Raglan Road gave my nut allergic son almonds

[Selket]

We ate at Raglan Road last night and had my sons allergies listed on the ADR and told the server. She sent over the manager who discussed the options with us and he told us the apple crumble dessert was completely nut free and safe as long as the ice cream was left off as the ice cream was "may contain."

My 9 year old gets his dessert and had a bit but decided he didn't like it so he stopped eating it. After a bit I happen to notice what loOks like an almond in it and sure enough it is silvered almonds! The manager is called over and he still thinks it must be a freakishly huge oat but he goes back with it to the chef who confirms it is almond. The manager is like "oh well oops" and really never came back.

Fortunately my child didn't have a reaction but he was freaked out and that pretty much ruined the rest of the evening. He was afraid the reaction was coming,etc. I have to say I'm furious with this place! I still have most of our vacation to go and I paid extra to upgrade him to the adult meal plan (he isn't quite 10 yet) he is now afraid every place will be like this.

Any place at Disney to complain to about this? I would like to let them know what a poor job this manager did - just completely cavalier about the whole incident. I feel like going back over there today just to yell at him! It wouldn't accomplish anything but might make me feel better!

If you have allergies I wouldn't go near this place!

 

[MickeyCrazed]

No advice, I just wanted to say that the stuation is pretty scary.

I'm surprised RR sent over a manager to review the menu with you. What does he or she know? At the Disney owned restaurants, I've always seen a chef come out to the table to discuss the menu and your options.

 

[15isto2]

I would go to guest services and speak to a manager about this, disney are usually very good an allergies and I am surprised at the attitude you experienced.

In any resturaunt when I have told them I have an allergy (shell fish) the chef has always come out to speak to me, even if its only to let me know that there is ne shell fish on any menu item.

 

[cel_disney]

I would definitely talk to guest services or write a letter or something.

With regards to the rest of your vacation - if you can do it - focus your means at Disney owned and operated restaurants maybe?

So sorry this made for a stressful night, but I'm glad to hear there was no reaction on the part of your son!!

 

[Forevryoung]

We just got back (peanut/tree nut, sesame, fish/shellfish allergy)- maybe if you post what restaurants you have left, we can post all our positive experiences for those restaurants.

I'm sorry you had that experience and I don't blame your family for being VERY upset and nervous.

I would talk to someone while you are still at Disney about your experience.

 

[dclfun]

I would also choose ONLY the Disney-owned restaurants. Disney and guest services has no "jurisdiction" over Raglan Road or any of the non-Disney owned restaurants. I've heard of several people with severe allergies avoiding San Angel Inn in particular since the non-WDW venues don't guarantee that they'll accommodate allergies. The chef should be the one discussing dietary needs, not a manager. I'm sorry about what happened and hopefully your other ADR's are with Disney venues only.---Kathy

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would send a letter, with all the specifics, including date and time and the manager's name. If you don't have the name, the exact date and time can help to identify the person.

Disney takes Guest Safety as the absolute highest requirement for all cast, even above their own safety.

The address is

WDW Guest Communications
PO Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000

Even though they may not be Disney employees, your letter will have an effect (and probably help someone else down the line).

 

[Zeora]

What a terrible manager. I've been to restaurants where I've spoken with the manager about dietary restrictions before and they did actually have a clue about the ingredients on the menu (and if they didn't, checked first, not afterwards!) It's a real shame this guy wasn't one of them. Sounds like he was assuming that by "allergy" you actually meant "he doesn't like them" which is a really dumb thing to do.

I would definitely file a complaint about him somewhere; even if Disney can't do anything directly, ask if they can somehow forward it to the correct person to know about this. As for the rest of your trip, would it be possible to ask the server when you arrive specifically to check with the chef instead of the manager? If you can find a place or two where the chef would come out to answer questions, maybe it might help reassure your son.

 

[SueM in MN]

Since Raglan Road is not Disney owned, I looked to see if I could find some contact information, but was not able to find anything other than the phone number for the restaurant.
The company that owns Raglan Road in WDW also owns one in Kansas City from what I can find out. The owners of the entire company are Paul Nolan and John Cooke, both from Dublin and the chef is also Irish.
The Florida company is called Great Irish Pubs Florida, Inc.
The only phone number I could find was (407) 938-0300.

