Which restaurants are super-awesome with multiple food allergies?

[CarrieR]

We just got back from WDW and found the culinary team to be great when dealing with food allergies. However, one of my traveling companions had back-to-back reactions -- not from lack of diligence, but from foods that she didn't know she was allergic to. :/

Based on our experiences with TS and CS, we have decided we feel much more comfortable doing a TS a day (we generally eat one big meal and a few snacks.) It just tends to be easier allergenicly. I have a trip planned in Sept with that companion and another friend, and all three of us have allergies. Mine are thankfully simple and gastrointestinal, but the other two are both allergic to a variety of non-typical foods and have histories of anaphylaxis (one extremely severe, one heading that direction.)

I literally cannot remember the entire list, but between the three of us we have 1) strawberries, peanuts, walnuts, maybe tree nuts, corn, soy, eggs by themselves (in stuff is fine?), dairy in certain quantities, and other stuff, 2) mushrooms (vegetarian, so this gets tricky,) mango, 3) latex, banana, kiwi, apple, uncooked tomato, and a whole host of possibly allergenic food (avocado, chestnut, cherry, carrot, spices, etc) that is related to the latex allergy. The top offenders for the highly-allergic duo are not the typical "top 8" foods, either.

We would prefer to avoid buffets, too much risk of cross-contamination.

What restaurants have you found that are particularly patient and able to work well with a host of atypical food allergies?

In case you can't tell I'm a little bit overwhelmed and maybe a smidge panicked right now. On the upside, the AKL staff is awesome at dealing with an emergency... :/

 

[Mary976]

Where I usually start is by looking at the menus (on wdwinfo or allears) and taking a look at what different restaurants normally offer. Personally, I find it easier to go in with an idea of what I want. That way I can say to the chef, "hey, can you do x dish from the menu but with this modification?"

I know a lot of people have the chef create something from scratch, but I have several restrictions so I like being able to give the chef an idea of something that is similar to a menu item (because I figure those ingredients are already at the restaurant). Also, some of your items are likely to be in a lot of dishes (eggs and dairy) while others are probably uncommon so you're less likely to have to worry about reconfiguring a dish (like mango).

Personally, we had especially good experiences with Chef Christian at Mama Melrose and Chef George at Kouzzinas.


Mary

 

[clanmcculloch]

Buffets aren't off limits. The chef will get you fresh food from the back to avoid cross contamination and will specially prepare some foods for you if items that are available aren't safe. We've had some great buffet experiences. We do seem to have to ask for the chef to get stuff from the kitchen for us but the majority are very happy to do so.

Like Mary, we look over the menus to make sure that there'll be something that looks like it would be at least easily modified to meet our allergies and preferences. I figure if they carry a protein that my kids will enjoy then they can always just cook up some plain white rice or rice pasta (we're gluten free so regular pasta is out) or baked french fries (you can have those since they have a bit of soy in them) if nothing else that is offered by the chef as safe seems to appeal to them.

We try to stick with restaurants owned and operated by Disney. They have more allergy specific foods on hand and in my experience much better tableside manner. Chefs at non-Disney owned places may try and will prepare something safe but options will likely be significantly more limitted than at a Disney owned place and some non-Disney owned places don't have the greatest of reputations at all when it comes to dealing with more than 1 or 2 allergens at a time.

Out of curiosity, what does a vegetarian who can't eat peanuts, soy, a variety of tree nuts and mushrooms eat for protein? Does she supplement with a protein supplement of some kind such as rice protein or pea protein added to foods? Wow, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for her.

One more piece of advice. Type up business sized cards with the allergies listed by individual. Bring a bunch of them so you can hand one to each chef. You don't want to forget something and have somebody get sick. If you have to make the cards bigger than that, no problem. The point is to be portable to not take up much room when carrying them around.

 

[CarrieR]

Thanks, Mary. We've done two trips recently and that's usually what we do. I was reading other threads on here that mentioned Chefs de France (which looks like a good option based on its menus) is not as attentive as one would like. So I thought I'd find out what has a history of being good, so we can try to head in that direction.

