The Most Allergy-Safe DoorDash Restaurants in Westchester: Part 1

While online ordering services have made getting restaurant food significantly easier, they can also introduce new risks for food allergy sufferers. When you can’t ask clarifying questions, confirm preparation practices, or advocate for yourself in real times, allergens can slip through more easily.

Today, I want to highlight a lesser-known but incredibly helpful feature on DoorDash that can give allergy sufferers more confidence when ordering out. I’ll also be spotlighting a few Westchester restaurants that implement this feature particularly well. This is Part 1 of an ongoing series, and I’ll be featuring more restaurants using this tool in future posts.

DoorDash’s Allergen Checkboxes

DoorDash gives restaurants the option to include a designated place where diners can select their major allergies. For certain restaurants, this appears as a clear set of allergen checkboxes during the ordering process:

Unfortunately, most restaurants don’t take advantage of this option. Instead, the opportunity to enter allergen information is often buried in the “add special instructions” box at the bottom of an order:

For many food allergy sufferers, this setup can feel risky. There’s a real possibility that restaurant staff might not see it, ignore it, or worse, dismiss it as nothing to worry about. This puts your dish at risk of accidental cross-contamination. Especially when you can’t see the food being prepared or ask questions directly, ordering out can carry serious dangers.

By simply adding the allergen checkboxes, restaurants send a strong signal that diners’ allergies will be heard and that there are systems in place to handle them appropriately.

Restaurants that Implement This Feature

I want to shout out a few Westchester restaurants for using this feature, and helping allergen sufferers feel safer when ordering delivery.

Bareburger - Dobbs Ferry

Bareburger is a Northeast burger food chain with multiple locations in Westchester. I’ve ordered from Bareburger many times, and it’s been a consistently positive experience.

More importantly, Bareburger allows DoorDash users to select from seven major allergies (dairy, egg, tree nut, peanut, gluten, soy, and sesame). That extra step goes a long way in making diners with allergies feel seen and taken seriously. 

The Taco Project - Tarrytown

The Taco Project, a Westchester-based food chain specializing in Mexican food, also makes great use of DoorDash’s allergen checkboxes. The restaurant allows you to select if you have any of the same seven major allergies. 

Their steak burrito is a favorite of mine:

Why This Matters

DoorDash’s allergen checkbox feature is a simple but powerful way for restaurants to show that they take food allergies seriously. 

I’ll be continuing this series to highlight more Westchester restaurants that use this feature well, because small changes like this can make a big difference.

Disclaimer

While features like DoorDash’s allergen checkboxes are an important step toward safer ordering, they do not eliminate all risk.  Cross-contact can still occur, and no online ordering system can fully replace direct communication with restaurant staff. For diners with severe allergies, it’s still essential to use your best judgement, ask follow-up questions when possible, and always carry epinephrine in case of an emergency.