Olive Garden
by: Kayla Archey
Address: 6870 Whitmore Lake Rd, Brighton, MI 48116
Phone Number: (810) 225-8284
Hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 11 AM–10 PM
Friday & Saturday: 11 AM–11 PM
Are you looking for the perfect place to eat wherever you are? I know the perfect restaurant that your whole family will love. Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants and my whole family enjoys their food. I chose to interview them because they are a chain restaurant, so hopefully this review can help more people discover their food.
It is an excellent option if we want to go out to eat, but their take-out is delicious as well. They are very good with allergies both in person and with take-out orders as you can tell your server about your allergies or include it in the special instructions section of the take-out order.
I was very shocked to find out I could eat here considering I have a dairy allergy, and being an Italian restaurant, they serve a lot of cheese. However, they are very good at keeping things separate, although occasionally, the server may need to be reminded to give you your food before adding extra cheese to your family members' dishes.
I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that in addition to having a main course, two types of soups and their breadsticks were safe for me to eat.
Overall, the staff are always very accommodating, considering they all must complete a course about food safety, which includes information about food allergies. This means that when you tell your server that you have a food allergy, the kitchen will do their best to minimize cross-contamination by changing gloves and using clean utensils.
This of course is not a guarantee because the kitchen contains allergens, but as a highly allergic person, I have never had any issues with their food even though I have eaten at multiple locations. When I discussed with the chef about food that is safe for people with allergies, they immediately went to grab a tablet to show me the allergy menu, which is readily available at every table.
The menu includes not only the top 9 allergens, but a few additional common allergens, boasting 12 allergens in total. The menu also includes whether the food is grilled or fried. This menu has included sesame for over a decade.
All in all, Olive Garden is very accommodating to allergies and will continue to be one of my favorite restaurants.
My Favorite Foods:
(all images from Olive Garden website)
Allergy Menu:
(Click the arrow on the side of each image to see the next photo)
(all images from Olive Garden website)
Regular Menu:
(Click the arrow on the side of each image to see the next photo)
(all images from Olive Garden website)
Interview with Chef:
What steps do you take to accommodate people with food allergies?
We’ve got a menu guide digitally available for all of our guests. We try to be accommodating as we possibly can for any allergies or any specific preferences.
Would you offer to cook something separately if they had allergies?
Absolutely.
What foods on the menu are safe for people who are allergic to any of the top nine allergens? Is that part of your digital menu?
It’s not, but it is part of the criteria [the top nine are on the digital menu, but there are also additional allergens]. I can even grab one of the computers really quickly. We’ve got common allergens. We’ve got more than the governmentally recognized nine. We’ve always had soy. We’ve had sesame on here for, I don’t know, a decade or more.
Have you been to Olive Garden in Brighton, Michigan? Planning to go? Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comment section and/or ask questions about the restaurant, and we will try our best to answer!
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