Restaurant suggestions for gluten free and allergies

[Eliserose]

We have one child who is gluten free and one who is peanut and shellfish allergic. We had our first trip to disney last year and it was amazing how the food issues were handled. We would like to go again and try some different places. Anyone have any suggestions for restaurants that were really accommodating, since some can be better than others.
We have already tried CG, Teppan Edo, Mama Melrose, Chef Mickey, Akershus and Chefs de France.
Also, has anyone gone to O'Hana with peanut allergies? We would love to try, but not sure if we should stay away b/c of the peanut issue.
Thanks!

 

[clanmcculloch]

For 'Ohana, you really need to understand the degree of allergy. If the only problem is consumption then I wouldn't worry at all. Where 'Ohana is a concern is if exposure to residue is an issue. The restaurant serves a peanut sauce. Part of the theme of the restaurant includes children getting up from their tables and participating in activities with all the other children and roaming (in a controlled manner) through the restaurant. If sticky little fingers have peanut sauce on them and handle the same broom or limbo stick or other object that is then handled by your child with an allergy, what will happen? Only you know the answer to this to know if it's a concern. My kids have very minor peanut allergies (I don't worry about cross contamination warnings with peanuts) so we enjoy 'Ohana.

I'm personally fine with any Disney owned restaurant with a few caviates.

• With a shellfish allergy I'd think twice about Cape May Cafe just because they have a variety of shellfish on the buffet and I would assume the dining room itself would be a cross contamination nightmare because guests just don't typically worry about what they've touched after handling their food.
• I always review menus before booking to be sure that the restaurant appears to have ingredients that would be easy to make into something that is allergy safe. I always assume that if an ingredient isn't shown on the menu then the restaurant doesn't carry it so basically I like knowing that my kids will be able to find something they like to eat even if it's just a plain piece of chicken.

 

[Eliserose]

Thanks so much for all the info! That's exactly what I wanted to know about O'Hana.

 

[nfceagles]

We ate safely at Ohana's with my PA DS (6.5). Everyone at the table skipped the peanut sauce, not just DS, and I didn't allow him to participate in the games. We were at a table away from most of the action and he didn't really seem to notice (he was 4 at the time). We don't really know how bad his allergy is. He got some residue rubbed into his eyes one time and they swelled up pretty bad, but that's the only reaction we've seen. I don't really know if the lack of other reactions speaks to him having a mild allergy or if it's because we avoid so many questionable foods (especially those made outside the home) due to his milk and egg allergies. My DH is shellfish allergic, though never any serious reactions, so we skipped the shrimp too. Otherwise, I found the meaty menu provided lots of options for my DS who doesn't usually have so many.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and Hollywood & Vine also have the kids get up and parade around if that is a contamination concern. We deal w/ diff allergies than your family's but we have had a lot of success at 1900 PF (esp w/ Chef TJ) and Boma w/ chefs being willing to make entire meals to meet our allergy and other dietary restrictions. Boma has some dishes containing peanut, such as peanut rice, on the buffet (not sure how severe your child's allergy is) but at the same time they seem to be the most conscious of contamination of all the restaurants. The chef explained to me that at each station the food is separated to decrease contamination of certain things into other dishes. You can always call each restaurant with your concerns. And Babycakes in DTD offers desserts that are free of almost all common allergens.

 

[rhonda_2003]

Tusker House also does a congo line type of thing with the characters. My ds (2) has a milk allergy with actual consumption of milk being the issue so cross-contamination usually isn't a problem.

I would like to really brag on the chefs at Tusker House and Crystal Palace, especially Tusher House. He was wonderful. Both chefs escorted me through the buffet to tell me what items were same. The Tusker House chef just fixed DS a complete plate of dairy free items, even special Mickey Head waffles so he could have the "same" thing his sister had. He even gave us several packs of allergy-friendly cookies to take with us, since he said there were too many tempting snacks that weren't friendly to the allergy population. Again, he was great! Crystal Palace gave us the dairy-free, gluten-free frozen waffles like we have at home.

 

[Eliserose]

Thanks! All these suggestions are so helpful!