Waitress at The Cheesecake Factory Joked About Food Allergy

It is really amazing how many restaurants do not talk to employees
about food allergies. I have a severe allergy to avocados and have to
always ask if dishes contain avocado or guacamole, etc. Sometimes the
waitstaff are unsure. But I always say "If it does, can it please be
left off? I am severely allergic." I can't tell you how many times I
have been brought a plate covered in avocado despite my request. I
think allergies should be addressed in orientation and training.
Sometimes you can't taste a hidden ingredient and can suffer an
unneeded attack which is very scary. People assume some risk by
eating in restaurants, certainly, but the waitress in this case was
just inappropriate.

not cool, she should have double checked and immediately apologized
instead of making a joke. allergies can be life threatening so it is
very important to double check.

I'm on the OP's side here -- she informed the waitstaff she could not
eat tomatoes and the server should have checked and re-checked that
the food was safe.

Until you have seen someone go into an anaphylactic reaction, you have
no idea how severe food allergies can be.

I worked in food service for many years. I used to wait on a lady with
a severe seafood allergy and she loved paella made without shellfish.
Yes, paella usually contains shellfish but we could do a
shellfish-free version for her and we did it. If it were not possible,
we would have said "Sorry, not possible". If you TELL a customer that
the food does not contain an item or that you can make it without the
allergen, then you must take responsibility for it.

She said she went to another restaurant one time and was told they
could do a scampi dish with chicken instead of shrimp. Lo and behold,
the chef must have added shrimp, then picked it out before it was
served to her. She had a severe reaction and had to be whisked to the
hospital. Not so funny when it's your own life we're talking about.

To joke about someone's allergy is akin to joking about a disability.
If you know someone well, you can get away with it but it is
unprofessional to do so with a stranger.

I feel sorry for their evening being ruined and hope they get a free
meal out of it.

I am going to have to agree with you.

The Company should have trained all of their associates a little
better as to "product knowledge." The waitress should have known how
the food was prepared and should have known there were tomatoes in the
pasta.

I have children also so I know how special those nights out with girls
can be!

The Cheesecake Factory should send you a gift card so you and your
friends can go back out again, because that place isn't cheap. And yes
everyone I know they did comp her meal, but, as a Retail Sales Manager
for a large corporation, thats what I would do to keep my consumer
happy and keep them as a customer.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/08/25/food.allergies/index.h
tml

Honestly, it sounds like the restaurant staff handled the situation
well.

The waitress seems to have only made a joke thinking that there was
actually NOT any tomato in the dish. When she realized there was a
problem, she got the manager, and the manager apologized and did not
charge you.

I agree that what happened sucks, but I honestly don't know if there
are grounds to complain about THAT part of it.

The waitress does need a bit of work on her table side manner, and she
should take food allergies more seriously, but why would you order a
dish containing an allergen in it by design and then tell them to take
it out? Isn't there anything on a Cheesecake Factory menu that is made
without tomatoes? Sometimes, allergy people cause their own problems.


Look at the menu. If there are six items without something that might
kill you and three with it, order one of the six. Seriously.

My brother-in-law is allergic to garlic and he married into an Italian
family, yet there are still items without garlic, even on Italian
menus. Do so research next time.

Okay, before I start talking, I'M ON THE OP'S SIDE!! Now that that's
out of the way, and I agree that the waitress was out of line, here's
my take.

My youngest went to camp this year and we received the following in
the orientation packet:
"No Nut Policy"
Rainbow Valley/Sunset West Day Camp strives for a safe and equitable
environment; therefore, in order to maintain safety for all of its
campers, Rainbow Valley/Sunset West Day Camp does not allow any nut or
nut oil products at camp.
Campers and all camp personnel are not allowed to prepare or bring
items in their lunches or snacks that contain nuts or nut oil.
All food package content labels should be checked carefully to ensure
that they do not contain nuts or nut oil.
All Campers and camp personnel should refrain from using all nut
products at home during camp week, as nut oils transmitted via the
skin may cause a severe reaction in those allergic to nuts or nut
oil.
Unit Leaders should check all campers lunches and snacks each morning
upon arrival of each camper to the unit.
Any item containing nuts or nut oil should be bagged and brought to
Camp Headquarters to be traded for a comparable yet no nut, no nut oil
food item."

HUH?
I found this WAY over the top, and told the camp director so.
Everybody go in your kitchen and check your cupboards. Did you know
out of 33 different items in my snack/bread cupboard, ALL had some
form of nut, nut oil or nut protein? I'm supposed to alter what the
entire family eats for a whole week because one child out of 150 kids
may have a nut allergy?

I do agree with the OP, but how can we alter everything we do in
our life, what we eat, what we breathe, for one person? It's hard.

Because of Sarah's asthma, she has about 30% of her tongue that has
dead tastebuds ( it used to be about 50%). She has an ever growing
list of foods she WILL eat that don't taste like metal to her, and
peanut butter is numero uno. Plus, the camp guidelines ruled out
everthing but plain lunchmeat and fruits/veggies!
So I hear everyone's opinion.

Wow,

I guess I'm the guy that left the "not-so-nice" comment. It's good to
know that someone is there to crack down on any dissenting opinion and
ban it from this site. I guess the first amendment IS truly dead in
favor of the fairness doctrine. I figured my opinion would cause some
debate, but I didn't expect to be ERASED. Perhaps it's for the best.
We can all get along in magical fairy land where no one has a
counterpoint.

