Ben's Allergy & Restaurant Reviews

5. Ginger Snaps

Rationale: It’s very hard to think of Christmas without thinking about Ginger Snaps. I love it when I can eat dairy-free ginger snaps!

4. Christmas Gummies (Christmas Tree & Snowmen)

Rationale: My Grandma always gets me these gummies and I look forward to getting these gummies every year. They are so soft and really delicious, plus they’re dairy-free!

3. Pillsbury Snowmen and Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies

Rationale: I love it when I get these cookies. I already had some this year at Friendsgiving! I always love Pillsbury Cookies.

2. Pumpkin Cookies

Rationale: I know this will surprise a lot of you, but it isn’t too late to eat Pumpkin products. My Mom is making me some dairy-free pumpkin cookies for Christmas.

1. Stocking Candy

Rationale: I always enjoy getting my stocking filled with candy as I will get plenty of opportunities to eat the candy after Christmas. I’ll definitely post on what I got in my stocking for you! But normally I get Skittles, Swedish Fish, Mike & Ike’s, Gummi Bears, and more.

Do you agree with my list? What are your top 5 Christmas Foods?

Five Guys Allergen Menu: https://www.fiveguys.com/-/media/public-site/files/allergen-ingredients-and-nutrition-info/allergen-guide/nutrition-allergen-march-2018-us.ashx

Lots of people love this restaurant & I went to the one closest to me in Dublin, Ohio. It is a pretty pricey restaurant, though. My meal was $19.44 for a lettuce wrap & fries. I went to another location in Cincy before & I sat in this restaurant when I was coming back from a trip to Nashville. The group wanted Five Guys & I would’ve eaten Five Guys, but I was very sick. All I could eat was Apple Sauce. It was awful, but today I wouldn’t be denied of Five Guys & today was the first time I ever ate Five Guys.

Food Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Rationale:  The Fries were 5 out of 5 stars, but the lettuce wrap, which was a hamburger patty, bacon, & lettuce made it 4 out of 5 stars. The buns have dairy in them & unfortunately that means that I can’t eat it. If they had either a dairy-free gluten-free bun & kept the dairy-filled bun or change their bun recipe to make it dairy-free I would be able to eat the bun. 

Personally, I would suggest the gluten-free dairy-free bun because it allows Celiacs and people like me with severe dairy allergies to enjoy eating buns while allowing the customer to enjoy the dairy-filled bun. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone.

 A burger (though the patty was really good) without a bun isn’t as good with the bun. The bun makes a difference in my opinion. I was very impressed with the fries (be careful the fries are fried in Peanut Oil). 

I don’t have as a severe food allergy to peanuts as dairy, though I’m still allergic to peanuts and I talked with my allergist me the green light to eat fried items fried in peanut oil, & I’ll be honest I thought their fries tasted like a fair fry and you can tell that it is fresh never frozen potatoes.

Allergy Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: This might be a controversial rating, but here’s why I gave them five stars. They clearly communicate what has dairy and what doesn’t. They have the ingredients listed on their allergen menu, & is a really good example of what an allergen menu should be! They have signs communicating their seriousness of food allergies. They do have peanuts in the restaurant and said to not carry peanuts out of the restaurant due to the severity of others with food allergies. I can tell that they take food allergies seriously. It is hard to find restaurants that take food allergies seriously. They communicate clearly what allergens they serve and that is all I could ever ask from a restaurant. If they don’t want to make a dish allergy-friendly they don’t have to, it’s their restaurant, but they do have a responsibility of honesty. 

I got to the counter to order and the person cooking my meal asked if I wanted a burger and I personally told the cook & the cashier about my dairy allergy, and he recommended the lettuce wrap. The cook was amazing & I’m very happy that Five Guys has it to where I can see my food being made and you can communicate to the chef, which makes this place really good. It is nice to have a restaurant that has a set up to where you can communicate to the person making your order. 

I’ll be honest, if you have a severe peanut allergy I would be very careful to eat here & ask your allergist/doctor before eating here. If you are looking for a restaurant that does take food allergies seriously, have good food, and communicates their ingredients & allergens then Five Guys is your place. Personally I would definitely give Five Guys a try & I’m definitely returning to Five Guys! 

Olive Garden Allergen Menu: *If you eat in the restaurant they have a tablet that you can view an allergen menu!

