How to Find Allergy-Friendly Food while Traveling

When I think of traveling, the first thing I think of is logistics. Some would call it boring, others would call it practical. The reality is that I’ve been around for long enough to know that there are a million things that can go wrong when you travel, and all of that is amplified when you need to consider accessibility. At the top of my list when it comes to the day-to-day is food. Most people would say my diet is limited if they were trying to be kind. I’ve seen the looks of horror on the faces of people who don’t know me too well when I try to order food at a restaurant, their jaws slowly dropping as I rattle off allergies to the waiter whose eyes slowly widen as I keep talking.

As my diet has become more restricted due to the progression of a couple of my chronic illnesses over the years, it’s gotten a lot harder to eat out safely. However, I can’t just not eat. So this is how I make it happen and find allergy-friendly food while traveling.

Gluten-Free Apps

I’ve tried a few different websites and apps, but the one I always come back to is Find Me Gluten Free. You do need to read the reviews to see actual experiences and better understand the labels, but if you have allergies, you’re already used to that. I love that this app has additional filters for restrictions beyond gluten, and you can search with multiple filters at once.

Look for Allergy-Free Restaurants

The first thing I look for in a new place is a dedicated gluten-free, dairy-free bakery. They make my life so much easier! I will always check for a dedicated allergy-free restaurant/café/bakery before I explore my options elsewhere.

Website FAQ Sections

FAQ sections save me time and time again. They tell me what I need to know, answering questions regarding:

• Allergy protocols
• Designated gluten-free prep spaces
• If the establishment is suitable for people with allergies, in general

You may be surprised to find that some restaurants will offer things like a gluten-free pizza crust, and then include that due to their preparation practices, it’s not actually suitable for those who do not consume gluten for medical reasons. If there’s a disclaimer like that on a restaurant’s website, I know I can’t eat there and it’s not even worth looking at the menu. There’s no point in getting my hopes up from seeing a gluten-free pizza option on the menu when it turns out that it’s not actually gluten-free!

Online Menus

If the FAQ section gives me the okay, or if there’s nothing explicit about allergies, I move on to check out the online menu. If available, these are a great tool.

Online menus with allergy codes are just on another level. A level that makes it a lot easier to find the two menu items that don’t have your allergens that fall into the top 8, that is. Those menus basically make your decisions for you, but that’s better than nothing at all. It makes it easier to say “Yes, I can,” or “Nope, sorry” when asked if you can eat somewhere.

Even if the online menu isn’t that advanced, with the markings that a lot of menus have these days, it becomes easier to see what is likely an option for you. You can also use this as a starting off point for the next thing I do when I’m searching for safe meals while eating out…

Call Ahead

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t call ahead when I went to eat somewhere new. I’m not willing to leave things to chance and have little desire to scramble to find food when there are schedules to follow and things to do. It just makes my life stressful and more complicated than it has to be.

I’ll write a list of questions down before I call, even if it’s only in my notes app, to confirm the information gathered from the FAQ page of the website is up to date, ask additional ingredient questions, and confirm that a certain dish is safe. This has saved me from potential disaster on more than a handful of occasions.

Make it Clear that this is Serious, Not a Preference But a Necessity

As I mentioned, the more omitting certain ingredients from your diet becomes trendy, the harder it can be to find options that are actually safe when eating out. I’ve had pizzas and bagels ordered for me after explicitly saying I would provide my own food at events, and been questioned when I wouldn’t touch the “gluten-free” option provided. The reality is that I know that option isn’t gluten-free. If the person ordering off the menu actually knew what they were doing when ordering for someone with allergies, they’d know that the website stated that the “gluten-free” option isn’t always gluten-free.

I always emphasize that this is not the same as following a fad diet or being a picky eater. It’s medical. Allergies are not something to make light of, especially when you’re traveling.

Know the Places that are Safe

If worst comes to worst, I can live on sushi and Five Guys fries. The reality of traveling as someone with significant dietary restrictions is that sometimes things aren’t going to work out. I know that I can eat Five Guys fries and that they have awesome allergy protocols. I know how to vet a safe sushi place and what I can (and can’t) order.

Is eating sushi on road trips easy? Well, I’ve been at it for five years now, since on the way to Emerald Isle in 2016 my mom and I realized a sushi restaurant was the only safe place I could get something from that was open in the south on a Sunday morning. I can safely say I’ve never spilled my gluten-free soy sauce in the car!

These days, when we set out on a trip, whether it’s a day trip for a doctor’s appointment or a family vacation, my mom will always ask “Did you find any good spots for car sushi?” She knows it’s safe. She probably doesn’t mind being forced to get sushi when the opportunity presents itself either.

Traveling with allergies is all about being prepared.

I’m not always going to be able to eat where the people I’m with want to go, and if I’m traveling in a large group, especially with people I don’t know well, I have to figure it out.

Sometimes that looks like ordering food to-go from the restaurant next door, which yeah, can be awkward. But I’ve never had a problem when a worker questions why I have outside food, once I tell them that I can’t eat anything on their menu due to my allergies.

Sometimes that looks like eating the snacks I always carry with me in case of an emergency until we’re near somewhere I can order something more substantial.

At the end of the day, traveling with allergies isn’t always easy.

But by taking advantage of these resources and not being afraid to advocate for myself, I’ve made it possible. You never know where the search for an allergy-friendly meal may take you! It’s an adventure in and of itself.