Have you ever ordered food in a restaurant and asked for something to be left off? Maybe you see the perfect salad on the menu and everything looks great except that you don’t want the croutons, so you order the salad without the croutons. Or maybe you want that sandwich without the mayo. But how often has the food actually arrived without the item you asked to be left off?
Of course, being plant-based (vegan) means no meat, dairy, or eggs. I often find great salads, sandwiches, and pastas on menus that are loaded with veggies and have cheese either in or on them. So all I have to do ask them to leave off the cheese, make sure that nothing is cooked in butter, and that there’s no dairy in the sauce. Simple, right?
More often than not, my meal arrives, cheese and all. When I bring it to the server’s attention, I’m usually asked “would you like me to take it back?” Well, yes, I would! Back it goes. I wait, hungry and watching others eat their meals. It comes back with most of the cheese scraped off. But there’s still cheese! If I send it back again, the server gets annoyed. My other option is to just pick around the cheese that’s left. Have you ever experienced that?
Beverly Lynn Bennett describes a great way to assure that “no dairy” means “no dairy” in her book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Living”. Tell your server that you are allergic to dairy. It works because no restaurant manager wants to the backlash of an allergic reaction on his/her hands.
Ever since I read about telling servers that I’m allergic to dairy, I’ve tried it every time I eat out in a restaurant. It works like a charm! The servers are very accommodating and I have not found any dairy surprises in anything I’ve ordered.
Regardless, servers work hard, even when they don’t get your order exactly right. Always treat and tip your servers well!
Of course, being plant-based (vegan) means no meat, dairy, or eggs. I often find great salads, sandwiches, and pastas on menus that are loaded with veggies and have cheese either in or on them. So all I have to do ask them to leave off the cheese, make sure that nothing is cooked in butter, and that there’s no dairy in the sauce. Simple, right?
More often than not, my meal arrives, cheese and all. When I bring it to the server’s attention, I’m usually asked “would you like me to take it back?” Well, yes, I would! Back it goes. I wait, hungry and watching others eat their meals. It comes back with most of the cheese scraped off. But there’s still cheese! If I send it back again, the server gets annoyed. My other option is to just pick around the cheese that’s left. Have you ever experienced that?
Beverly Lynn Bennett describes a great way to assure that “no dairy” means “no dairy” in her book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Living”. Tell your server that you are allergic to dairy. It works because no restaurant manager wants to the backlash of an allergic reaction on his/her hands.
Ever since I read about telling servers that I’m allergic to dairy, I’ve tried it every time I eat out in a restaurant. It works like a charm! The servers are very accommodating and I have not found any dairy surprises in anything I’ve ordered.
Regardless, servers work hard, even when they don’t get your order exactly right. Always treat and tip your servers well!
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