If you’re ordering on the go here’s a couple of allergen menus that I have found: 

https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/allergen_guide.pdf

https://godairyfree.org/dining-out/olive-garden-dairy-free

This was my first time ever going to an Olive Garden & there is cheese and lots of dairy there. Understandably my family was nervous about me eating here. I remember one time my family was going to go in Kentucky but my Mom was nervous about me eating there so we decided to eat Buffalo Wild Wings instead. Funny story, when I was in high school our car broke down in Richmond, Kentucky and we needed to find lunch somewhere, & we stayed there for a couple of hours, we were picking up my sister from college in Tennessee. I’m glad that I gave this place a try because I have nothing bad to say about Olive Garden & there are dairy-free options here. 

Food Rating 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: I went with a salad to eat healthy, but I also got breadsticks and spaghetti with Italian Sausage. I created my own pasta with unlimited breadsticks and salad. I thought the breadsticks were amazing (the waiter said they used margarine instead of butter, making them dairy-free). I enjoyed the spaghetti, & I took it home for leftovers since they gave me so much food. The salad was salad, it’s a healthy choice!

Allergy Rating: 5 out 5 Stars

Rationale: I was so impressed with how seriously the waiter took my allergies. It does help that it wasn’t during a busy time, but he told me that the kitchen staff was going to change their gloves and make sure my food was safe. It’s rare to see a waiter go above and beyond to make sure I didn’t get sick. It was really amazing to see that! 

Another Awesome feature that Olive Garden has is they have a tablet at your table (this is eat in only of course), but on that tablet there is an allergen menu downloaded on the tablet for you to read and this is the first time I have ever seen that in my entire life. 

I couldn’t recommend this place enough! Lots of food, safe from food allergies, & a Clean and friendly staff. I can’t wait to go back! I even told my family and they were impressed!

Boston’s Allergen Menu: https://godairyfree.org/dining-out/fast-food-restaurants/boston-pizza-canada

https://bostons.imgix.net/Download-Menu/2021_Allergy_and_Nutrition_Guide_Final_7.5.pdf

The first time I went here I was in Downtown Columbus, OH! Little did I know there was a location in Marysville. I would go all the time in High School (I was a manager for the basketball team) so I got to eat with the basketball team. I eat here with my family every once in a while! It is pricey so we don’t eat here very often! But when we do it is pretty good!

Food Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: I love the food! Burgers, Wings, Salmon, & Fries are all really good! The wings are juicy & crispy. The fries are crispy and well-salted! The salmon isn’t dry, and the burger is well-made! I really can’t complain about the food here!

Allergy Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: They do need to update their allergen menus, but Go Dairy Free does a great job with telling you what is dairy-free and what isn’t. Always notify your server/chef about your allergy if you are in question because they’ll know what is best! It is good that the restaurant has an allergen menu. Boston’s needs to update the allergen menu since it is over 3 years old. But they do have an allergen menu, and that is better than a lot of restaurants, so I have to give this a 4 out of 5 Stars! Be careful because I had a close-call (not sure if I had an allergic reaction the last time I went). Though I have eaten here multiple times without a problem, just communicate your allergy to the Chef/Server!

I have seen Jeni’s Ice Cream when I drive through Dublin, Ohio (15 minutes away from me) & I have always wanted to go, but I finally went and I’m very glad that I did. One of my friends recommended me to try here & he was right that this was a great place to go! They have a website to order Ice Cream to your house, if you don’t live in Central Ohio, I put the website link to order Jeni’s Ice Cream & they’ll deliver the ice cream to your house. 

Jeni’s Ice Cream Website: https://jenis.com/collections/dairy-free-ice-cream

Food Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: I got the Dairy-Free Texas Sheet Cake! It was one easily a top 10 Ice Cream experience! It was really good! It’s not everyday that you can make Texas Sheet Cake Dairy-Free! For that I have to give it a 5 out of 5 Stars!

Allergy Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: They label everything when you get to the ice cream shop! I could easily see and determine what was safe & what wasn’t. Since this was my first time I was really appreciative of the allergen labeling. Also, the person put a waffle cone in my bowl & she said that the waffle cone had dairy in it, and offered to get a new bowl, she did and apologized for that! Though, I should’ve told her about my dairy allergy because I told her I wanted the Dairy-Free Texas Sheet Cake in a bowl, I didn’t think that there was a possibility of dairy. Plus I didn’t think a waffle cone could have dairy in it. A lesson learned that you should always inform the restaurant of your allergy! Because you never know what has dairy in it! I own up to my mistake!

