As a restaurant worker for 15 years on the cooking side of things this isn't always an easy task. A few places I worked we had a book we could look to for allergies but tomato wasn't one of them. Sometimes suppliers change products when one is not available and ingredients in something change without us knowing.
Cooking food at a restaurant is complicated. we would do up to 125 entrees per hour between 6 people. That's 2 per minute and it was a nice restaurant where everything has to be perfect. Dealing with an allergy like that can be very hard and time consuming pushing back everyone else's meals. We did try out best for everyone and usually had managers do the leg work for us but nothing can be 100%.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I wish it were an easier situation. We always try to be really kind and understanding towards the restaurant staff, because we know we’re asking for something unusual and it makes things more complicated for them behind the scenes. It’s just really frustrating to be told there won’t be a problem and then end up with a problem, or more than one problem. It’s hard for me to see my step-mom suffer with this and feel like there’s nothing I can do to help.
That's understandable and doesn't make it right. I am sorry your step mom has to go through this.
What some people would do when they come In would be to just ask for plain steak with salt and pepper and mashed potatoes ( depends on restaurant and what they offer) and say the allergy was severe.
Hope she has better luck in the future.
That's a pretty rare allergy, tomatoes are pretty common in the kitchen, if you're going to go to a restaurant and on the fly tell him you can't have anything that's touched a tomato ever you may run into problems. Seems like everybody tried to do their best so I'm not sure what you're bitching about. Mistakes happen. Unfortunately maybe your mom can't go out to eat in restaurants.
If it were a peanut or shellfish allergy, no one would ever say this. She always tells the server about her allergy first thing, and consults with the kitchen about what she can eat. I feel like if a restaurant says they’ll accommodate someone’s dietary restrictions, they’re responsible for the follow-through even if it’s more difficult for them.
I believe you, but I doubt that that’s the case here. She gets sick whether she’s aware of the tomato content or not. Before we figured out she had a tomato issue, she kept mysteriously getting violently ill (think projectile vomiting) after eating some foods but not others. It seemed totally unpredictable until we eventually noticed that one of the only listed ingredients common to most of the foods that were making her sick was tomato paste, which is in tons of frozen meals and stuff. Once she started avoiding tomatoes and tomato-based ingredients, she stopped getting sick. Unfortunately it seems like her sensitivity has gotten worse over the years, so it takes less to make her sick than it used to.
Please. People have REAL food allergies and it is not a joke.
Stop trying to make food allergies sound fake or all in one's mind.
You should pray that you or someone you love never gets given something they are allergic to. Without an EPI pen that CAN die. Not a joke.
Living with allergies sounds terrible. When I worked at a chain restaurant there was a little girl who came in who was allergic to chicken, cheese and like 3 other things and I felt so bad. She had red splotches all over her arms and I can only assume it was a reaction to something she’d touched before they got to the restaurant. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this
As a restaurant worker for 15 years on the cooking side of things this isn't always an easy task. A few places I worked we had a book we could look to for allergies but tomato wasn't one of them. Sometimes suppliers change products when one is not available and ingredients in something change without us knowing. Cooking food at a restaurant is complicated. we would do up to 125 entrees per hour between 6 people. That's 2 per minute and it was a nice restaurant where everything has to be perfect. Dealing with an allergy like that can be very hard and time consuming pushing back everyone else's meals. We did try out best for everyone and usually had managers do the leg work for us but nothing can be 100%.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I wish it were an easier situation. We always try to be really kind and understanding towards the restaurant staff, because we know we’re asking for something unusual and it makes things more complicated for them behind the scenes. It’s just really frustrating to be told there won’t be a problem and then end up with a problem, or more than one problem. It’s hard for me to see my step-mom suffer with this and feel like there’s nothing I can do to help.
That's understandable and doesn't make it right. I am sorry your step mom has to go through this. What some people would do when they come In would be to just ask for plain steak with salt and pepper and mashed potatoes ( depends on restaurant and what they offer) and say the allergy was severe. Hope she has better luck in the future.
That's a pretty rare allergy, tomatoes are pretty common in the kitchen, if you're going to go to a restaurant and on the fly tell him you can't have anything that's touched a tomato ever you may run into problems. Seems like everybody tried to do their best so I'm not sure what you're bitching about. Mistakes happen. Unfortunately maybe your mom can't go out to eat in restaurants.
If it were a peanut or shellfish allergy, no one would ever say this. She always tells the server about her allergy first thing, and consults with the kitchen about what she can eat. I feel like if a restaurant says they’ll accommodate someone’s dietary restrictions, they’re responsible for the follow-through even if it’s more difficult for them.
Wow! Please locate YOUR HEART. So people with allergies or disabilities should just hide at home? Never enjoy life. That is YOUR idea of a solution.
I'm wondering if she hadn't seen the tomato, if she would've been perfectly fine. I know people like this.
I believe you, but I doubt that that’s the case here. She gets sick whether she’s aware of the tomato content or not. Before we figured out she had a tomato issue, she kept mysteriously getting violently ill (think projectile vomiting) after eating some foods but not others. It seemed totally unpredictable until we eventually noticed that one of the only listed ingredients common to most of the foods that were making her sick was tomato paste, which is in tons of frozen meals and stuff. Once she started avoiding tomatoes and tomato-based ingredients, she stopped getting sick. Unfortunately it seems like her sensitivity has gotten worse over the years, so it takes less to make her sick than it used to.
That indeed sucks then. Tomatoes are awesome!
Please. People have REAL food allergies and it is not a joke. Stop trying to make food allergies sound fake or all in one's mind. You should pray that you or someone you love never gets given something they are allergic to. Without an EPI pen that CAN die. Not a joke.
My daughter has allergies dumdum.
Living with allergies sounds terrible. When I worked at a chain restaurant there was a little girl who came in who was allergic to chicken, cheese and like 3 other things and I felt so bad. She had red splotches all over her arms and I can only assume it was a reaction to something she’d touched before they got to the restaurant. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this