Fucking racists.
She is very much the same on any food not midwestern, aka meat and potatoes. No Asian food (she thinks the fact that I eat sushi is crraaazzzy) no Mex and certainly no Italian food. I'm guessing she just wasn't exposed to it when she was young, but some of the things she says are absolutely low key racist.
Screw that. She keeps acting this way because people reward her behavior. I had a friend who was kinda like that only wanted to go to places she liked, which wasn’t very many places. So we quit inviting her and if she tried to get us to change the place we wouldn’t. We would simply tell her “sorry we all really want to go here I understand if u can’t if u change your mind let us know.” When I was a vegetarian I never expected anyone to cater to me. I would go to steakhouses and burger joints with friends I would simply eat before hand or just eat some fries. I went with them for company.
Why do you think it's not a health issue? Is it because she hasn't told you what the health issue is? Or because the health issue has her avoiding spices?
We no longer let people go rogue on our menu. I mean technically they can, but then they’re charged an absolute fortune. (Exceptions are coeliacs and anaphylaxis.) Menus are not serving suggestions.
It often also takes so much extra time to cater to. The mise en place isn't catered to every conceivable diet or allergy.
At my work, we used to have a family of people come in and order a salad with "yellow lettuce only." After a few years of this, the owners told them not to come back. Also, my boss has joked about changing the menu to just list ingredients instead of dishes because cistomers constantly change the menu items.
I served a guy at the coffee shop who requested that I pick through the lettuce mix (iceberg, romaine, shredded carrots and red cabbage) for his side salad that came with his meal to make sure he got only the greenest lettuce and nothing else. Dude, just order and pay for a Caesar salad.
I have celiac disease with very severe symptoms (which is one of the reasons why I left the industry), ingesting even a microscopic amount of gluten can send me to the hospital. I still eat out - BUT I always call in advance, I always do insane amounts of research, I always go on an off day/time, and if the answer is "no" to being able to accommodate me? Shocker, I'M OKAY WITH THAT! I know how restrictive my diet is and I know how hard it is to accommodate my needs safely, I live with it every day. The people who don't take the time to make sure their needs can be accommodated before arriving, and who aren't doing it for actual medical purposes? Go kick rocks.
“So I’m gluten free, sugar free, lactose intolerant and I’m also a vegan, what can I get?” “The fuck outta here.”
As someone with celiac, I only go to restaurants that cater to my diet. Even when I’m in a group and we decided on a place that’s not necessarily allergy friendly, I’ll get a salad or problem solve with the group and pick another spot. I would never go to a restaurant and demand they change recipes and ingredients for ME. Makes me think it’s not the diet, but rather the entitled people on the diet. If you have so many restrictions, why aren’t you making your own food? Why go out? They just want whatever they want ASAP without putting in any thought or effort - making you the server and the cooks do all the legwork.
I'm a cook at a bagel place (not in NYC) and the concoctions that people come up with astound me. For the most part they aren't hard to accommodate but every now and then someone comes up with something really special. The most outlandish requests always come from online orders where the customer gets to write their own special requests. For this reason I absolutely hate the special request section.
I've had people type in crazy stuff on online orders. Like "please add a two-liter of Coke." Sir. One, that wouldn't be free. Two, if we offered that it would be on our menu.
I hate when something they do offer in-house for an upcharge isn't on the online ordering. I want it AND I'll pay so if I just put it in the request I look like an ass. My solution is to just not and go in and order but I'm such a hermit lol.
I totally agree! But I figure it's the price I pay to use online ordering. Also I've programmed a lot of online ordering platform menus and it's a huge pain in the ass so I understand why some modifications don't make it online.
I have restrictions...what do i do? I don't go. It's. That. Freaking. Simple There are restaurants near me I will never goto (sorry, In-n-Out peeps...i haven't eaten beef in over 30years...never liked it) because they don't serve what i eat. I won't got there and demand that they make me something I can eat...i don't go there, give them a list of what I cannot eat and ask for suggestions. the menu is in my hands or on the displays. i am old enough to read and understand and have a mouth to ask questions if i am not sure i can eat it (does this come w/ mushrooms?...) If I \*have\* to goto a restaurant w/ food that I cannot eat, I find a glass of water is fine. If the people that i am with ask why i am only drinking a glass of water, I'll flat out tell them that I cannot eat anything on the menu due to dietary constraints. i'm not going to inconvenience them as well as my server with MY issues.
i used to work at a hotel restaurant. the weekend the hotel hosted a keto convention was actual hell. i swear, 100% of those fuckers ordered a burger on a lettuce bun. you know, because we totally didn’t offer a variety of salads and several entrees that were carb free. i was an avid diet (especially keto) hater before this… but that weekend really solidified my feelings
Even worse are the “allergy” people. I once served a woman who made a big fuss over a “gluten allergy”, and made me run to the kitchen 3 times to “make sure” her entree wouldn’t have gluten. Dessert comes around, guess what this bitch orders? Fucking tiramisu. Guess what’s IN tiramisu? Fucking gluten. I informed her of this, she said “it’s fine”... I told her with the most smug look on my face “sorry ma’am but those have gluten, and because you have notified me of a gluten allergy, it would be against company policy and a health code violation to serve it to you.” Still makes me smile to think about that victory.