I felt safe whenever I ate my ice cream there, & it helps that I was their first customer of the day. I got there at noon and they opened up at noon. I’m very happy that I was their first customer of the day. I can’t remember the last time I was a restaurant’s/ice cream shop’s first customer. I’m very glad that I came & I highly recommend that you try Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. It is worth it to order it online and have it delivered to your house as well!

Allergen Menu: https://condadotacos.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-Allergen-List.pdf

They have allergens listed on their menu including Dairy!

I heard of Condado Tacos when I went to the Columbus Crew Game with my friend from college in August. Turns out they have lots of locations in the Central Ohio area. I have always wondered if they had good tacos and I will say that I was very impressed with my waiter. He helped me alot and I even complimented him/their restaurant about their easy to read allergen menu! Everything about this restaurant reminds me of American food & Mexican food combined! 

Food Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: I really enjoyed my tacos! I got pulled pork, lettuce, house salsa, & tater tots! Yes, they have tater tots that you can put into your tacos. I never thought about that until I saw it on the menu, & I have got to say tater tots on tacos is one of the best things I have ever had! I know some of you might find it weird, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

Allergy Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: They have a very easy to read allergen menu on their website & on their physical menu. I can’t remember the last time that a menu in a restaurant had dairy labeled on their menu! I was very happy that this restaurant went above and beyond to label stuff. The only things I’m confused by is the Black Beans (sounds crazy, right?) on the allergen menu on the website says they use butter in the black beans. I’ll be honest I didn’t even know that you could put butter in black beans. The menu at the restaurant says that the black beans don’t have dairy. I would avoid the black beans & I made sure not to order them. The Nachos at the restaurant have dairy in it, is it the chips or the queso that comes with it? The website says that the chips don’t but I’m not a hundred percent sure that it is dairy-free so I ordered tacos instead.  If you have questions ask the waiter/waitress, my waiter wanted me to ask questions and told me if I had a question to ask.

Honestly, this was a great restaurant experience for me. I was blown away by Condado Tacos service and food options they had. They deal with allergens well & have really good food! No restaurant is perfect, but they try to take every precaution they could take to make sure people with allergies can eat safely. I felt safe when I ate there. I avoided questionable foods, & if you want black beans or any other questions, ask before you eat. I definitely recommend eating here, & I can’t stop thinking about those tacos I ate!

Today I’m going to share my experience at the FAACT Digital Influencer Summit and tell you what FAACT is and how they help people with food allergies.

FAACT is the Food Allergy And Anaphylaxis Connection Team. Their Website is foodallergyawareness.org and they help people with food allergies live better, you can check out their website for yourself and I’ll share why I had a very good experience at the FAACT 2024 Digital Influencer Summit!

Overall, I met so many other Food Allergy Influencers and I’m so encouraged to keep on going and trying to give you great food allergy content. I learned so much about food allergies that I never knew about and I’m going to share it with you bit by bit, so stay tuned for that.

The conference was a 4 day conference. I arrived with my Dad & Brother (who wanted to take a vacation in Chicago) while I was at the Hyatt Lodge & Conference Center in Oak Brook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) on Thursday evening. FAACT served us a Prime Rib dinner while we networked. I didn’t meet anyone in person before the event and I got to meet the world’s most influential food allergy influencers here. There were so many people who care about food allergies and I was very happy and didn’t feel alone when it came to food allergies.

I tend to feel alone because I feel like I’m the only one that has food allergies before the conference. After the conference I feel like I’m not alone anymore. That was nice and the next 3 days they fed us lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday, which I ate Chicken Salad except one where I ate Roast beef, salad, potatoes, & asparagus. The food was really good and I ate healthy during the conference. My favorite meal was the prime rib. I’m still thinking about the Prime Rib. 

Friday-Sunday, we had company expos (I also attended one on Thursday) where I talked with every company and got to learn how they help people with food allergies. Companies that were there were FIG, Free2B, Red Plate Foods, Allergy Dragon, & so many more. They had some big companies that I have seen on social media there.

I got to give a shoutout to Eleanor- Garrow-Holding, The FAACT CEO & President who did a great job organizing and getting the biggest influencers/food allergists/companies here to have a great week of learning and meeting new people.

