We Heart Eat n' Park

Here's my eleventh-hour entry for the awesome Food Allergy Blog Carnival that Rational Jenn keeps up and running. I am happy to be included as a carnival...er? ...ist? whenever I remember to send in a link.

This week's theme is "Restaurants." I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize Eat n' Park, a Pittsburgh-based chain that is very allergy-aware. I thought I'd written about them somewhere before, but I can't find a link at the moment. Maybe it was on someone else's blog. Anyway. Focus, Nowheymama!

Eat n' Park is just excellent. They have had Silk soy milk on their menu for at least two years, and the staff is very knowledgeable about what ingredients the menu items contain. We usually order the salad or breakfast bar for Katherine because she can eat many of the items on either one. If we worry about cross-contamination, the server will bring a serving of a bar item straight from the kitchen to Katherine. Also, if a usual bar item is missing (like apple butter, for instance) they will bring her a serving of it at no extra charge.

I wrote to them awhile ago to ask about which of their menu items would be safe, and they sent me an email saying that they didn't want to publish any information on their website until they were absolutely sure it was correct, but they told me the items that they were certain were dairy free. I noticed that their website now has a gluten-free menu listing.

My only complaint is that the Smiley cookies (that they give to every child 10 and under) are neither dairy nor wheat free, and they don't have an alternative treat.