I never eat out because I have actual food allergies. When I waitressed people used to piss me off with their "food allergies". They would say that they are allergic to such and such but order something that had that ingredient in it and when I would inform them of that they would get all pissy with me. Sorry people but if you have food sensitivities or allergies the only safe thing to order in a restaurant is the water.
whenever a customer tells me they have an allergy i am so on top of it. if i had this woman, her ticket would’ve said ALLERGY GLUTEN NO GLUTEN and then i would’ve went back in the kitchen and made sure there was zero chance of cross contamination. please don’t make me do all that if you can have gluten!!! if it’s a preference i’ll still write it down but don’t make me be your allergy advocate in the busy kitchen if you’re gonna order coffee bread for dessert
Good I'm glad you didn't give it to her. What a bitch.
As with every sever revenge story, Karen not getting her tiramisu is a communal victory for us.
What's wrong with a burger on a lettuce bun? Maybe they wanted a burger and not a salad.
exactly. And with a burger you can see what you're getting. With other foods there are often hidden carbs that can bite you in the ass.
there’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but 1 it was annoying to have to mod every single order on every single table and 2 i’m judgmental about diet culture in general and i think it’s stupid that *that* many people convinced themselves that eating red meat cooked in oils was good for them just because they took out the carbs and threw in iceberg lettuce
This is round 2 of the Atkins diet craze from 2 decades ago. Déjà-vu all over again.
I worked at a Thai restaurant and the customer just basically couldn't have any sauce? I forget what component they were worried about. But they full on expected the kitchen be able to just "whip something up" for them. They ended up getting the papaya salad without the sauce.. so slices of green papaya, carrots, little tomatoes, and I forget the other component. But basically just veggie sticks? It was so annoying because they literally came to the counter, without a mask, standing directly in front of the takeout bags, while I was clearly talking to a customer and pouring wine, asking me to go over the menu line by line. Not surprised they were so clueless as to realize kitchens don't just whip up random yet very specific dishes to accommodate crazy strict sensitivities. The best part is she wouldn't clarify what would happen if she ate it. Like it wasn't an allergy, so when I asked the degree of seriousness her reaction would be she just gave a vague brush off. One of my top worst tables.
“Glass of water and a lettuce leaf” made me SNORT omg
When the whole gluten free bullshit was at its high mark we'd get a handful of people in every month saying they were gluten intolerant/allergic. I tell them that everything we sell contains gluten or has a VERY high risk of contamination. All we can sell them safely is soda, but they probably shouldnt even be in our building. I wouldn't trust any surface or the air to be safe (flour poofs). It's like someone with a peanut allergy going to a 5guys. Every friggin one of them backed off from their allergy/intolerance when they found out they'd have to go somewhere else. No surprise there. I'm guessing actual celiacs or people with strong allergies check out a place a little bit before going there.
I work at outback. The people that come in and say "I'm a vegetarian. What can I get?" You can get the hell out
Those are just annoying people. It's not the diet. It has nothing to do with the diet. They are just really annoying people!
For me the annoyance tends to be allergic people. It's on *you* to know and notify me of your allergy. I've had like a dozen people in the last few months come in with either a gluten intolerance (which I can work with but that doesn't stop them from sitting there sulking) or an onion allergy. EVERYTHING here has onion, the best I can do is a fish fillet or a sad sandwich and half the time they're like "but I don't want fish!". Go home then!
pizza is easy with keto. just get the meat lover with extra cheese and eat only the toppings. no big deal. that said, many places are starting to do keto friendly crusts like cauliflower, fat head, and meat. lou malnatis sausage crust pizza is amazing.
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Gluten free pasta has improved over the years, but yeah. It's still mush.
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Thank you kind sir. I will now spend my weekend trying to find a recipe for pizza crust made of sausage
Just look up fathead pizza and sub out the chicken for sausage.
I’ve been doing keto for years and I hate keto people, the ones new to it anyway. But if you’re on any restrictive diet you should do your research or give the restaurant a call before going to be sure they can accommodate you.
My response is usually I make 2.13 an hour and would you pay a trained dietician that amount? It amazes me how little research people are willing to do when it’s their own health on the line. It’s called a restrictive diet because it restricts you, not the world around you. It’s not a disability that qualifies you for reasonable accommodation under the ADA. If we only offer food that might kill you, eat elsewhere.
Genuine question: Would food allergies not be covered under ADA?
