Here's one for you...

I've seen it... at the breakfast place we'd have a few people bring in their own gluten free bread or would ask not to have bread as part of their meal.

I think this pertain ONLY to medically required food as far as "mandating" goes. I think the customer was bluffing.

Now, it might make good business sense to allow it.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaybob 

We were informed by a customer that the ADA mandates that people with food allergies are allowed to bring their own food into restaurants.

 

Hmmm

 

 

Jay

I don't know about mandating, but from a consumer's perspective, if I were a celiac and couldn't eat anything on the menu without getting sick, or fearing getting sick, I would want to be able to bring my own food if my family was going out to eat.

Now from an owner's perspective, I wouldn't want to give up a table for 2 for one person to bring their own lunch and maybe buy a coffee.  I get peeved if someone brings in a DD's coffee and orders a breakfast from me.  I want to tell them that if DD's is so great, go there for breakfast, too.

When I was in New York people wanted to do this all the time. However be careful your insurance states no outside food or beverage . If they insist for a medical reason I told them they had to sign a release, which was really a bluff on my part , but it stopped them from even asking.

   I really would prefer if they stayed home or went somewhere else.

I can foresee the "warning label" on the front door and menus now WARNING: This establishment is hazardous to those with food allergies and makes no warranties as to the suitability of menu items to those with such allergies. We will not accept the liabilities associated with food products prepared outside our establishment and will require a written notification of the necessity of bringing in food products not prepared in our establishment including a wavier of liability on our behalf for any unintended consequences that might occur to those bringing in food products or to other patrons or employees of our establishment as well as proof of liability insurance covering our establishment, its patrons, and employees. ANYONE ENTERING THIS ESTABLISHMENT DOES SO AT THEIR OWN RISK HAVING BEEN FULLY NOTIFIED AS TO THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS!

Hm, oh yes, each patron shall sign and date an acknowledgement of having read and understand the warning AND shall acknowledge the waiver of liability and statement of insurance.

TFIC

I just started to use and experiment with tomato powder in my sauces . It adds remarkable color and taste. I add it to the meat when I am sauteing for meat sauce. It does not thicken or thin the sauce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefedb 

I just started to use and experiment with tomato powder in my sauces . It adds remarkable color and taste. I add it to the meat when I am sauteing for meat sauce. It does not thicken or thin the sauce.

Yeah, but what about those allergic to "nightshades", hmm???
 

This rule or law is mute.  ADA wrote the 504, but has no way to enforce it. I know in my state you are not allowed to bring any type of food to an inspected business.

It's just another example  of someone twisting the law to accommodate themselves.

Hey, it's your place, and your rules. It is legal and commonly done for owners to post "no food or drink inside".

When and if some TV lawyer decides to come down on a business, the usual response would be, undue burden to make the correction.. The problem is, they did not think far enough to define undue burden.

So it's mute. The rule itself is not bad but refers to businesses receiving Govt funding.

I am truly a supporter of the ADA when they have an equitable solution.

I would rather see a law that require the restaurants to keep an allergy free item. This might increase business as much as the other way my decrease revenue.

I readd this a while back when reading about a trend to bring your own food to restaurants. I've also read lately that the trend is growing.

Never did explain how the owner  would make money.

As far as the money goes, how about a "seating charge". Similar to a "corkage fee" for BYO wine?

Say the average $/cover is, oh say, $21, set the "seating charge" at $14 per non-ordering customer, in other words, 2/3rds of the average $/person. Maybe half as there is no "kitchen work" involved. Adjust the "seating charge" for each service period to reflect average tickets.

Hm, I think I like this approach! Allows accommodation without losing too much money!

Meh. I think the goodwill that you would establish for a patron like that might go a lot further than the 20 or 30 bucks you would collect from someone else. 

I imagine a person with truly horrific allergies like that is often put in a difficult position whenever he/she tries to eat out. She was probably so forceful (you HAVE to let me bring my own food) because her past experiences have taught her that doing this might be the only way that works. 

If you are as accommodating as possible, you will leave the woman with a favorable view of your establishment, as well as her dining companions, and she might be likely to tell other people how nice you are and recommend your business to others who could actually enjoy it. Her friends will too. I suspect if you DON'T accommodate her, she would be likely to go around and tell others what assholes you all are. 

Like I said, the goodwill of customers is worth much more than 30 bucks.

I run restaurants, not healthfood counters or hospitals. I try to accomidate guest with almost anything, but as far as bringing in their own dinner. NO it stops there. They will all be alive while our restaurants die.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaybob 

 

We had just had an incident last week.  We have a nice patio and we are fairly close to a grocery store.  A upper-middle aged man came in and asked if he could just sit in the shade for a minute.  We weren't busy, so it wasn't an issue and said, "sure."  He walks out, waves at a van and 12 people pour out with their lunches  and proceed to sit on our patio to eat it.  

 

J

What did you do then?

We have a warning posted  in the servery at the soup kitchen.. it clearly states that we cannot guarantee that the food we serve is allergen free and it may contain or have come in contact with nuts, eggs, seafood, dairy, wheat or other allergens.  There are a few people we know have certain allergies and we do make sure there is an alternate for them in the event they're in and we're serving something they can't eat.  If they don't like it, that's another story... they can pick what they don't like out and finish the rest.