From the fact that you can eat as many breadsticks as you want to the Fettuccine Alfredo, chances are you’ve enjoyed a meal (or two… or 100) at an Olive Garden. But have you ever heard of a customer ordering a dish and then being told that they can’t actually eat it?
The answer is probably no, because a typical restaurant experience tends to mean ordering, receiving the food, eating it, paying the bill, and going home. But TikTok user @bobbydotube had a unique experience at one of this famous chain’s locations.
Bobby and his family were ready for a nice evening when he ordered fried calamari with marinara sauce and chicken parm, but without the parm, just the chicken, and rigatoni with sauce. When the server asked if he has a dairy allergy, he said he has GERD. Bobby was squeezing lemon over the delicious-looking calamari when the manager rushed over, grabbed it, and said: “Don’t you dare eat that!”
Why? Because the calamari and mozzarella sticks were made in the same fryer, which would have it was contaminated with dairy. When he said “I’m on that sensitive, it’s okay,” the manager said they couldn’t let him have it. Bobby wasn’t allowed to have his chicken, either!
Did Bobby and his family leave and find somewhere else to eat? Did he go hungry the whole night? Actually, it all worked out in the end. The manager instead brought over a steak with rigatoni and meat sauce. As Bobby explained, “I should be mad right now because it’s my body,” but the food was so good. As he said, “sometimes mistakes turn out to be the best meal you ever had.”
While this might seem pretty extreme, several people shared in the comments that Olive Garden wants to be careful in case someone gets sick. One TikTok user said they work in the kitchen at a location and “we take allergies very seriously bc we don’t want a case.”
Has anyone ever sued a restaurant because of a food allergy? In 2023, a woman in Winnipeg named Gabrielle Lien Ho sued Canadian coffee chain Tim Horton’s because she said that after she placed an online order for tea with almond milk because she can’t eat dairy, and she was given cream. She got so sick that it affected her heart and she had to go to the hospital. After hearing this story, it’s definitely a good thing that Olive Garden is careful, although there is a conversation to be had about the difference between someone who suffers from GERD and someone who can’t eat anything that has come close to dairy. According to The Mayo Clinic, if you struggle with GERD, you have acid reflux regularly. Your chest can hurt and you can get heartburn.
As someone with gluten and dairy allergies (it’s a lot of fun), I totally sympathize with Bobby. Since I don’t have celiac disease, I’m not as affected by cross-contamination, and I can eat French fries that are cooked in the same fryer as food with gluten. But there are times when servers want to double check if I can eat what I’ve just ordered. While I appreciate the concern, I agree with Bobby that sometimes you just want to make your own decisions and eat your fried calamari in peace. But I also wouldn’t complain if someone brought me a steak, either.