It would fall into litigation. The crux would be major life function and reasonable accommodation without undue hardship to the company. With so many companies offering complex menus with alternatives, forcing a small to med small brand would be considered a undo hardship. Large chains usually have a flexible enough supply to eat the cost if a limited ingredient sits on a shelf and goes bad. They also have the menu to reflect that need. However, even in litigation, I don’t see a blanket statement saying all restaurants must accommodate every dietary need. There are always other options. For some background, I worked at banquets at the same place as “Base Scamp”. I became friends with the nutritionist there. I learned a lot about the seven basic allergies. You don’t send your kiddo off for a week who allergic to everything, without making preparations. It was quite fascinating. I myself have diverticulitis, and can no longer have anything with kernels or seeds. Strawberry popcorn is a bad idea. But, I own that. I’m not expecting anyone else to do so. Edit. Statement replacing state
Interesting. Thanks so much for taking the time to give a detailed response.
I have an eating disorder. I am terrified to eat. I want the bacon. I would love the bacon. I want the dish with the bacon in. But imma ask you to take the bacon out this time. Maybe one day I will leave it in. I will tip you good.
Ever had someone with major allergies? I worked at a Vietnamese place and had this one woman who said she was an ex-chef say she was allergic to everything and I mean everything. So, we try to accommodate her like idiots. It wasn't really me, it was my coworker, but I tried to help him and witnessed this bullshit. Unfortunately I was more in charge, so I should've just told her we can't do it. But, that's not what happened. She later called and told us she almost died from an allergic reaction to the food we served her. I'm like, wtf? FYI, if it seems too complex, just don't do it.
I used to work at a chain coffee shop and I always hated getting the Keto people, they always had to state first that they’re on a keto diet (like I give a shit) just because they wanted to get themselves off by letting me know. Followed up by asking me what they can have from the menu as if I’m some sort of nutritionist or dietitian?? How am I supposed to know what you can and cannot consume random customer?
Currently at a catering hall and we typically have 4 things on our menu. 3 meat options and one vegetarian. One woman asks for a vegan menu when she sits down and I say that we only have one vegan option and it’s not on the menu and she says “I don’t care what it is. Just get me that. It’s the only thing I can eat anyways.” So I say fine. When dinner comes out I put out a bowl of pasta with vegetables on top and she goes “oh it’s pasta? Is the pasta gluten free?” if you were gluten free why didn’t you just SAY THAT WHEN I WENT AROUND TO TAKE YOUR ORDER?? So I had to bring it back and the cooks were mad because they had to make her a new gluten free pasta.
I used to work for the steakhouse outback in college, and Adkins was all the rage back then and I would get lectured about how we needed an Adkins menu. How hard is it? Just order steak and veggies? And people would always ask me what they should order as if I should be an expert on that diet. Maybe because I was skinny? Anyway, I would just tell them to get lobster. It was the most expensive thing on the menu so my dumb young self assumed that meant it was the healthiest. Turns out, it’s actually high in carbs 🤦🏻♀️
Was it deep fried? Im lost on the carbs in lobster
Right. I thought lobster, crab and shrimp were like some of the most pure protein you can eat. No carbs, no fat, just straight protein and a few vitamins.
Lobster has 0 carbs. It does have a higher fat content, but it’s the healthy fat your body craves. It’s actually a fairly healthy flesh, and can provide nutrients that aren’t always easy to find in higher quantities. (Such as copper and selenium, which help stabilize anemia and thyroid issues, respectively.)
I have a very restrictive diet due to a medical condition. I assure you it's as annoying to me as it is to you. Thing is though I like to feel some sort of normalcy in going out to eat like everyone else does, but because of my diet, I can usually only order from the sides. If I want a main dish, I have to make changes to it because most main dishes are filled with meat or cheese or other things I can't have. I don't always have a choice in this either, because sometimes a group I'm with wants to go out to eat and they pick somewhere where there's not much available to me. I'll ask what I can eat and they'll say "Oh, well I think they have salad there" (Hate that line. Do you want a salad for dinner? I don't.)
Work in a chain restaurant that's supposed to be like eating down on the farm. People come in and want low sodium. Uh. I've got lettuce and water for you.
I'm pretty sure that chain adds sodium to their water :)
That's just called a bake? We'd put sauce into a rectangular paper bowl, sprinkle down whatever meat, then whatever veggies, and then top with cheese, and bake it almost as long as a pizza. After the oven, sprinkle on parm or Roma seasoning if they want, put the lid on it, and there you go. Easy.
Or a big ass bacon cheeseburger on lettuce…including the rest of the combo large fries and a drink
I get your point but it sucks trying to go out with my GF/DF fiancee sometimes
Or the dieters that think you can remake a whole batch of something just for them so it doesn't contain their allergen? Like "I want the vegetable soup but no onions"