I have visited the USA a number of times over the years and it has been interesting to see how my opinion on it with regards to my allergy has evolved. I first visited as a child in 2005, and back then I found their understanding of nut allergies to be well ahead of the U.K. If you’d asked me then I’d have given a 10/10 rating – I felt that I could eat out anywhere, and to an extent this is still true now.
My most recent visit was in 2015; during that decade the UK restaurant industry has made up a lot of ground with allergy awareness. With regards to my allergy I would say there are two main differences between the UK and USA:
1) Waiters/waitresses are more responsive to my allergy queries in the USA. I personally think this is partly because tipping is much more of a thing and therefore servers seem to be much happier to put effort in which makes eating out more enjoyable on the whole anyway. I would also say that in the UK a lot of servers speak English as a second language and seem to understand my questions less.
2) Peanuts are more common and popular in the USA (just try going to a baseball game – they’re everywhere).
So, I would say that eating out is slightly better for me over the pond on the peanut front. But this is negated by the popularity of peanuts – ie I feel I can go longer in the UK without even seeing or thinking about the dreaded things. I would also say that the cost of healthcare in the USA makes it a nightmare destination to need medical attention (travel insurance is a must for any holiday for me but comes at a premium for both the allergy and then again to cover the USA).
Verdict – 8/10
I found a lot more blogs listing nut free restaurants over there which was a great help! And was the inspiration for starting my own.
Nut Free Bites 