Thankfully the mangoes are fairly easy, since they're mine; the biggest problem is sometimes the veg dishes are either mushroom-based or include mangoes (like the mango-glazed tofu at Sci Fi.) All three of us are "what's the easiest way to help others accomodate us" type people, and severe anaphylaxis friend and I have very good handles on our dietary restrictions. It's newly-allergic friend that has me in a panic, since we're just not sure what she's allergic to and for the past two trips it has changed between when I sent in the form to special diets and the trip itself. So it's helpful to know which locations are particularly great about working around lists of random allergens. (We had a chef at Mara who looked at me like I had fourteen heads as I tried to explain the situation, although he was great about it in the end. I just don't think he was prepared with an answer for, "Well actually, we don't know what she's allergic to, so uhhhh.... what if we do this dish, and take off this, and also don't use this, and substitute this... I think those all *should* be safe." Bless his heart! Other chefs were great, and completely unphased -- but of course several of those were at the "in" restaurants which are fully booked less than 90 days out from a trip during free dining. )

All I want to do is have a vacation free of first aid, 911 calls, and friends who are attempting to subsist on pretzels and Sprite! LOL!

(On the upside, I do have to applaud Disney for their general allergy awesomeness, after I made an extremely simple request at Subway after we returned and you would think I'd asked the girls to run a marathon.)

 

[CarrieR]

Out of curiosity, what does a vegetarian who can't eat peanuts, soy, a variety of tree nuts and mushrooms eat for protein? Does she supplement with a protein supplement of some kind such as rice protein or pea protein added to foods? Wow, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for her.

I probably should have been more clear in my conglomorate list; thankfully the vegetarian (me) is the least allergenic of everyone and it's just mushrooms and mangoes. The other two are (1) latex-related foods and a (2) smorgasbord of unrelated stuff, lol. I can't even imagine if it was one person allergic to all of that, geesh! I edited the list so that it is a bit more clear.

One more piece of advice. Type up business sized cards with the allergies listed by individual. Bring a bunch of them so you can hand one to each chef. You don't want to forget something and have somebody get sick. If you have to make the cards bigger than that, no problem. The point is to be portable to not take up much room when carrying them around.

That's a great idea, thanks. I had read it somewhere else as well, I think it needs to happen. Unless latex-friend gets complete testing between now and the trip, the list of potential allergens is huge and she'll be avoiding everything on it. Random-allergic friend has a long list, but at least it is finite, lol.

As far as non-Disney-owned restaurants -- it's a few in Epcot (Mexico, France, Italy, right?) and then most (all?) of what's in DTD? Yak 'n' Yeti in AK? Anything else in the parks or resorts? Is there a comprehensive list somewhere that can be linked to?

ETA: I really appreciate everyone's help. This is both very new and apparently quite severe for LA-friend, and her solution is just to not eat much of anything, which is not going to work well in the long term. I figure she's just going to get stabilized at home before we go on vacation again, and throw everything for a loop. Should be extra-fun *insert sarcasm here.* LOL.

ETA2: The buffets is a comfort thing, honestly. Right now it is a process of not being afraid of eating, and knowing that there was a specific dish prepared allergen-free is a matter of peace of mind. It's also a lot for the chef to remember each dish's ingredients, and each allergen, on the fly while walking the buffet.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Count me among those who will never step foot in Chefs de France again. They were very uncooperative the one and only time we ate there. We felt like we were putting the server out and the chef CLEARLY didn't like coming out to talk to us. DD13 (9 or 10 at the time) was stuck eating a bunless burger with a salad of just lettuce and carrots with no dressing and fruit for dessert. Yeah, doesn't that sound tasty to a kid? We can get that kind of service at home; when we're at WDW we want WDW treatment.

