Traveling with food allergies is fun! Just Kidding, it’s not fun at all. What do I eat when we stop at restaurants? Do I take my own food? What do I do?
I do eat out on road trips but it is a hassle sometimes. The first thing I do is call ahead or the restaurant, provided I know where we are going, and find out what type of oil they use in frying and marinade in. The only good answers are olive oil, corn or canola oil. Few restaurants use a different oils for marinading and frying. The oils of choice for restaurants are soybean, vegetable or clear frying oil. Yes, clear frying oil is an oil. It is soybean oil. The restaurants I have eaten at and had no problems are few. Here are a few restaurants that accommodate me:
1.Longhorns – use soybean oil
2. Zoe’s Kitchen – vegetable oil & Olive oil
3. Miller’s Ale House- soybean oil
4. Red Lobster & Olive Garden canola oil but it varies by restaurant, so ask.
5. Ali’s Bistro – Fort Walton Beach, Fl
6. Yes, McDonalds – canola oil but can vary. As last choice.
Always ask for managers assistance. They will often have suggestions that aren’t on the menu. Be creative we the items on the menu. Items on the menu can often be used to create your own dish. At Longhorn, I created a grilled shrimp salad with romaine, peppers, bacon, tomatoes and shredded parmisan cheese. The waitress really liked my creation.
Resturants where I was told by management, “NOT TO EAT HERE”:
- Ruby Tuesday
- Cracker Barrel
- Lamberts Cafe, only because they won’t respond to any emails.
- Texas Roadhouse
- Applebees, management wasn’t helpful at all but waitress was.
the restaurants above were mainly in Florida and Alabama and is not true for all of them but if I had a rough time getting something to eat, sorry I won’t come back. I mean how hard could it be to make a salad that should be made fresh anyway?
Sometimes I do bring my own food but I have to be careful so I don’t bring food that can spoil in the car. My mayo has to be homemade; therefore contains raw eggs. I can eat fruit but I have to limit it to 2 – 3 pieces a day. This fruit total includes juices. I bring with pistachios, fruit and cooffeeeee. If I don’t bring fruit it is easy to buy fruit at most gas station markets.
Lambert’s Cafe doesn’t reply to emails. They will answer any questions through their Facebook in the private message section. They do use soybean oil and flour. They will work with you just contact them.