Restaurant dining is a treat to most people. The idea of getting waited on and not having to clean up after the meal is pretty enticing. But what about people on special diets? Do restaurants cater to those who eat outside of the box?

In my experience most restaurants do not. Take it from someone who follows a strict diet and also has a lot of allergies, dining out is not always the fun experience it should be. More often than not I find myself stuck with ordering a side salad or appetizer to avoid allergy triggers or the meat on the menu.

A good chef should be able to accomodate their clients and modify the menu as necessary, right? So why do some establishments refuse to cater to special needs? If you are a vegetarian, a vegan, a diabetic or suffer from celiac disease it is imperative that you know exactly what you are eating at all times. But in our fast-passed curb-side-to-go world it seems that restaurants are becoming less and less concerned with making customers happy.

At the beginning of the low-carb craze I saw huge changes to menus in a lot of restaurants. They now included low-carb wraps, pastas, veggie burgers instead of meat burgers, etc. But now that some of those diets are losing popularity the menus are changing again.

This subject is on my mind because of some recent dining experiences. I have often asked for sauces to be prepared without alcohol or meat to be left off of a salad or entree. I often receive this response, “order something else.” Not OK, not no problem, order something else. It makes me wonder if maybe the chefs at some of these restaurants only know one sauce!?

So despite all of the bad experiences there are some places that will do just about anything to ensure that your food is prepared to perfection. During a trip to Florida my husband and I dined at both Wolfgang Puck’s and Emeril’s restaurants in Orlando. Both establishments sent over waitstaff to review the menu with us and ask about any allergy or diet concerns. The result was wonderfully prepared dishes and excellent service. Obviously these two examples are on a higher scale than say Applebee’s, but I don’t think it is outlandish to assume that eating establishments should be concerned with their diners needs and do what it takes to accommodate them.

I’m not suggesting they accommodate ridiculous requests. I would not expect them to create random dishes that are not even on the menu, etc. But I am sometimes shocked at the lack of consideration at certain establishments. I hope that restaurant owners will become more sensitive to the needs of their clients who follow less popular diets. In the meantime, I will continue to find places to eat that have eclectic menus and helpful waitstaff.

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