5 Helpful Tips for Ordering Takeout when Dealing with Food Allergies
Welcome to your new cheat-sheet for how to take the night off of cooking for your food allergy family!
Some days you just don’t feel like cooking, am I right?! After becoming the full-time head chef for the last five weeks of quarantine, we finally ordered in from a local restaurant for our family dinner. Let me tell you...it felt goooood. No pots and pans to wash, no veggies to chop and most importantly, I got a little extra time to do something else.
As much of a treat as it is, ordering in when you’re dealing with food allergies can be tough and downright scary. You log onto your restaurant delivery service of choice and there are so. many. options. Your mind starts playing out all of the dangerous scenarios. There are so many ways this could go very wrong, but delivery would be oh-so-nice. What do you do??
I’m on your team and just want to give you options. Please give yourself permission to go with your gut on this, and if you’re not ready to try ordering in, then don’t. Warm up the leftovers again and pat yourself on the back. Safety is always the number one priority and should always be top of mind. But, if you feel comfortable doing takeout, then give it a whirl!
Here are my five go-to tips for ordering out from a restaurant and making it as safe as possible for your food allergy family:
Order from a restaurant you’ve dined at before. I’m all about making life easy. There’s definitely a sense of security that comes from getting takeout from a place where you’ve eaten before. You’ve maybe gotten a glimpse at how organized the kitchen is or talked to management and know how they handle food allergies. Plus, your food allergy family member may have already eaten there and you know what is safe. This then becomes the safest choice for takeout and your no-brainer.
Use the “Notes” section of the food delivery service’s order form. Unfortunately, not all online meal delivery services have this section, but when they do, make sure to use it! I’ll write in all caps, “SEVERE TREE NUT ALLERGY” so it’s glaring at the kitchen staff when our order is sent in.
Pick up your phone. Call the restaurant after you place the order online and even ask to speak with the manager. I know that making a special request can be intimidating, but as long as you do it in the nicest way possible, most restaurant staff are very understanding and receptive. I’ll place my order online, give it a few minutes to go through and then call the restaurant. Be prepared to tell them the name of the delivery service you’re using, the name the order is placed under and what the food allergy concern is. This will sound something like, “Hi there. I just placed an online order a few minutes ago through (name of service). It should be under Kim. I wanted to make sure that you and the kitchen knows that my son has a very severe tree nut allergy, so could you please do me a big favor and make sure everyone knows to be aware of the allergy and any possible cross-contact?” This is also a great time to ask what nuts (or other allergens) are in the kitchen and how they’re stored and used in the kitchen.
Don’t make assumptions. If you don’t know what’s in a certain dish and suspect it may contain an allergen, then call to ask! For instance, one popular pizza chain puts sesame in their gluten-free pizza crust. Noah’s not anaphylactic to sesame but he is allergic to it, so it’s still on my radar. Think about which types of food may contain hidden ingredients. This is part of my mental checklist: breads may contain sesame; Thai food dishes may contain sesame oil or nuts; and Italian breadcrumbs may contain sesame. Stay safe by always double-checking.
Make sure each dish has the allergy alert. Include the message to the restaurant about the allergy on each dish. It’s a little bit of a pain, but so worth it. If your family is anything like mine, someone inevitably ends up wanting to taste something off of someone else’s plate. This way you don’t have to deal with another food allergy dilemma - the restaurant has already done it for you. You’ll know it’s all safe and everyone can enjoy!
We’re these tips helpful for you? Want more posts like this? Please let me know in the comments below!
p.s. - I summed up all of these tips plus one BONUS TIP in my Tips for Takeout Cheat Sheet. Want to find out more and get the Cheat Sheet? Click here for access!