Celebrating National Allergy Awareness Month With Red Robin's Interactive Allergen Menu

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Red Robin.  I did receive a gift card to facilitate this review.  However, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Did you know that May is National Allergy Awareness Month?  It's no secret that when it comes to allergies, my family has its share and then some.  The allergy type that affects us the most would be the kids' food allergies.  It's really changed our lifestyle, especially when it comes to eating out.  Not many restaurants cater to patrons with food allergies, less more offer menus that help us customize our meals to meet our dietary needs.  That's why I was delighted when Red Robin asked if we wanted to celebrate National Allergy Awareness Month by trying out their new Interactive Allergen Menu at one of their restaurants.

While Red Robin has been allowing diners to customize their meals for years, the Customizer Hub allows guest take customizing their meals to the next level.  You have the option to "Customize Your Nutrition" or "Build a Customized Allergen Menu."  What I loved about building a customized allergen menu for both Moo and JJ was how easy it was to do.

After you click on the "Get Started" button, you can just check off all of the allergens that you need to avoid.

Then, the Interactive Allergen Menu, will bring up your new menu options by category.  You can click on each category to see what is available.

You might see that once you click on categories that there are even more options available to customize your meals, like switching out the sesame seed bun for a lettuce or gluten free bun.

I was surprised at all the options that were still available once we had entered in all of the kids' allergies.  So, once you've decided what you want to eat and customized your meal, your server then submits your order.  Orders with food allergies are rung in with an allergy alert that includes showing the order in bold, bright red letters.  This notifies the kitchen staff to that a food allergy is present and that they will need to use an allergen kit to prepare that order.

The Red Robin allergen kits include all of the tools that will be needed to prepare your meal.  The tools are purple so that the kitchen staff will be able to distinguish them from the regular kitchen tools and also because purple is to color associated with Allergen Awareness.  In addition to being able to customize your meals, starting May 12th, Red Robin will be offering Omission Pale Ale, a gluten-free beer, for beer drinkers (21 & over of course)!  Brewed with malted barley, Omission Pale Ale is specially crafted to remove gluten.  

Honor, integrity, continually seeking knowledge and having fun are the four core values on which Red Robin was founded and our server that definitely embodied those for us during our visit.  I loved that she was very knowledgeable on the differences between an actual food allergy and an food intolerance because there is a difference. Being lactose intolerant is not the same as having a dairy allergy and that is very important to know because it could mean the difference between just an upset stomach and a trip to the hospital or worse.

It's no surprise that they have been the Gourmet Burger Authority their first restaurant opened in Seattle, Washington in 1969 or that they have 500 restaurants all over the US and Canada.  In my personal opinion, Red Robin is definitely setting the standards for changing the dynamics of the family dining out experience.  I feel so much more at ease when we eat at Red Robin because they have gone above and beyond to help me choose the best meal options for Moo and JJ.

 It's definitely one of the only three sit down restaurants that we frequent and I highly recommend Red Robin above the other two or any restaurant for families with food allergy issues.  The service great, the staff is knowledgeable and there are variety of options to choose from.  So, visit the official Red Robin website to find a Red Robin near you and give them and the new Interactive Allergen Menu a try if haven't already.   Don't forget to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all news, exclusives and discounts.

Lastly, Red Robin was also nice enough to offer me the opportunity to give one of you a $25 gift card!  Use the Rafflecopter app below to enter before 5/27 at 11:59PM.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway