Dedham, Mass. restaurant "Bamboo" demands a doctor's note for kid with allergies

[Ian David]

Bamboo in Dedham: Kids w/allergies? Bring a Dr's note!

Norwood02062
Posted Yesterday @ 4:02 PM

I brought my wife and 2 year old to the Bamboo (in Dedham at the Holiday Inn) to try out their Sunday buffet last weekend. We arrived at 11:30am since this is when their menu and website said that the buffet started. We waited to be seated at the hostess desk with no acknowledgment from any of the staff who looked our way but didn't approach us.

Finally the hostess came and told us that the buffet didn't start until 12noon. We pointed out to her that the time on the menu said 11:30am for the buffet, but she insisted that we were wrong. I was ready to walk out at this point, but we decided to wait the 30mins to be seated thinking that it would be shorter to wait than drive to another restaurant.

So 12 noon rolls around and we're still waiting to be seated. Finally the hostess asks us how old our son is. We tell her that he's 2 years old and she replies that there will be a buffet charge for him. We informed her that we had brought food for our son to eat since his allergies prevent him from eating anything in the buffet.

The hostess then asks us if we brought a doctor's note and tells us that she would need one to photocopy before she could seat us. This was the first time I've heard of a restaurant asking for this and we felt that for some reason the restaurant did not want our business. We decided to just leave after that and go somewhere else that had a more courteous staff.

More:
http://forums.phantomgourmet.com/forums/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=1&messageid=187541

[NashVegas]

1. That's Cheap

If the kid couldn't eat at the buffet, they should have been prepared to order from the menu, or left him home.

[Eric J in MN]

2. I disagree. Restaurants should absorb their losses on...

...not everyone in a party ordering.

The entire party might not have gone to the restaurant, otherwise.

[trumad]

3. The kid is 2 years old for God sakes...

How much can a 2 year old eat?

[Ian David]

7. Most buffets don't charge for kids under two. n/t

[NashVegas]

9. Most Does Not Equal All

If the kid was merely there and not eating, no problem.

But to bring in someone and feed them food that doesn't come from the restaurant? The couple should have called ahead and asked if it would be okay. To assume one can do whatever one likes in a restaurant is arrogant and uncivil.

[Atman]

14. I believe it as much a liability issue as anything else.

Your kid brings in a bag from Mickey D's, or even something you made at home -- then gets violently ill after leaving the restaurant. In this day and age, it would not surprising at all for the family to call a lawyer and sue the restaurant, or for a "food poisoning" story to hit the papers and ruin the restaurant. "Well, we gave little Jimmy a bite of your eggs and he got sick!"

It's a stretch...but America is sue-happy, and you can't build a swing set anymore without a team of attorney's signing off on it.

.

[pnwmom]

19. I think the likelihood is greater that the restaurant might inadvertantly

prepare contaminated food and be liable for that.

If I were a restaurant, I'd rather the parents provide their child with non-allergenic food.

[NashVegas]

25. I Did Some Looking Up On the Restaurant In Question

It's inside a Holiday Inn and apparently, fairly upscale. It doesn't look like the kind of place people should be bringing in two year olds into, anyway, and reviewers on City Search stated it's not a good place for children.

They really should have called ahead and asked about bringing in outside food.

[Atman]

27. We used to bring our kids to brunch all the time

But they were either wicked little, still on the breast, or old enough to sit still and behave. Why anyone would bring a 2-year-old ANYWHERE in public is beyond me! LOL! And I'm sure as hell not paying $18 bucks for a buffet for a kid who'll take two bites and throw the rest on the floor...cuz that's what 2 yo's do.

.

[NashVegas]

28. We Weren't Brought to Restaurants til We Hit a Certain Age

Excluding drive-ins, the first restaurant I ever got to eat in was a Lums. Age somewhere between 7-9. We had to demonstrate we were ready for fine dining before we were taken to a really nice place.

[pnwmom]

38. We took our children from the beginning, and made sure they were

behaving. We also brought little things to entertain them with, and books, and crackers in case they were hungry before the food arrived. Eating in a nice restaurant isn't a relaxing experience for a conscientious parent, but sometimes it's the best choice, and sometimes it's the only choice.

There was no way to drive the 800 miles to my in-laws without stopping at a number of places to eat on the way, and we usually had a hotel stay, too.

[pnwmom]

37. People have lots of reasons for travelling with small children, and

this restaurant is part of a motel chain. They should be ready for children of any age.

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. Not a good place for children? Indeed not. n/t

[pnwmom]

36. Of course it's the kind of place people can bring 2 year olds.

Any restaurant that's part of a lodging establishment has to be prepared to deal with children of all ages, because parents do travel -- and often stay in hotels -- with their children.

[NashVegas]

22. You're Right

In the other link posted, liability was cited by the hostess as the reason for wanting the medical notice.

[pnwmom]

24. Then why didn't she just ask the people to sign a note saying that

they had brought their own food for the toddler and were releasing the restaurant from any liability? Because that's really the point, isn't it?

[Atman]

26. Because she's a food server, not an attorney

Come on now...think about what you're saying. This is policy set way higher up in the "food chain" (pun intended), and a mere server simply isn't going to be making those kinds of decisions. Besides, do you think she just happened to have some legally-binding releases laying around? Write 'em on a napkin, perhaps? Not to mention dealing with the other customers who are waiting for their tables -- "It will be just a moment while we review the liability agreement." Mmmm. Just what the people want to hear before sitting to eat.

You're correct about what the point is/may be, but it isn't realistic to expect it to be carried out by a probably-less-than-minimum-wage hostess or server.

.

[pnwmom]

29. I don't see how a doctor's note about the child's allergy will

release them from liability.

The point is that the child is consuming outside food, and you don't need a doctor's note to prove that.

[NashVegas]

30. You Shouldn't, But

The hostess wanted a photocopy of the alert.

Let's say the parents decided to pull a scam. They file a suit and say 'our kid got sick eating your food.' Without physical proof that they were aware of the kids' allergies, and therefore it wasn't likely the kids ate the restaurant's food, what evidence do they have to present for their defense?

[pnwmom]

33. That note wouldn't prove the child didn't eat restaurant-prepared food.

Restaurants prepare food for people with allergies all the time. I have to get special food every time I go out. It just depends on whether the person with the allergy trusts the restaurant enough.

[NashVegas]

34. It Would Be Evidence, Nonetheless

And much better than nothing.

[pnwmom]

35. Much better than that would be a note signed by the parent saying that

the child only ate their homemade food.

A doctors' note saying the child had an allergy wouldn't prove anything about whose food the child had eaten.

[pnwmom]

18. I would think that the restaurant should be HAPPY that they don't

have to worry about preparing allergy free food for a toddler.

[Ian David]

5. Yes, either be prepapred to risk your kid's life, or else lock him in the basement.

But what if he breaks loose from his cage and eats a peanut?

[NashVegas]

10. Wow, Funny

Why would you assume I meant 'leave the kid home, alone?'

[Ian David]

12. True. The parents don't deserve to have normal lives, either.

They should all hide from public view and be ashamed of their allergic son and their defective peanut genes.

[NashVegas]

13. Funnier, Still

Project much?

[pnwmom]

17. Are you kidding? Most restaurants wouldn't even have charged a

two year old at a buffet.

Much less one with food allergies who brought his own food.

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. Good idea. Leave the 2 year old home. Parent much? n/t

[Eugene]

4. Two points.

1. They wanted to seat someone at a buffet restaurant who they claim
    wasn't there to eat the food.
2. They were bringing in food from elsewhere. That's against the rules
    at most restaurants.

The hostess was insisting on proof the couple wasn't trying
to cheat the restaurant. The treatment was harsh though.

[Ian David]

6. The kid should have a medic-alert bracelet anyway.

And that bracelet should be good enough proof for the restaurant, if they actually need proof in the first place.

[pnwmom]

20. We have food allergies in our family and I've never had a restaurant

complain about outside food. Never.

[Richard Steele]

8. Sounds to me like they just didn't want you there. Their loss, IMHO.

[gollygee]

11. They needed proof a 2-year-old couldn't eat the food?

that's silly. If it were an adult, maybe, or maybe even if it were an older kid, but not a toddler. People routinely carry food for their toddlers because toddlers get hungry all the time and are infamously picky.

[pnwmom]

21. Exactly. Would this restaurant kick out every 2 year old with

a little bag of crackers?

[seaglass]

15. In another post they said there were 2 two-year olds and

neither of them could eat and they brought food for both of them. Could this really be different people and if not, why'd they change the story?

http://www.bostoncentral.com/resources/phantom_gourmet/p121.php

My Horror Story At The Bamboo Restaurant In Dedham..., Tue 27 Feb 2007

My wife, 2 yr old and I along with another couple and their 2 yr old decided to try the brunch at the Bamboo located in Dedham next to the Holiday Inn last weekend. We arrived at 11:30am since this is when their menu and website said that the brunch started. As soon as we opened the door, the hostess rudely snapped 'We not open!'. My wife was in mid-sentence asking what time they open when the hostess interrupted and said 'Come back 30 minute, OK?' The hostess seemed to get even more annoyed when my wife asked if they had recently changed the start time from what their menu and website. All the hostess said was '30 minute, you come back'. So we sat in the lobby of the Holiday Inn for 30mins and came back. We were ignored until my wife just went up to the hostess and said '4 adults, 2 children for the brunch please'. The hostess looked at the children and asked 'how old?'. My wife said 'They're both 2 years old'. The hostess replied ' We gonna charge them for buffet'. My wife then informed the hostess that the children couldn't eat anything from the buffet and that we had brought along food for them to eat because of allergies. What the hostess said next was the last straw. She said with a smile 'Do you have doctor note? I photocopy so we don't get sued if they get sick'. We all couldn't believe they would treat customers like that. We left and ate at Chili's nearby where the service was excellent.

[pnwmom]

23. Probably there were 2 couples. And maybe there are two different

accounts because two people wrote them -- one from each couple.

[WinkyDink]

16. The "bad blood" began with the disagreement over the opening time.

Also, the similar article displays not a little racism.

I read the rest in that context.