Almost got kicked out of Applebees-Want Advice

We had our physician write a letter (that we carry with us) asking that we please be allowed to bring in our own food due to the nature of our son's severe food allergies.
As far as it being a problem if your child got sick on food you brought in ... I think you could have also pointed out to them that if your son got sick on their food after they advised it would be safe would not have been a good situation for them either.

We are not a fan of Applebees either. It seems that they are always in a CYA mode. Your child was not causing harm and in reality any "liability" is a load of **** . Any lawsuit would merely point out that the food was not from Applebees and that would be the end of it. I know lots of people on the board have had very negitive experiences with Applebees. They don't understand food allergies. We have not been to an Applebees in a long time since we made a last minute stop with my PA son and the manager did not know if anything was safe. He also gave us the 1-800 story...if you called our 1-800 number...blah, blah, blah.
A little education could go along way, but the company has decided not to educate their staff. I won't eat there anymore even if my pa son is not with.
Donna

Before we were dealing with my DD's PA, a similar thing happened to us when my son was younger. He was on this stage where he would only eat Burger King chicken tenders. The rest (there were 6 of us) of us did not want to eat there and we didn't want to have him sit watching us eat at the place we wanted. So, we got take-out for him and went to our fave restaurant that served pizza/mexican. We all ordered something, the bill was about $50 or so.
Now, my DS was only about 4 at the time. The manager came to us and reprimanded us that we had brought our own food. I explained to him that it was the only thing my son would eat and we chose to bring the rest of us to "his" restaurant. I also reminded him that we were ordering a fair amount of food and the amount of our bill. He argued that he didn't believe that there was nothing on the menu my son would like. I argued that he probably didn't have children and didn't understand the stages they go through.
We ended up staying there, ate our food, paid the bill, (left a lousy tip!) but the manager was not happy. I asked him, would you be more happy with an unhappy toddler in your restaurant (as my son ate quietly)? I also told him that word of mouth travels far and I would not recommend his restaurant to family and friends and they were not "customer" friendly.

whenever we eat out at restaurants we are not comfortable with for our two PA girls (ages 7 and 10 now), we allow them to bring in a bag of whatever "safe" food they have selected from their favorite safe fastfood places. we have never had a problem with it although i always feel "tacky" carrying in food from elsewhere; same feeling i get when i smuggle "safe" food into the movies in my purse. (that's just me). but, i'd rather feel "tacky" than worry about my girls' safety.
i can't imagine a restaurant being upset that a family brought in food from elsewhere for young children; particularly when there are fa's involved and the rest of the family is ordering from the restaurant's menu.
these days, whether restaurants or movies or other situations like parties, i just tell myself (and others) that we have extenuating circumstances that make it impossible for our girls to follow the regular rules sometimes. safety first for us.
btw, i think it's just awful what the staff at applebees did to you and your family. i can't imagine how you felt. for us, we've never experienced anything but positive reactions when we explain our situation. just in case, we won't be visiting applebees though. : ) boo for applebees!!!

Applebee's has never been able to accomodate me in even the slightest of ways. When a bunch of friends wanted to hit Applebee's at an alumni event, I stopped at Taco Bell (it was still safe for my soy allergy back then) and picked up food, then went to Applebee's and sat down.
The waitress came by and I quickly quizzed her on whether I could order *anything*. She said she didn't think so, but was sweet about it. I winked and said that I'd order a coke and tip her well if she ignored my taco bell food. She grinned and grabbed a clean plate, told me to dish it up and she'd throw away the evidence that it wasn't from the store.
Granted, she *was* flirting with me pretty heavily (hey, I don't mind!), but I did eat my brought-in food without issue. And when she comped my soda, I slipped her a ten. She'd earned it. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]
ygg

we always bring food in for my dd. i don't let her eat any restaurant food right now (dairy and nut allergies). we have never had any problems whatsoever at any restaurant (applebee's included). however, we NEVER would think of bringing in a "competitor's" food. i think that is where you are all running into trouble. we always bring food from home.

What? How incredibly rude. I would definately be writing a letter to Applebees about the treatment you received.
And puh-lease...like a court would actually rule against them if you sued them because your son got sick from eating McDonald's food in their restaurant. How ridiculous is that. Grr..I'm angry for you!

My experience with Applebee's is that they are clueless about allergies. For instance, I once inquired whether the buns contain egg. The waitress assured me that they did not, but when the food came, the buns were yellowish. So I asked her again, are you absolutely sure there is no egg in this bun, because often when the buns are yellow they contain egg. So she goes back to actually check the ingredients--sure enough, the bun had egg in it.
Cathy

Gee...it is almost like they would rather have you leave him at home (alone) or sit in the car (alone.)
I would file a complaint with your state civil rights commission.
Of course, if it had happened to me I would have gotten very loud.

you know, it would be polite of them to allow your child to eat outside food.
AND IT WOULD BE POLITE OF YOU if you did not parade in a McDonald's cup.
it's give and take, people!