I just want to explain buffets a little bit further. I'll use our Chef Mickey experience as an example. The chef came out to our table and walked the buffet with us. It was generally understood that the items as-is on the buffet wouldn't be safe. The few things that did end up being safe and of interest to my kids he got from the kitchen after verifying the ingredients. He didn't just go from memory. He then also went over which types of foods that we were seeing were of general interest to us and he grabbed all fresh ingredients and made them some food. He wasn't limitted by the completed dishes. If the ingredient appeared on the buffet then he was able to make something with that ingredient even if it didn't resemble the buffet item in any way. The dishes WERE all prepared in an allergy safe manner custimized to our allergens. We've had the same experience at numerous buffets. I'm just saying that you don't need to let fear rule them out, though I do understand that fear and the reason for doing so.

Non-Disney owned restaurants:
Coronado Springs Resort dining
Downtown Disney dining
Yak & Yeti
Rainforest Cafe
Swan/Dolphin resort dining
Boardwalk dining with the exception of I think Boardwalk Bakery

 

[jlr9882]

I just want to explain buffets a little bit further. I'll use our Chef Mickey experience as an example. The chef came out to our table and walked the buffet with us. It was generally understood that the items as-is on the buffet wouldn't be safe. The few things that did end up being safe and of interest to my kids he got from the kitchen after verifying the ingredients. He didn't just go from memory. He then also went over which types of foods that we were seeing were of general interest to us and he grabbed all fresh ingredients and made them some food. He wasn't limitted by the completed dishes. If the ingredient appeared on the buffet then he was able to make something with that ingredient even if it didn't resemble the buffet item in any way. The dishes WERE all prepared in an allergy safe manner custimized to our allergens. We've had the same experience at numerous buffets. I'm just saying that you don't need to let fear rule them out, though I do understand that fear and the reason for doing so.

Non-Disney owned restaurants:
Coronado Springs Resort dining
Downtown Disney dining
Yak & Yeti
Rainforest Cafe
Swan/Dolphin resort dining
Boardwalk dining with the exception of I think Boardwalk Bakery

I will agree Chef Mickey was great for my son at 2 years old. He had around 20 allergies then, and now at 4 it about 30. The chef at Chef Mickey brought my son a whole plate out of allergy friendly waffles, eggs, and fresh fruit. He was awesome. I have read great reviews on POP's food and it being allergy friendly. They tell me the chef there is great!

I am littled worried now. We have ADR's at Boma, Kona Cafe, Cape May, and Maya. So Maya at Coronado Springs is NOT Disney owned?

 

[clanmcculloch]

Maya was one of our less magical experiences. This was a few years ago so maybe things have improved but back then the chef just didn't have much to work with. He was wonderful and tried his best but there wasn't much that he could offer to my kids. He bent over backwards for us and tried his best and made things off-menu and it was a safe experience but as I said, he just didn't have the options available in his kitchen to make the kinds of things they make at Disney owned restaurants.

 

[CarrieR]

Wow, that's worlds different from our experience at Tusker House. We listed off the allergies and the chef walked the line with us; in one instance he missed mentioning tomatoes on one dish. (To be fair, the allergy may have been listed as 'raw tomatoes,' but the tomatoes were in a quiche or something and therefore technically cooked, I'm just not sure cooked enough to destroy the protein.)

He was great and caring -- and came out personally again when we asked the ingredients of another dish which my friend reacted to (due to a previously unknown allergy, nothing preventable.) We were the first seating of the morning -- so maybe that had to do with not needing fresh food, I dunno. I'm also sure that they would have done some fresh, had we requested it. I'll bear in mind your alternate experience as we decide what and where we'd like to eat.

Thanks for the info on the non-Disney-owned restaurants. We'll be sure to avoid those. Thankfully we will be staying at Pop, so hopefully they live up to their allergy-friendly reputation!

 

[girls]

We had some really good experiences. My child has multiple anaphylactic allergies, and she's contact sensitive, so the whole family avoids them when she's with us. We also are foodies (even my little guys.)

