Our Trip To Shari's

After a weekend away with just myself and the kids (hubby had to work all weekend), we decided to go to Shari's for dinner. We hadn't been there with Connor since his allergies were diagnosed, so I was a little nervous about the safety of the foods, especially with the in-house bakery and the full-spectrum menu. I talked to our server, and she said that her little one also had a peanut allergy and he always ordered pancakes and never had a problem. That sounds like a great idea, right? Well, if your little one isn't allergic to milk or eggs, that's perfect. But for us, with a little one who is allergic to both milk AND eggs, it was not an option.

She then told us that they have a food allergy binder with a complete ingredient list for every item on their menu, as well as possible allergen contamination. It was very easy to follow, and it saved us from making a huge mistake. I figured that the rice pilaf would be a good option as a side dish, and the binder told us it contained or could contain milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, as well as four or five other allergens, none of which pertained to us. We ended up sticking with fruit and sausage links, but I think there may have been some close contact with eggs, because he did end up with a few little bumps around his mouth, but not enough to need any kind of medication, and they didn't seem to bother him.

All in all I would say Shari's is a good option for people with allergies given they have a binder with all the information, but for those of us who have to worry about cross-contact contamination, it is a little hard to trust cooks when you don't really know how much experience or knowledge they have with food allergies and the possible spread of allergens. I don't know if we'll go back, but not because of anything Shari's did. There's just not a lot of options for my little guy there. If it were just peanuts we had to worry about it would be one of our top restaurants. But when your kid can't have pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, omelets, french toast, or anything from the fryer, it really limits your options. I do feel comfortable with Shari's allergen policies and willingness to work with customers with allergies.