Me: I'm a fan of the movie NETWORK. We need an angry man to stand up
and say "I'M MAD AS H#@% AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE". Even
if the censors step in and deem it inappropriate. I wear the badge of
inappropriateness with honor.

As for the peanut-free rooms; it's gone way beyond that, to the point
of denying any peanut products in whole school systems. My kid can't
eat peanut butter because of someone else's allergies? The bigger
question that needs to be asked that the censor's won't allow is
this... Where did the allergies come from? NO ONE was deathly
allergic to peanuts in the '50s, or the '80s for that matter. Why
now? What have we done to our children to make them so incapable of
surviving in the real world?

Is it the banning of lawn darts? The enforcement of helmets on
bicycles? Keeping your kids on bungee leashes for fear of them
wandering off? When's the last time you saw a kid with a wood burning
kit. We of this generation all managed to survive. Why all the
mollycoddling.

Someone left a not-so-nice comment about food allergies that was,
thankfully, removed. Basically, this person went off on some rant
about the wimpiness of people who can't handle certain foods and they
should just stay home.

In case that oh-so-helpful person is reading, I'd like to answer. A
friend of ours has a son with a severe peanut allergy. His is a
life-or-death allergy that his parents would love him not to have
because, quite frankly, it's going to make his life a little more
difficult. It already makes life difficult because his parents have to
be vigilant about what he eats, where he goes to visit, etc. When he's
ready for school, they'll have to pack special lunches, and the kid
will probably have to eat in special peanut-free areas. As
for staying home because of their "needy son", they already have to do
that because of his allergies. But thanks for that advice.

There are parents and people who cannot eat in certain restaurants,
live in certain places that they'd like to live in, or visit areas
because of their allergies. Do you really think they enjoy that?

The OP's friend in this case did not ask that a special meal be
prepared for her; she simply asked that her meal come with no tomatoes
(a request which, by the way, The Cheesecake Factory, as well as many
restaurants, honors).

That is completely unprofessional and dangerous. I think that the
Cheesecake Factory needs to better educate it's staff on how to deal
with food allergies.

I work in a restaurant, and follow the procedure of: 1. Have a manager
run an allergy report to make sure there are no (insert allergen
here)-based ingredients that can't be left out or removed. In your
case, I would make sure there is not a tomato base or anything like
that (tomato paste is often used as a thickening agent).
3. Let guest know if item can't be made without the allergen.
2. Whether or not a dish normally comes with said allergen, write
"(allergen) ALLERGY" next to the line item, so that the kitchen can
avoid cross-contamination, and the food runner can also check it
before bringing it to the table.

The way I look at it, if the person eating this food was my loved one
with a food allergy, I would want the waitress to be this careful as
well.

Far too many restaurants don't take food allergies seriously. I used
to work with a guy who was allergic to most vegetables. He couldn't
even have sauce on his pizza. Yet, despite being told that the
customer had a food allergy, it was rare that a restaurant would
actually make the order to his request. Sandwiches were the worst.
Despite specifying "NO VEGETABLES AT ALL", his subs would usually show
up with lettuce, tomato, etc. Once, when he finally complained, the
cashier asked, "Can't you just pick the vegetables off?"

Anyways, good letter.

What you friend most likely said:
"I have a severe allergy to tomatoes, can you make sure the food has
none?"

What she needs to say:
"I would like to have the XYZ pasta, with NO TOMATOES. Even if you
think there are none there could be, press the no tomato button on the
POS, ring it in accordingly and tell the cook as well. I have a severe
allergy, and cannot come near them."

With the first phrase, the waitress is likely to forget, or assume
that there is no tomato. The second phrase asks for results.

I can't believe she said that. There is no way she could pull off a
statement like that and sound OK about it, kidding or not kidding it's
very inappropriate.

I hope they respond to your letter soon, and you are ok! Good luck.

I totally agree that more should be done to train their employees, at
least at that location to make the employees realize the seriousness
of food allergies.

Not to discount any of your story, but if you were unsure they were
tomatoes because of the dark atmosphere, why didn't you offer to taste
them?

I agree...the waitress was rather sadistic to say the least and the
manager should have not only comped your meals buy made her apologize
directly to your friend before she left.
I was just wondering, but if you had any doubt about the small red
pieces why didn't you ask your friend to taste some of the red pieces
just to make sure? You still could have sent it back and then would
not have gotten ill.

Its so hard to eat out when one has such allergies as this. One must
be so careful.

If that's how the waitress thinks of food allergies, she is one big,
walking liability and should be fired immediately, and banned from
working in the food service industry.

Imagine her in a worst case scenario. Someone could die.

I've just read a letter about the excellent service someone with a
peanut allergy got at another restaurant.

I wish that there were more stories like those and fewer like yours.
I hope your friend has recovered.

But I think that if it were me I probably wouldn't want to go back.
Not only was the waitress rude, but the people in the kitchen weren't
reliable and I wouldn't trust them a second time. If they say they'll
do better and your friend does choose to go back, though, I hope that
the experience is much, much better.

What that waitress did was cruel and cold blooded and she should have
been reprimanded.