We’re finally en route to our warm weather winter vacation. Although, let’s face it, with all this mild weather, what are we really escaping?! Either way, we all need the break and are so excited!
As always, eating proves most challenging when the options are limited. And the airport is like the epitome of limited options. I’ve brought snacks, but we need dinner.
We sat down at a Gordon Biersch restaurant-ette where they offer a small selection from their regular menu. Thankfully, one of those options was a burger (safe without the cheese and bun), so I knew we had a back-up if all else failed. It figured that my son wanted grilled turkey. So, we ordered the Turkey Sandwich, hold the sandwich.
Our experience was surprisingly good here. Here’s what you need to know:
- The waitress looked at me cross-eyed when I ordered the sandwichless sandwich, but understood as soon as I explained we had multiple food allergy issues to deal with. She made note of them all before we continued.
- I asked about what kind of fry oil they used, since French fries were offered as a side to the non-sandwich we ordered. Without prompting, she said that my son could not have the French fries. Turns out they’re soaked in milk (much like McDonald’s fries are). I was impressed with both her knowledge and confident decision to keep him from eating something potentially unsafe.
- She returned to let us know our food would take an extra few minutes, as the chef was thoroughly cleaning the grill to prepare my son’s turkey. [They usually use a little butter on the grill and didn’t want to contaminate the food inadvertently.]
My son, almost 7, was a little disappointed that his little brother could eat fries and he couldn’t. So, with a quick check on the smartphone, we learned that Ranch 1 Grilled Chicken’s French fries are safe (per their online allergen info) and ran across the terminal aisle to grab him some.
I was impressed with Gordon Biersch and most specifically our waitress. And, this served as a great reminder that sometimes the restaurant has good procedures to handle food allergies and sometimes you strike gold with an allergy-aware server. And, as in the case with this Gordon Biersch outpost, we got lucky and had both!
Allergy Shmallergy 