The manager may have honestly thought that food item did not contain nuts, but the chef added them to the recipe - which I guess is a good reason to talk to chefs, not someone else. It’s also hard to know what the person’s understanding is - does nut allergy just mean peanuts to them?
The manager’s attitude was sort of alarming once the mistake was found. I your child was allergic to almonds, it would have been a serious mistake. My son in law is highly allergic to almonds and it would be an emergency situation for him if almonds were in the ‘nut free’ dessert.

Hope your little guy enjoys the rest of the stay. If you are at WDW owned restaurants for the rest of your stay, hopefully, things will be OK.

 

[Selket]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. It really was helpful as I felt so upset and frustrated! Im also thankful that he isn't super allergic to that particular nut! He was given a usual nut panel and has extreme allergies to at least 2 tree nuts but I looked back at the results after this (they are online through our HMO) and almonds was a low hit. The allergist just said avoid all though so we do.

Looking at the remainder of our reservations they are at Disney operated places or ones we've been to many times. We only went there cause we were doing Disney Quest and wanted a dtd place and not much was open for reservations with the meal plan.

I will definitely write to wdw guest services and let them know and hopefully this will lead to changes in how RR handles guests with allergies are treated. The head chef's reason was thatsome other chef made the dish that day but the manager basically hid from us the rest of the time -and the meal was over.

Hopefully too anyone thinking of going there and have allergies Will see this thread and reconsider.

 

[Talking Hands]

Unfortunately this can happen any place even at Disney. Was on back stage tour and at Mama Melrose. Had been before in same tour and always they gave me fruit for dessert. Well they had no fruit so they tried to give me the sugar free cheesecake. I know it is made with some ingredients I am allergic to so I asked to see the ingredient list on the package. Was refused but assured it was fine. I declined to eat it since I knew it wasn't safe for me.

 

[jsilvers]

The owners of the entire company are Paul Nolan and John Cooke.

Cooke's email address is jcooke@raglanroadirishpub.com. Assuming consistent naming protocols, Nolan's would be pnolan@raglanroadirishpub.com.

Corporate records for Great Irish Pubs Florida, Inc. provide the following contact address for Paul Nolan: {edited by admin to remove contact's home address}
Might be worth sending them a note...

 

[SueM in MN]

Cooke's email address is jcooke@raglanroadirishpub.com. Assuming consistent naming protocols, Nolan's would be pnolan@raglanroadirishpub.com.

Corporate records for Great Irish Pubs Florida, Inc. provide the following contact address for Paul Nolan {edited by admin to remove contact's home address}.

Might be worth sending them a note...

Thanks for the info.
I had limited time to hunt and could not find this info.

 

[Selket]

We are home now and no other bad experiences. I was so upset that night afterwards that I couldn't sleep (hence my 5am post typing it all on my phone - LOL!). I feel like we avoided a catastrophe to start off our trip. My son with nut allergies also has type 1 diabetes and he is WAY more anxious about the allergies than the diabetes. He is very afraid of having a reaction and after this he was completely put out the rest of the evening. Even at Disney Quest he just wanted to go back to the hotel.

We were fine at our other restaurants (Mama Melrose was so good we went twice!). We typically do Teppan Edo and Biergarten (Disney owned? not sure) - done those for years with no problems - as well as Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare (Chef TJ was there - our favorite WDW chef!).

I will write a letter to Guest Relations as Cheshire suggested and also email the restaurant owners. I don't have the manager's name but I have the reservation details and I know what the guy looked like. I think he was the only "manager" on duty. I just hope that our experience there will cause some changes for them in the future so they won't make this mistake again. We were just lucky that he didn't have a reaction.

If I hear back I'll report! Thanks to all of you for making me feel better though - I really needed some sympathy!

 

[antree]

My son is HIGHLY Allergic to Peanuts/Tree Nuts, we did want to consider this restaurant one time. Thank you for posting your experience there. I'm so happy your son is OK.

