Food Allergies in Atlanta: Pecans, Wings and Buford Highway

Food allergies in Atlanta run across a wide map: Southern desserts such as pecan pie, wings in a buttery lemon pepper coat, and the many kitchens along Buford Highway. Tree nuts, milk, eggs and wheat sit in the first two, and a dozen cuisines sit in the third. This guide gives questions to ask, not a verdict on any dish.

What should you know about food allergies in Atlanta?

Atlanta's table has two halves. One is the Southern kitchen, built on flour, butter, eggs, nuts and fried coatings. The other is the international corridor northeast of the city, where kitchens cook the traditions of Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, China, India, Ethiopia and more. The questions to ask change when you cross from one to the other.

Treat this as a map of where to ask. Your own doctor decides what is right for you.

What can be in pecan pie and Southern desserts?

Wikipedia describes pecan pie as pecans in a filling of eggs, butter and sugar, typically with corn syrup. Pecans are tree nuts, one of the FDA's nine major allergens. Eggs and butter bring egg and milk, and a pastry crust is usually wheat.

Cobblers and puddings follow the same pattern: flour, butter, sometimes eggs and nuts in a topping. Our peach cobbler list guide shows how to keep notes on desserts. If you avoid tree nuts, ask whether nuts are in the crust, the filling or the topping, and whether the dessert case shares knives.

What about lemon pepper wings?

Wings are fried, and fried food raises two questions: the coating and the oil. A wing may be dusted in flour or seasoning before it is fried, and the oil may be shared with other items. The lemon pepper finish is a seasoning, and a wet version is tossed in a buttery sauce, which is a general pattern that points to milk. Our wet wings guide covers the style.

Ask what is in the coating, what is in the sauce, and whether the fryer is shared with fish or breaded items. Ask whether a sauce is made in advance.

What makes Buford Highway different?

Wikipedia says the road runs through Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville and Norcross, has many immigrant-owned businesses, and serves communities including Korean, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Central American, Somali and Ethiopian. Our Buford Highway guide covers the corridor.

For an allergy, that means a different set of staples at each door. Korean and Chinese kitchens often use soy sauce and sesame, Vietnamese kitchens fish sauce and peanuts, and Mexican kitchens cheese, tortillas and sauces thickened with nuts or seeds. These are general patterns, so confirm each one. Ask the cuisine's likely ingredient by name.

What about the soul food table?

A Sunday soul food plate adds cornbread, macaroni and cheese, greens seasoned with meat, fried chicken and sweet desserts. Wheat, milk, egg and shellfish in a seafood dish are all plausible, and the stock in greens or beans may be made from meat. Our soul food guide explains the plate.

Ask what each side is made from, since a side is a recipe of its own. A plate arrives with many items, so ask before it is assembled.

What about biscuits, grits and breakfast counters?

A Southern breakfast brings biscuits, grits, eggs, gravy and sometimes a fried piece of chicken or fish. Biscuits are a wheat dough made with butter or shortening and often buttermilk, grits are cooked in water, milk or stock, and gravy is usually thickened with flour. These are general patterns, so confirm each one.

Ask what the grits are cooked in, whether the biscuit is brushed with butter, and whether the gravy contains meat drippings or other ingredients. A flat top that cooks eggs, bacon and pancakes is another shared surface to ask about.

How do you ask at a busy Atlanta counter?

Say the allergy first, then the dish: "I have a tree nut allergy, are there nuts in this crust or topping?" Ask whether tools and fryers are shared and whether a sauce can be left off.

If the line is long, step aside and ask when the rush eases. Write down the answer and the date, and share the plan with the people you are eating with, so nobody passes you a dish you avoid.

How does the Mosey app fit in?

In the Mosey app, "Hide dishes that list" lets you pick allergens and hides dishes a place has listed with one. A dish that has not been filled in stays, labeled "Allergens not listed, ask the place". That means the place has not said, so ask. The choice stays on your phone and never filters places.

Rate each dish, put the reply in your note, and use tags as one diner's view. A list called Ask first can be shared by link, and friends can add to it even if they are new to the app. A place can declare allergens dish by dish in its dashboard.

Where else can you read about Atlanta?

Try the Georgia page, the Atlanta page, the US food guides, the ratings page and the federal rules guide. Back in the Midwest, the Chicago guide covers pizza and hot dogs.

On your next Atlanta meal, open the Mosey app, rate the dish and write down what you were told.