Buffets: 1900 Park Fare & Chef Mickey's. We did breakfast at both. We all had mickey waffles, fruit & bacon. We didn't ask for anything else. All were made separately. We don't allow our child to eat food from a buffet even if it's "safe" because of cross contamination.

Narcoosee's: We all had great fish dishes, roasted potatoes, some yummy veggies. We really enjoyed this meal.

Citricos: Another awesome meal. Kids had fruit cups, some fish dishes. We thought it was great.

Liberty Tree Tavern: We were a little iffy heading in on the food quality, but they did great. We even got dairy-free mashed potatoes. My carnivore children loved the meat plate. Out dessert here was the only one that wasn't a Divvies cookie - delicious raspberry sorbet topped with fresh berries. It was so good.

Raglan Road: We were a little nervous since it's a non-Disney restaurant, but they were able to feed us all safely. With the exception of my husband's scallop appetizer, it was run of the mill, chain-style food, but we all ate safely and enjoyed the entertainment (and know that my children will be getting their own scallop app next time since they ate all of his!)

Le Cellier: The food wasn't anything spectacular, but they fed us all safely.

Have a great trip!

 

[Selket]

Raglan Road would be on my#1 to avoid list after last week when they fed my nut allergic son a dessert with almonds in it that they told me was nut free. Thankfully no reaction to that particular nut for him but they were very cavalier about the entire thing.

 

[CarrieR]

Oh, wow Carol, thanks for sharing. I had been considering Raglan but just can't risk that kind of attitude.

How is Liberty Tree Tavern? Thus far I've been able to get Plaza (not fancy, but they were EXCELLENT when we were there last week,) and just got a lunch reservation at LC which was the one request my BFF had. I looked at her like she was mad, lol, clearly she is not the one who has been buddies with the Disney Dining Reservation system since November. Thought we might try LTT at lunch one day.

I would like to try 'Ohana again, but getting a reservation is not so much happening. I have a couple of months, so I'll keep trying...

 

[clanmcculloch]

We had a great experience at LTT for lunch in February. I couldn't believe it but the chef actually remembered us from a previous trip when he worked at 50s PTC (and I have to say I think he was the best chef we had at 50s PTC). I had emailed back and forth with a chef ahead of time to find out what safe foods there would be for my kids because I wasn't sure there would be anything they'd like so I knew what to expect, or so I thought. The chef saw the looks on their faces I guess because they weren't thrilled with their options and so he took it upon himself to offer them something else. I think he actually walked across the street to CHH to get chicken tenders for them. He was so wonderful. DD13 LOVED the sorbet piled with berries.

Carrie, I'd love to hear your Plaza experience. That's one I'm really nervous about and one of the few restaurants I haven't heard from. The big reason I'm nervous is that my kids can't eat the allergy breads at WDW so I'm wondering what they'll get to eat.

 

[aggordon2]

I am sorry that you had a bad experience at Maya Grill. We stayed at Coronado Springs the last two years and we had nothing but good experiences, not just at Maya but at the Pepper Market as well.

 

[Selket]

Oh, wow Carol, thanks for sharing. I had been considering Raglan but just can't risk that kind of attitude.

How is Liberty Tree Tavern? Thus far I've been able to get Plaza (not fancy, but they were EXCELLENT when we were there last week,) and just got a lunch reservation at LC which was the one request my BFF had.

We haven't done LTT in years but never had a problem there. But my son's allergies are common at least: peanut, tree nut and shellfish.

We were at CSR this time for part of our trip and Pepper Market was only "ok" - the people serving the food tried to advise me on what was safe and what wasn't and almost gave him chips cooked in peanut oil (which we avoid). I told her she needed to check - she gave me the usual "there are no peanuts in our chips" - like I'm stupid. I have a feeling we ate more "may contains" or "processed in a facility" items than typical on this trip.

I had the chefs at several places say "these items are prepared in a facility but i've never had a problem with someone with nut allergies eating it" - so I let him have it - like at Biergarten. Other times at Biergarten the chef advised against all of their desserts and made something for him. First they would say "this is safe" - then a bit later say "well...it IS made in a facility..." It was a more difficult trip than usual.