 

[ls15]

How frightening!

I hope they touch base with you with some sort of explanation/apology.

I just wanted to add that not all of the managers/staff at Raglan Road are as incompetent. I went to Disney in February/March 2011 with a multitude of needs. I am a celiac with a dairy allergy, and I'm a vegan; my mom can't have gluten, soy, dairy or eggs. The chef did come out to speak to us and discussed cross-contamination - he even made me gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan onion rings in a separate fryer. He adapted something for my mom and we both ate their safely.

That being said, when we go back next year I am going to keep this in mind, and if you do get his name, would it be possible to share? I wouldn't feel comfortable with a manager who is so flippant about something so serious.

When we ate their, the chef that came and spoke to us (and checked on us after) was Chef Lenning (I think that is how you spell it).

 

[SueM in MN]

How frightening!

I hope they touch base with you with some sort of explanation/apology.

I just wanted to add that not all of the managers/staff at Raglan Road are as incompetent. I went to Disney in February/March 2011 with a multitude of needs. I am a celiac with a dairy allergy, and I'm a vegan; my mom can't have gluten, soy, dairy or eggs. The chef did come out to speak to us and discussed cross-contamination - he even made me gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan onion rings in a separate fryer. He adapted something for my mom and we both ate their safely.

That being said, when we go back next year I am going to keep this in mind, and if you do get his name, would it be possible to share? I wouldn't feel comfortable with a manager who is so flippant about something so serious.

When we ate their, the chef that came and spoke to us (and checked on us after) was Chef Lenning (I think that is how you spell it).

I do not want the name posted.
The original poster is taking the correct steps to make sure the problem is being dealt with. It would not be fair to the manager to post his name here and imply that dealing with him is dangerous, based one side of the story. We will not know exactly what action was taken; we don't know if he will be educated and become a powerful advocate for people with food allergies.

We also have only what the OP knows - the manager's apparent flippant attitude may have been what happened in public, but things may have happened in private that we don't know about. As I mentioned, the dessert may have been supposed to be nut free and the problem was not the manager's information, but the chef on duty adding something that was not supposed to be there. That would fit in with the OP's experience of the manager looking at almond pieces and saying it was just oatmeal.

Since the OP reported it, the company should sort out who needs to be re-educated or whatever ( and it may well not be the manager).

People always have the option of talking to the chef and I would suggest that for someone who is very allergic. Since the food is individually prepared and the chef is the one making the food, he/she is the only one who knows exactly what is in it.

 

[ls15]

SueM, of course, I agree. I wasn't thinking when I was writing that. Still in my morning haze.

Thank you for pointing that out!

 

[SueM in MN]

SueM, of course, I agree. I wasn't thinking when I was writing that. Still in my morning haze.

Thank you for pointing that out!

That's OK.
We all sometimes post things we are not thinking about (as evidence, I point to the thread where I posted about 'toll' showers and 'smother' bathrooms because I didn't check what my autocorrect may have changed words to.)

 

[Selket]

I will usually call for a chef if I have any reason to think the manager seems incompetent but this fellow seemed right on top of all the dishes - had a lot of detail, etc. By the time we realized what it was, the meal was just about over anyway so not like we wanted to sit there and hang out. I suppose he seemed flippant to me - but perhaps he had said his apology and given his reason (stupid though it was) and admitted to the "oops" and I guess he didn't really want to hang out with us after that. He wasn't massively apologetic - he seemed a bit more "CYA" if you know what I mean.

Our server seemed more horrified than he was - I told her she could take the almond sliver I had on my plate and present it to the chef and she said she would if she wasn't afraid of him. I honestly think she was afraid of the chef for some reason - I don't know what chef - the head chef is what I think. Perhaps there is some tension there between the manager, chef, servers, etc. It could be that the chef who made it screwed up that one time. Or it could be the manager was an idiot and it always has almonds in it - I have no idea! It was a Berry crumble type dessert, btw. In case anyone has had it.

I don't know - but they screwed up and we were just lucky.

I am hoping that my letter will lead them to better communication and controls for handling food allergies so that this won't happen again.