Allergies and Restaurants

Last night I had some cheesecake I got for my birthday at a restaurant nearby and while it was delicious I’m pretty sure it was somehow contaminated with some form of treenut.  I happen to be allergic or at least sensitive to a variety of tree nuts.. cashews and pistachios, but I also can have reactions to hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, and others.  In any case, I ate something last night and it was not fun. Two Benadryl later and I was a walking zombie.  At least the itching in my mouth was better and nothing worse happened.

I’m just really perplexed, though, about the restaurants I’ve been getting food at lately.  It seems there has been a streak of bad service and this allergic reaction is just the latest issue I’ve seen.  I explicitly made sure the menu said there were no nuts on the cheesecake, and I asked the waiteress to confirm…still got some nuts.  

Other places haven’t given me something that could kill me, but they’ve messed up orders all over the place.  Missing specially requested, and paid for, condiments; side orders that weren’t included in the takeout order; a well done steak when medium-rare was requested; to-go items packaged so they spill out of the bag.  And I certainly don’t want to be the victim of sending something back…I can only imagine the torture that I would have to endure then.

What’s the deal?  Is it so hard to take an order and provide the order as requested?

Oh well…an allergy zombie is not someone that can put together much of a post so this is the best I’ve got today…