What should a restaurant manager do when a guest reports an allergic reaction?

The first five minutes: the guest comes first

When a guest or their companion says they are having a reaction, stop everything else. Ask what they are feeling and what they are allergic to, and listen for the signs that matter: trouble breathing, wheezing, swelling of the lips, tongue, or throat, hives spreading, vomiting, dizziness, or a sense that something is badly wrong. If any breathing difficulty or throat swelling is present, or if symptoms involve more than one part of the body, call 911 immediately. Do not wait to see whether it improves, and do not let the guest talk you out of the call.

Ask whether the guest carries epinephrine and help them use it if they do; epinephrine is the treatment for a severe reaction and delay is the common mistake. Keep the guest where they are rather than sending them to the restroom, assign one staff member to stay with them and keep talking, and send someone to the door to guide the ambulance crew in. If the guest feels faint, lying down with legs raised is generally advised; if they are struggling to breathe, sitting up is usually easier. Do not offer food or drink. Everything else, including finding out what went wrong, waits.

Keep reading: Allergen Labeling Basics Every Restaurant Should Know, Why a Printed Allergen Card Goes Out of Date, Building a Menu That Is Safe and Appealing. See how MenuAegis helps you live allergen and nutrition menus with an auto-updating qr.

The next thirty minutes: preserve what happened

Once the guest is being cared for, the manager's job is to freeze the evidence before the kitchen's normal rhythm erases it. Take the plate and any remaining food, cover it, label it with the time and table, and hold it in a walk-in away from service. Pull the ticket and note who took the order, who cooked each component, who ran the plate, and what was written or said about an allergy. Hold the containers of every ingredient used in that dish during that service, especially anything opened that day, so the labels and lot codes are available. Related: Handling an Allergy Request at the Table

Stop selling the dish, and any dish sharing its components, until the kitchen has reviewed it. Ask the guest or their companion, gently and only if they are able, what was ordered and what was said to the server, and get a way to contact them. Be kind, be factual, and do not speculate about causes or accept or deny fault in the moment. A calm, honest manager who says we are taking this seriously and will find out what happened is what the guest needs to hear, and it is also the truthful statement.

The incident report that actually helps

Write the report the same day, while memories are fresh, and make it specific. Date, time, and table. The dish and every component on the plate, with the brand and lot code of anything purchased and any substitution in effect that day. The allergy the guest declared, if any, and exactly where and how it was communicated: verbally, on the ticket, on a delivery note. Who handled the order at each step. What the guest ate and drank before the reaction. What the staff did, when 911 was called, and whether EMS transported the guest. The manager's name and signature. Related: Building Trust With Guests Who Have Allergies

Attach photographs of the plate and of every ingredient label held. Compare the dish as served against the matrix as it stood that day and note whether they matched. Then follow your insurer's and attorney's guidance on retention and notification; most policies require prompt notice of any incident that could become a claim. Some local health departments also want to be informed of suspected foodborne illness or allergic reactions, so check the rules for your jurisdiction and follow them. The report is not about assigning blame; it is the only reliable account the restaurant will have.

The review in the following days

Within a few days, walk the chain with the people involved. Was the allergy declared and, if so, did it reach the kitchen? Was the matrix correct for that dish on that day? Was there a substitution or a special involved? Could cross-contact have occurred at prep, on the grill, in the fryer, or at the pass? Was the guest-facing menu showing the same information the kitchen had? Usually the answer points to one specific gap: a missing ticket flag, an out-of-date record, a shared utensil. Fix that gap the same week and write down what changed. Related: Why a Printed Allergen Card Goes Out of Date

Brief the whole team, without naming anyone, on what happened and what is now different, because the lesson is worthless if it stays in the office. Follow up with the guest to ask how they are and to tell them what you found and what you changed; many guests who have a reaction at a restaurant care most about whether it will happen to someone else. And if the allergen record was wrong, correct it on every channel immediately, which is one reason a live menu matters: the correction reaches every table and the website in the same minute the kitchen makes it. Related: Allergen Labeling Basics Every Restaurant Should Know