An Olive Garden manager was so dead-set on protecting a customer with a food allergy that they took their food away. The customer ended up being grateful for the server being so insistent.
Dining out can be difficult for some people, depending on the severity of their allergy. For some people, it’s fine to come into contact with a small amount of their allergen (like having a bit of cheese in their salad dressing).
In contrast, others can have a severe reaction to their food just coming into contact with their allergen through cooking oil or cooking water.
Olive Garden server protects customer with dairy allergy
In a viral video with more than 100,000, TikToker Bob Mitchell (@bobbydotube) shared the stunning lengths his Olive Garden server took to protect him—even if it was a tad too much.
In the video, Mitchell explains that he ordered calamari with marinara sauce plus a chicken parmesan with no cheese.
His server takes notice of the unusual order (chicken parm is synonymous with cheese, chicken, and sauce) and asks if Mitchell has a dairy allergy. Mitchell shares that he does and that it gives him acid reflux, so he avoids it.
When the calamari, which comes out first, lands in front of him, Mitchell is excited to dig in. But right as he squeezes the lemon all over the golden, crispy seafood, the server takes it away from him.
“Don’t you dare eat that,” the manager told him as she pulled it out of his hands.
She explained that calamari and chicken cutlets are fried in the same oil as the mozzarella sticks, and she didn’t want that to set off his allergy.
“Miss, I’m not that sensitive. It’s OK, I can eat it,” Mitchell told her.
But she insisted that they wouldn’t serve him his original order despite him going back and forth with her about it.
So what did he eat?
Instead, she chose an allergen-free meal for him, consisting of steak with rigatoni and meat sauce.
“Now I should be mad. I should make a riot right now because it’s my body and my GERD. But after I taste this steak and this rigatoni with meat sauce, *chef’s kiss,*” Mitchell says. “Mamma mia, it was the greatest freakin meal I ever had in my life.”
So satisfied with what he ate, Mitchell went over and hugged the overprotective manager.
“Sometimes mistakes turn out to be the best meal you ever had,” Mitchel concludes.
@bobbydotube #greenscreen took my family to the Olive Garden, and after I let the waiter aware that I had a dairy allergy, the manager took away the calamari and told me I could not have the chicken cutlet that I wanted for dinner so being extremely upset, I asked her so what in the world am I supposed to eat? and she bring me this! @Olive Garden #olivegarden #familydinner #dairyfree #funnyvideo #italianfood ♬ original sound – Bobby DoTube
How does Olive Garden handle food allergies?
As is common practice, Olive Garden asks that anyone with a food allergy let their server know about it so they can be aware of it as a person places their order (in case they accidentally choose something the server knows has their allergen) and to alert the kitchen.
Alerting the kitchen initiates a series of processes, such as having kitchen staff change their gloves and serving utensils.
“Even with processes and procedures in place, we are mindful that we are not an allergen-free facility. As such, we cannot guarantee that any item is free of any allergen,” the Olive Garden site states.
For those with a food allergy, Olive Garden has a five-page allergen guide that’s in line with the FDA’s regulation of the “big 9” allergens. These are:
- Eggs
- Fish
- Milk
- Peanuts
- Shellfish
- Sesame
- Soy
- Tree nuts
- Wheat
They also provide information on sulfites (preservatives used in food and drinks) and gluten, noting that while they have gluten-free items (even gluten-free pasta), the cooking process may cross-contaminate them. However, they hold the gluten-free pasta separately to mitigate this risk.
Commenters react
“So i am a cook for olive garden and we take are allergies very seriously bc we don’t want a case,” a top comment read.
“Yeah the moment you say sensitivity or allergy it’s insanely strict,” a person said.
“I think she was looking out for you a bit but she shouldn’t have done that but atleast you still ended up winning with the food,” another chimed in.
The Daily Dot reached out to Mitchell for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Olive Garden via email.
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