Our Florida Vacation with Egg & Nut Allergies
My family just returned from our spring break trip to the Clearwater-St. Pete Beach area of Florida. We live in Minnesota, where we’ve had an especially snowy winter, so our warm and sunny getaway was glorious!
I’ve had quite a few questions on where we ate on our Florida vacation as a family with food allergies. We’re usually pretty cautious, especially when we travel, but we were determined to try a few restaurants on this trip. Read on to see where we safely ate on our vacation!
Our Allergy Backstory:
My six year old son is allergic to eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. He has completed OIT for peanut (with CC-level safety, at 2 peanuts/day), and is about halfway through egg OIT, and can tolerate baked egg. We’ve had a few setbacks with egg OIT, so we still avoid as best we can, and are cautious to avoid tree nuts. We had a reaction a couple of weeks ago after his OIT dose, so our “caution level” is a little elevated lately. We also have a 3 year old daughter with no food restrictions (she used to have acute FPIES, but recently outgrew her trigger foods – a huge relief!).
In the past, we’ve mostly packed meals for our son when we’ve eaten out when traveling. Now that we’ve been managing food allergies for almost 6 years, we have become a little braver about trying new places recently.
Where We Ate in Clearwater/St. Pete
We did manage to safely eat out at several restaurants on our vacation with egg, tree nuts and peanut allergies!
Please note – you should always check ahead for yourself and use your own discretion, as eating out with food allergies always comes with risks.
1. Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill
Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill was one of our favorite places by far! The food and beachfront location were absolutely wonderful. We messaged ahead of time, and the general manager actually called us to discuss our allergy needs (the GM, Chris, handled it wonderfully).
Instead of basic items like French fries and mac and cheese, Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill was able to make my son a safe and delicious Chili Cheese Dog and french fries. He has been wanting to try a chili dog lately, and it was amazing that he was able to experience this at a restaurant! He hasn’t stopped talking about it since.
Allergy Friendly Details: They have a strict food allergy protocol in place. Management and the kitchen are notified of each allergy order, and special precautions are taken to separate the meal from any allergens. They didn’t bat an eye when we mentioned our son’s allergies, and were very helpful in finding him a safe meal. His food even came out with an “ALLERGY” toothpick in it, indicating that they took special care with it.
What we Ordered: My son ordered the Chili Cheese Dog with French Fries (from main menu). He absolutely loved it, and my tiny guy devoured the whole (1/4 pound!) thing by day’s end.
2. Cristino’s Coal Oven Pizza
This Italian pizza place was tied for our favorite meal! The food, service, and ambience were all top notch. The experience reminded me of my Italy trip, with its cozy atmosphere and simple ingredients. The prices were very reasonable, too – we were able to eat and drink as a group of 6 for under $100. We sat on the patio around sunset, and it was just perfect.
My son loves fresh wood-oven style pizza (this was coal-oven, a first for us). This pizza was right up his alley, with its chewy crust and fresh toppings. The pepperoni was a little spicier than your typical Hormel-style, but he still enjoyed it.
Allergy Friendly Details: We confirmed that the crust and toppings were all egg and nut free, so we were able to build our own pizza from their menu. At the time, my son said it was his favorite restaurant we had stopped at.
What We Ordered: For the kids, we ordered a Margherita-based pizza, and added pepperoni. The rest of our group ordered a Quattro Formaggi-based pizza, and added sausage and sundried tomatoes. We also ordered the calamari (not allergy friendly, but the adults enjoyed it). I cannot rave enough about how delicious everything at Cristino’s was!
3. HaleLife Bakery
This was yet another favorite! HaleLife Bakery is an allergy friendly, Top 9 Free bakery, with several locations in the Tampa/Clearwater area. We visited two locations – both the Clearwater and the St. Petersburg bakeries. It was so wonderful for my son to pick out absolutely anything he wanted from the bakery case! With egg and nut allergies, most bakeries have been off limits his whole life. This was a brand new experience for him, at six years old.
Allergy Friendly Details: Everything in the bakery is Top 9 Free, allergy friendly, and vegan. They do use coconut, however, they clearly mark which items are coconut-free. They also have a small selection of allergy friendly candy, so my son also enjoyed some YumEarth (his favorite!) gummy worms.
What We Ordered: My son chose a Cinnamon Toast Crunch donut on his first visit, and the Funfetti donut on his second visit. However, everything there was safe for him, and they had tons of fun flavors of donuts, cookies, cupcakes and more to choose from. Pro-tip: sign up for their email list to receive a free baked good on your first visit!
