Last month, we took the family on a mini vacation to our favorite beach in Florida. It was perfect. As always. It's a place we can go and just totally relax and enjoy ourselves. There's something about the ocean that makes you forget everything stressful in your life. It's just pure enjoyment. That's not what this post is about, though. It was on our way home that this story takes place.
We planned to leave early enough so that we would arrive in Jacksonville right at lunch time. We had heard about Maggiano's from family members that had been there and we were really wanting to try it out. As a family that operates on the food allergy mindset, we had never taken our family out to an italian restaurant before because of the egg ingredient present in nearly all pastas. It's never a risk we've been willing to take because there are only a couple different pastas available in stores that my daughter can eat and pretty much every italian restaurant we've looked up online has no egg-free version. But we researched ahead of time {as always} and saw on Maggiano's website that they try to accomodate food allergies, etc. So, we made the decision to go. {There were plenty of other places nearby to eat in case we got there and it proved not to be allergy friendly. We always have a backup plan.} Upon arriving, it was a little busy outside the restaurant, so Hubs let me out of the car to go get a table. When I was greeted by the hostess, I asked her about the food allergies, specifically my daughter's allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts and she said they happily accommodate food allergies and that the chef would come to our table to speak with us about it. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the chef came out {which my daughter thought was awesome} and asked us about the allergies and then gave us our food options. He told us she could eat any of the straight pastas like spaghetti, etc. and then which sauces were appropriate for her allergy needs. When they brought out Callie's big bowl of spaghetti {her very first time eating it at a restaurant!!}, she was thrilled! Spaghetti is her favorite meal at home, but it was even better in a restaurant.
I had to take her picture because this was a moment to remember! Excuse the crazy hair and tired face. We had been traveling all morning.
I, of course, had Benadryl in my purse just in case, but it was completely fine for her and caused no reaction whatsoever. It was a real treat for her to eat pasta that day. I was so happy for her and thankful that she got to have this first-time experience. Wish we had a Maggiano's close to us!
I'm adding this to my list of allergy-friendly restaurants at my page entitled {Allergy-friendly Restaurants}. Go check out the others listed. If you know of some I have not listed, please comment and let me know!
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