Food Allergies in Oahu

 I know it's been a little while since we've been back from my son, Moses' Make-a-Wish trip to Oahu.  While we went there because of his scary experience with stage 3 pediatric melanoma, his other major health challenge his multiple, life-threatening food allergies, seemed to shape many of our behaviors on vacation more than anything.
   Before leaving, we searched for some answers online, but found surprisingly little.  I've mentioned his eating experiences in other blog posts about our trip, but for the sake of creating a resource, I thought I'd make a post just about some of the most important things I learned while dining there.
   Moses tests allergic to peanut, treenut (not coconut), wheat, dairy, egg, soy, seeds, kiwi and peas.  My experience, therefore, won't fit EVERYBODY, especially if seafood is of concern.  Also, know that there are never guarantees of ANYTHING ANYWHERE.  However, because his allergies are quite extensive, hopefully this net's large enough to catch quite a few people's needs.  If you find yourself in a similar situation here's a few things I might suggest-

1.  Dining Card
    Do you have any idea how many times I have rattled off the list, "Peanut, tree-nut, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, wheat, seeds, kiwi, peas"? Oh and "He has a mild allergy to strawberry.  And he should probably avoid raspberries and mango and garbanzo beans and lentils because they're too similar".  Seriously, if I had a dollar for every doctor's appointment restaurant stop, childcare form we could buy Hawaii. Plus, I'm not a loud person.  So imagine me yelling all of this over the roar of a noisy restaurant.  The best thing I have ever done was find this website with a free template for allergy dining cards.  Do it.  Like five years ago.  I wish I would've.  Print 20 in case you leave one with a chef or on a table somewhere.  You can find them here:  http://www.foodallergy.org/document.doc?id=219

2.  Just Because It's On the Menu Doesn't Mean It's Not on the Menu
    In case you haven't picked up on this from my blog posts I'm not particularly bold by nature.  This allergy mama bear thing was really not a gig I would've applied for.  Rocking the boat isn't thrilling for me.  But I'm learning, especially when it's a necessity.  Early on in this allergy-mom journey I'd look at menus and turn away discouraged because there was NOTHING he could eat.  While I still have to be wise and cautious, I'm learning that if you ask really nice (and have a super cute kid with a Make-a-Wish shirt on), some of the good and capable people of this world will try to do whatever reasonably possible to make sure that sweetheart gets to eat.
    After handing his dining card to our waiter at one of the hotel restaurants he sent over the chef who said, "What can he eat?"  I asked him about simply grilling some fish as opposed to the way it was typically prepared with buttery sauce and unfamiliar seasonings.  When the waiter served his plate of straight-from-the-ocean white fish with salt, pepper and some nice grill marks, he had other waiters asking what it was and why they'd never seen that yummy meal on the menu before.  We even returned the next night and requested a repeat to go.
   We had a similar experience at P.F. Changs.  When NOTHING but rice looked safe, the chef spent a considerable amount of time coming up with a plan that would work to safely bring him a boiled chicken breast, raw carrots and broccoli and white rice.  It probably would never be the most popular item on their menu but I was so thankful for their hospitality towards our very, tired and hungry family who had exhausted a lot of options by the time we stumbled into their restaurant.

3.  Locate Familiar Chains
    While my husband and I prefer to try new, adventurous and local, being in Oahu with our food allergic child, it was comforting to be able to locate a few go-to chains with reputations for safe food handling.
   We'd read a tip online about Dave and Buster's so we chose that for Moses' birthday dinner night.  Even though we have Dave and Buster's here in Arizona, it's not a typical stop for us and was a HUGE treat for the boys.  Once again, there was very little he could eat "as is" but they sent several different individuals out to go over options and check on things for us.  We were not only impressed by this thoroughness but also by the delight they seemed to take in helping us out.  We didn't feel like a nuisance but rather honored guests and Moses had more to eat than we would've ever imagined.

   As I mentioned before, we ate lunch at P.F. Chang's one day.  I'd heard they have been listed as one of the top restaurants for those with food allergies.  Because of the types of allergens present there we hadn't tried it yet.  But, one day it was a little too past lunch time and we'd dragged the kids to a few too many restaurants checking menus that wouldn't work so we decided to go at least ask some questions.  Like I said, it wasn't easy but they were kind and provided a healthy, well-balanced, safe meal.
   Although we didn't make a stop there, we noticed an Outback, which is known for being accommodating and aware.  It's definitely worth mentioning if you're planning a trip and find a little comfort in the familiar.
   We also found a Wendy's, one of our go-to restaurants at home.  It worked out fine, however, it didn't live up to our experiences there at home.  The staff seemed possibly a bit baffled by the "patty only" request and we actually had to send the first one back after it still came out with a bun.  That's why we stay vigilant.

4.  Take Advantage of Local and Fresh
    As hard as it can be to feed Moses on vacation, many of the delicious treats Hawaii's most known for just happen to be perfectly safe for Moses.  Even at home he LIVES on coconut, he can eat pineapple and most importantly, HAWAIIAN SHAVE ICE!  He had four while we were there!

   And, because Moses doesn't have issues with seafood, he had fish, fish and more fish.

5.  Grylt

    I've written about this place before but I definitely wanted to give them credit in the blog.  Once again, we had found ourselves a little too past hungry at lunchtime.  We pulled into a strip mall near the beach in Kailua where we saw a sign for fresh, healthy fare.  I felt skeptical and we barely left the door frame long enough to hand one of the workers his dining card.  I was prepared to hear "We sprinkle walnuts into our tap water and then drizzle it with almond milk" but to my surprise nearly everything on the menu was safe for him.  Even the mashed potatoes were made without dairy!  Not that he ate them because my boys have this weird aversion to delicious mashed potatoes.  But he could have eaten them!  The food was delicious and left us feeling fueled instead of needing a nap.  I would eat there even without Moses.  There are three other locations in Honolulu including the Ala Moana mall food court where we ate as well.

6.  Roy's

    Roy's.  How can I even begin describing Roy's?  Amazing.  Maybe the Make-a-Wish shirt helped but the staff treated us like royalty.

To start off, they bring out little appetizer plates with the children's meals and because Moses couldn't eat the usual quesadilla, they made him a beautiful plate of thinly sliced apples and carrots.  Then, the waiter took the dining card to the chef so they could discuss our options and they met for quite some time.  I know because I passed them on the way to the restroom.  In the end they were able to just slightly alter the sauce for a DELICIOUS short rib meal.  I seriously almost wanted to trade him.  It was sure no square-patty-no-bun kind of meal.  Roy's made my heart happy.

  I'd really love to hear any tips you might have to add.  Or, maybe even some tips for some other favorite vacation spots.  Of course there are so many variables in every kitchen so experiences may be different for others but hopefully this is a good start!