4. Crabby Bill’s – St. Pete Beach location
Crabby Bill’s was very allergy aware, and their manager was excellent in working with us and the kitchen to find safe options! Unfortunately, their children’s menu didn’t offer a lot of options for our specific allergies (as usual for us, egg was the hardest to work around). The most important thing is that his food was safe.
Allergy Friendly Details: The manager very helpful right off the bat with our allergy needs. We asked upon our arrival, and he was amazing at working with both us and the kitchen for safe options.
What We Ordered: My son ordered the grilled shrimp and french fries. Breading it in cornmeal and grilling it was another option, but it the chef didn’t recommend this option. Additional options were grilled chicken or fish. He wasn’t a big fan of the shrimp (he usually is), but he did love his french fries, and gobbled them right up! Next time we would simply order him french fries, and pack a sandwich or other protein source to go with it.
5. Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille
Doc Ford’s is right on St. Pete Pier, and had amazing views and food! We did not call ahead about food allergies, but they were receptive to looking into safe options. Unfortunately, the oil wasn’t safe for him. It’s unclear why exactly – they said it was “egg oil”, but I can only assume they meant cross-contamination. I wish we had known the concern, because we are comfortable with egg CC in frying oil. However, we decided to play it safe and avoid anything fried. My son’s mac and cheese meal was simple, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.
Allergies aside, the location and atmosphere were great, and their food was delicious! The prices were also very reasonable, and in general it was very family-friendly.
Allergy Friendly Details: The restaurant was just starting to get busy as we were ordering. They were helpful in checking for safe options and seemed cautious, but didn’t have many safe kids menu options available.
What We Ordered:
My son ordered the kid’s mac and cheese with fresh fruit. It seemed to be Kraft, and a very generous serving of it! The fruit cup had a nice variety in it, and my son was happy with everything.
6. Barefoot Beach House on Clearwater Beach
One day we went to Clearwater Beach for swimming and beach fun. We were pleasantly surprised to find this little beachfront shop, and discover they had safe food AND treat options for egg and nut allergies! The two employees behind the counter were very friendly and helpful in checking labels for us. To clarify, this was in the open-air beachside shop (not the streetside restaurant/ice cream shop).
Allergy Friendly Details: The owners were committed to having a nut free kitchen, and served simple items like French fries, chicken nuggets, soft pretzels, etc. Their chicken nuggets were Tyson brand (one of our go-to brands), and their french fries were also safe. Their treat cooler included Hershey’s frozen fruit bars, and my son thoroughly enjoyed his Mango fruit bar! They had a large assortment of items, and another cooler with dairy free chocolate covered bananas.
What we Ordered: My son picked out a Hershey’s brand Tropi-Kool mango fruit bar. They also had strawberry, and a few other flavors to choose from. If we hadn’t already packed our lunch, we would have also ordered their chicken nugget basket.
Other Easy Options
I’ll only briefly touch on some other options available (we didn’t personally experience all of them on this trip). There were several Olive Garden and Red Robin locations, which are our two favorite chain restaurants to eat at with egg and nut allergies. We’ve always had great service at multiple locations. There were tons of other chain restaurants, but these are the ones we have had experiences with.
Less Notable, but Dependable – Fast Food: We also had a few of our go-to fast food options while on our vacation – McDonald’s, Little Caesar’s, and Burger King. These weren’t notable, but it’s always nice to have a safe option while out of town. Other safe options we saw on our trip but didn’t utilize were Wendy’s, Domino’s, and Chipotle.
Quick Tips for Safe Dining While Traveling
- Scope Out Restaurants Ahead of Time
Use food allergy specific apps like Spokin Inc. and Allergy Eats to find pre-vetted restaurants. If you find safe one, be sure to add them for future travelers! - Contact Restaurants
Email/message or call restaurants you’re interested in ahead of time for safe options, and to see how they handle food allergies. - When in Doubt, Go Without
Pack safe food to bring with in case something just doesn’t feel right, or there are no safe options. - Bring Your Epi Pens
Of course, always bring your epi pens with you. This is especially important if you’re trying a new restaurant (or any restaurant that serves your allergens).
Final Note
This was the most we have ever branched out when dining on vacation, and we’re so glad we did. We had a great time experiencing new places, and the standout experiences really took our vacation to the next level. I hope another family traveling to the Clearwater-St. Pete Beach area finds something helpful here.
Comment below if you have any places you would add to the list!