Elijah M.
Yelp
I'm not one to typically write reviews on a small business, let alone write a bad review, but I feel as though this needs to be said.
Yesterday afternoon (August 26th), I went into Roy's Station to grab tea and a little treat before my work day. I ended up getting an iced herbal tea, and a brookie (a combination of a brownie and a cookie). The brookie in the display case was labeled as gluten free and vegan, and was sitting alongside other pastries. What the label failed to mention....is that it was made with both almond flour AND peanut butter.
Typically when things are gluten free, the alternatives used are rice flour or almond flour. When it's made with almond flour, there's usually some sort of disclosure letting folks know of the other allergens included, in this case, it would have been tree nuts. I also had my guard down because it shared a case with other pastries i've had before, which were nut free. Lack of labeling PLUS cross contamination. A double whammy.
Two bites in, and I immediately go into anaphylactic shock. The symptoms included were me throwing up, wheezing, face swelling, tongue swelling, my body turning red, being covered in hives, eyes getting watery, my sinuses got congested and I couldn't breathe which lead to a panic attack as I rushed home to get Benadryl. I decided then to cut my losses and go to the ER instead, where I spent the rest of the day. Now I'm going to be on steroids for the rest of the week.
.....all of which could have been avoided if the case was properly labeled. I thought I could trust this small business since I lived in Japantown for years and is somewhat a community staple. Very disappointed with their prioritization of for those who are vegan/gluten free, and their lack of care for folks who have other dietary restrictions. If you have a nut allergy, or really any kind of allergy, please practice caution when buying from Roy's! Especially since they aren't practicing caution when selling you pastries.
Update: We went to in store to tell them today, and they changed the label to say that it is a 'Peanut Butter Brookie'. When I purchased it, it was labeled as just a Brookie, with the description being '(Brownie + Cookie)'. At least they changed it!