Especially of learning I learned from the top allergists in the world about food allergies, anaphylaxis, food allergy therapies, the latest in food allergy research, airplanes & food allergies, plus they had an influencer track (the one I chose) and the disease management track so if you’re not into social media/internet influencing you can definitely choose the disease management track.

I have a large page of notes from this conference and I learned so much stuff from the conference and I got to meet so many awesome people here. I thank everyone who talked to me and made me feel welcome throughout the entire weekend. If you are wanting to learn more about food allergies or trying to learn how to become a food allergy influencer, this conference is a 10 out of 10 and I highly recommend attending this conference!

Jersey Mikes Allergen Menu: https://www.jerseymikes.com/menu/nutrition

My parents tried to order here and they said that their utensils were used to cross-contiminate dairy. For example they would use cheese and meat with the same slicer. Of course if you work in Jersey Mike’s or are a higher-up in Jersey Mike’s please let me know if this is still the case. 

Another thing about Jersey Mike’s is that in the commercials I see on TV they put the cheese on the grill & since I love philly steak this would be a deal breaker because I am extremely allergic to dairy and I can’t have stuff cross-contiminated. Unless I’m the first customer of the day, I really can’t do anything about it. 

I might be able to ask them to clean their grills, but it could be too much of an inconvenience, but again if it isn’t I would like to know because I’m interested in trying your food. Looking at your allergen menu I would like to try Jersey Mike’s Philly & Chicken Philly sandwiches. I can get chips with it as well. The only problem is the cross-contimination because I can eat the bread & that can be a problem. I literally have a Jersey Mike’s in town and I can eat it very easily. 

Food Rating: 0 out of 5 Stars

Rationale:

Can’t eat any of their food!

Allergy Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Rationale: At least you have an allergen menu! We need to get the equipment and utensils allergen friendly

If you have any experiences that you have eating at Jersey Mike’s with food allergies & how they accommodated you please let me know in the comments section!

I’ve had China Wok since I was a kid. I believe the owners who own the Asian Cafe as well and I did an allergy & restaurant review with them too. China Wok doesn’t have the buffet, it is carryout/sit-in only and is located in downtown Marysville, Ohio. It does have additional items like sweet and sour shrimp and they used to have sweet and sour pork, which was a favorite of our families. Currently they don’t sell the sweet and sour pork any more. I have enjoyed China Wok a lot.

Food Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Rationale: I love the Sweet and Sour Shrimp. My family isn’t that big of a fan of it, but I really love it because the shrimp are huge. I personally enjoy everything there. I love everything there and it is great quality Chinese food. Whether it is chicken & mixed vegetables, beef & broccoli I really enjoy the high quality food. I’m always excited when my parents order carryout.

Allergy Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Rationale: China Wok doesn’t really have a website in general. I would call them to make sure that you can eat everything. It is strange to see a place that does not have a website with their restaurant. Having a website is one of the ways that a restaurant can grow. It is surprising to see that they sustained that growth through word of mouth marketing. Asian Cafe does have a website and maybe they didn’t see a point of having another website since China Wok and Asian Cafe are really similar. If China Wok gets a website that will not only help grow their business, but it will also help people decide whether they want to eat there or not. I’m sure if people don’t see a website they’ll go somewhere else. That is the risk of not having a website in 2024 and beyond because technology is only going to grow. Other than that, I highly recommend you ask them to see if you can eat anything and if you can find something you won’t be disappointed in the quality of food.

Asian Cafe Allergen Menu: They Currently don’t have one!

I remember eating at Asian Cafe since I was a kid. It is an Asian style carryout and buffet in Marysville, Ohio.  I have always enjoyed their food and I really enjoy their food and I love their food as well. My parents asked to make sure that everything is safe for me to eat. I haven’t had an allergic reaction as far as I can remember. That’s good!

Food Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Rationale: a buffet for $13.11. I get water with my food, it is around $15 if you want a drink. I have always enjoyed the buffet. I love the Sweet and Sour Chicken, fried rice, green beans, potatoes, and Jello. That is my go-to when I eat at the Asian Cafe. I’ve never had an allergic reaction with any of the food so that is good. 

Allergy Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Rationale: I’ll update this if I get an answer and I’m able to write an allergen menu! There is no allergen menu, if you ask the people at Asian Cafe they will be able to help you and tell you what is in their food. I still highly recommend eating here because it is good food and allergy-free.