After awhile I just get exhausted trying to question them.

The Raglan Road incident however was just plain carelessness and stupidity on their part. The manager seemed very informed until he tried to tell me that was a giant oat in the dessert.

I've had good luck at T-Rex if you want to do Downtown Disney - the chef there was awesome both times.

 

[CarrieR]

Carol, T-Rex won't work unfortunately (We really like Rainforest and would love the change) because we need to stay on DDP. We had planned and budgeted on the free dining QSDP, so the upgrade to DDP is a bit of a stretch to start with; anything off-plan is therefore off-limits. Sigh. (If we were paying for the dining plan, I would just drop it altogether and do what we prefer, but it's hard to say, "I just won't eat the free food!" LOL. Makes more sense to upgrade.)

Carrie, I'd love to hear your Plaza experience. That's one I'm really nervous about and one of the few restaurants I haven't heard from. The big reason I'm nervous is that my kids can't eat the allergy breads at WDW so I'm wondering what they'll get to eat.

We had a chef come out and introduce ourselves, and he noted he would be with us the whole time. He knelt on one knee next to the table and then joked that he wasn't proposing (yet,) which was nice in the sense that we knew he wasn't super-annoyed. He took very careful notes, actually plussed the sandwich (I can't recall exactly, but it was something to the effect of instead of the turkey sandwich, which is what my friend was going to order, he did the club with all turkey, so that she would get 2x the meat,) and then made sure to let us know they were actually going to make her meal in a separate kitchen to prevent cross-contamination. (One of the problematic foods is raw tomatoes, which obviously in a sandwich shoppe are very prevalent.) I don't believe they made my sandwich in the separate kitchen, but it really wasn't necessary, as my sandwich didn't need modification at all. (I'm veg with mushroom/mango allergies, so usually pretty easy to work around and no history of anaphylaxis or anything near it.)

He also checked back once or twice, I can't recall, once to make sure everything was okay and I believe also once to let us know that they were working on things and they would be out shortly. I know for certain he mentioned that he would be the chef that was with us for the whole meal, which was really helpful. We definitely felt like there was individual attention and lots of care given.

I don't know what they'd do if they couldn't do breads. Maybe something like a lettuce roll-up, with the meat/cheese/condiments (?) rolled in a leaf of lettuce, or... ??? I would imagine, based on our experience, they would be happy to make the same sort of reasonable accommodation you make at home for sandwiches for the kids. (Excepting of course if you have access to bread at home that they don't at Disney.) Perhaps you could try emailing ahead of time to see if they could order in brand xyz for your kids, if there's something you know will work? May work, may not, but couldn't hurt to try.

I just need to underscore again -- for those who are lurking or have never visited WDW with allergy -- how wonderful ALL of the chefs have been. We've had issues with two reactions (NOT the fault of the chefs, these were previously unknown allergens) and in one case we had a chef at our table in no time flat (I had asked the server about an ingredient in a dish) and in the second I actually got a call from a chef to follow up, a full week after our departure from WDW. We had special care and attention taken at virtually every restaurant and that is not something that we deal with in "real life." But, there are certain restaurants that have a bit of extra "sparkle" which is what I was looking for with this thread. I so appreciate the help!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thanks Carrie. I think the reason I'm so nervous about the Plaza is that it's one of the few restaurants that HASN'T contacted me yet. At our resort the chef is looking into getting in DD13's bread (DD10 oddly enough can eat the gourmet hot dog buns listed on the allergy sheets so I figure the Plaza can always go across the street to Caseys to get one if they don't carry them) but nothing from the Plaza. I'll likely email Special Diets again next week if I haven't heard from them yet. Worst case scenario she can always order chicken tenders but I also know that she'll likely be eating these quite a few times during our trip (likely all CS meals) so I'd love for her to have other options at TS restaurants. We'll see how it goes. I know she'll get a safe meal but I'm hoping for a meal she'll enjoy.