I feel vindicated, happy ending

[Va-bear]

Food poisoning doesn't always take hours to show up. DSS38 had it and was sick in the parking lot of the restaurant. He was carried to the hospital who confirmed it was food poisoning.

Good job OP for standing your ground!!

True... and I think seafood-based food poisoning is often faster than say pork or chicken. I know when I had a documented case in reaction to clams (college dining hall - go figure...), along with 50-some other people, it happened REALLY fast (long enough to walk one building away from the dining hall - but we didnt tend to linger there like one might at a 'fun' evening out.

Sorry this happened OP, but glad you got your money back. They shouldnt have so rude, period.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Also, you can develop a sensitivity (not really an allergy) to certain seafoods as an adult. At age 29, I suddenly became violently ill a couple hours after eating a seafood cobb salad. I, too, thought food poisining. However, a year or so later, I also became violently after having one crab-stuffed mushroom cap. It had to be the crab v. me because none of my friends got ill. I don't touch crab anymore, and I used to LOVE it. And yes, you do feel better after you're finished. Both times, it took about 3-4 hours until I became ill. Once was with a lot of food (and a lot of illness, which ironically occurred while I was driving through Los Banos, CA) and one time with only a bite, and only a little bit of illness.

That was my guess. Food poisoning takes much longer to set in.

I didn't like how the restaurant threw you out, but I doubt I would have accused the staff so quickly.

 

[DizzyStitch]

We posted at about the same time but I just thought about this a few days ago and you may be right. He told the waiter he can't have shellfish and the waiter said there was none. Going forward, we should probably confirm with the chef to be sure. Just like the waiter told us he had told the owner/manager that my dh felt ill (the guy was surprised when he came to the table), he probably didn't confirm no shellfish with the chef either.

This is one of the reasons we vacation at Disney. I can get dairy free food and have never been steered wrong. I ate at Damons once and was assured that an item I had did not have dairy. I reacted to it, e-mailed the company and sure enough there was dairy. In many cases the staff does not know exactly what is in the food.

 

[CobraBubbles]

We posted at about the same time but I just thought about this a few days ago and you may be right. He told the waiter he can't have shellfish and the waiter said there was none. Going forward, we should probably confirm with the chef to be sure. Just like the waiter told us he had told the owner/manager that my dh felt ill (the guy was surprised when he came to the table), he probably didn't confirm no shellfish with the chef either.

Definitely sounds like cross contamination, which could be deadly with shellfish...even possibly worse than food poisoning. There might not have been shellfish in the sauce, but if there were any utensils or dishes that cross contaminated, etc. That would be my guess.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

That's completely unacceptable! Before I had DD, I was in the restaurant industry for many, many years. I understand the whole 'people scamming to get a free meal schtick', but it sucks when you're legitimately sick from the restaurant's own food item. You know what? I'd tell all your friends/family about this, because you're probably not the only ones getting 'bad' food, and even wores, HORRIFFIC service. It'll eventually get back to the restaurant, and by that time, you'll have saved someone else pain and embarrassment.

 

[ibela]

Edited to add:

I guess that's what I get for starting a post then finishing and submitting later without reading other replies. I didn't see that the OP's DH has a known problem with shellfish, or this post:



I've never heard of actual food poisoning hitting that quickly. I know if microbes are the problem, it takes longer than that. Maybe if some kind of toxin is involved, it can manifest more quickly though.

Just to be clear, he doesn't have a "known issue" but has avoided shellfish his whole life for religious reasons. He's never actually had shellfish so we don't have a way of knowing for sure, but I know it's common and is a possibility. When he was younger he did have a lot of food allergies he was tested for but they went away during adulthood.

Thanks to all for the concern and tips.

 

[mjkacmom]

That's completely unacceptable! Before I had DD, I was in the restaurant industry for many, many years. I understand the whole 'people scamming to get a free meal schtick', but it sucks when you're legitimately sick from the restaurant's own food item. You know what? I'd tell all your friends/family about this, because you're probably not the only ones getting 'bad' food, and even wores, HORRIFFIC service. It'll eventually get back to the restaurant, and by that time, you'll have saved someone else pain and embarrassment.

Do to the rapid onslaught on symptoms, it very most likely wasn't bad food. Many here have responded that it sounds like a seafood allergy. Although I don't think the restaurant handled it well (from the OP's account - however, if they were accussing the restaurant of food poisoning loudly, I could see why they would want to get them out of there ), I wouldn't spread rumors that are probably unfounded.

OP, you DH should definitely get tested - a lot of adults develop new allergies.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

It's certainly not unfounded that they had terrible service! You can't say that it was handled properly in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Jsme]

I think it is horrible you and your DH was treated so poorly when it was apparent he was ill. Whether the manager agreed with your theory of food poisoning or not that is no way to treat a guest in their establishment.

 

[ibela]

Do to the rapid onslaught on symptoms, it very most likely wasn't bad food. Many here have responded that it sounds like a seafood allergy. Although I don't think the restaurant handled it well (from the OP's account - however, if they were accussing the restaurant of food poisoning loudly, I could see why they would want to get them out of there ), I wouldn't spread rumors that are probably unfounded.

OP, you DH should definitely get tested - a lot of adults develop new allergies.

Just to be clear, we weren't at all loud and everything was discussed in a hushed tone. The manager's concern was that we were upsetting the staff with our accusation as they were discussing it amongst each other, not that we were causing a scene or disturbing other customers around us.

 

[Shelby5514]

Thats just bad buiness on their part. Recently we had lunch at Dave & Busters and my FIL ordered the fish and chips. He took the first bite and the fish was raw inside the crunchy FRIED coating. He didn't throw a fit, just explained that something was wrong and could he have something different. The manager came over and not only did they bring him something else (hamburger), they comp-ed the entire meal for ALL of us. This was so not necessary, but we will definately go back just because of the great customer service we were shown.