giving up restraunts?

I have at this point I am thinking of giving up ever eating out in restraunts. I have had experiences with the following:
1. Garnishing with tomatoes even when not listed on the menu
2. cross contamination at sandwich places (or dirty looks when I ask them to replace their gloves prior to creating my sandwich)
3. waitstaff refusing to ask the cook if a dish contains tomato products.

are there any suggestions? I do have to eat out occasionally for work and it is embarassing, but necessary.

The Mayo Clinic has created a chef card ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-allergy/HQ00709 ) which may help. http://foodallergies.about.com/od/livingwithfoodallergies/tp/restaurant.htm also has some helpful hints and tips about eating out (as well as a couple of other links to cards to present to servers).

We have a 3 yr old son who was recently confirmed severly allergic to tomatoes. We have a sushi restaurant that does not have tomatoes anywhere in the joint- lucky us. After 3 months we are now venturing out to new locations. Make nice with the waiter right away! Use the words “Deathly allergic or life threatening allergy” so it is a huge impact. Say “I need your help”. We went out this weekend- informed waitress of the allergy and asked her not to bring ketchup tot he table. We asked for her help. We ordered food that should have been tomoatoe free- when she brought our crab dip appetizer out she said it was good we mentioned the allergy because it normally comes with a big juicy slice of tomatoe on top. YIKES! We are most comfortable ordering him fried food. Not healthy but we are more confident it goes from the fryer to the serveware. Best of luck and remember they are there to serve you- if they roll their eyes- the’ll get over it.

When I go to restaurants, I bring my own meal.

That may not suit your needs, because you have to eat out for work reasons. But, it works better for me than I thought it would. I was concerned they would throw me out, but calling ahead and talking to the manager helps, and for more informal places a quick talk with the waiter when they take drink orders.

It’s a new concept for many people that a customer is there not for the food but for the atmosphere and to enjoy time with companions.

That Mayo Clinic Chef Card is gone. CNN had it but they’ve removed it, too. Here’s the only link to it that I can find: http://stb.msn.com/i/9B/1349488E4239AE81D9273683F2B3D.pdf

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RadioBabe
in CO