Lindsie T.
Yelp
I used to LOVE coming to this restaurant. I have a good family friend whom I see about once a year, and we always choose this spot. Unfortunately, we had to skip our 2020 visit for covid reasons, made even more serious by my status as an immunocompromised individual. For 2021, having been vaccinated, we were finally going to be able to meet again. Yay! Back to saffron, something I always look forward to.
Here's the hitch: I'm on a special diet due to my condition, and it basically means I can't eat meat or dairy. I shorthand this to vegan, because it's simpler that way. I'm also on doctors orders to not spend time indoors, given the delta variant and my personal risk of severe illness if I were to get a breakthrough infection. No worries, I figured. Saffron has always been so accommodating in the past, so I'd do my usual of calling ahead to let them know we'd be in and need a vegan option.
Unfortunately, saffron doesn't take reservations for outside. That's totally fine with us; we were happy to wait for a table, we just wanted to make sure there would be a meat and dairy free option on the menu once we got a table. I called to ask the restaurant to note this, explaining the situation and why I unfortunately cannot make a reservation for inside, but making sure they knew we'd be there and didn't mind if there was a wait.
The owner was unwilling to accommodate. She indicated that while she'd be happy to accommodate either my dietary restrictions or my inability to eat inside, she would not note that someone sitting outside needed a specific diet--regardless of the fact that both are related to my disability. I tried to be very kind and ask that they please make this very simple reasonable accommodation, but she refused. And she was not nice about it.
Imagine this: a restaurant has two floors--a first floor that's wheelchair accessible and a second floor that's not. They only take reservations for the second floor. And only with reservations will they accommodate dietary restrictions. A wheelchair bound person with a dairy allergy would like to eat at this restaurant, and with a simple accommodation--allow a dietary accommodation on the wheelchair-accessible first floor--they could serve this person. The restaurant refuses. The ADA is clear: this would be discriminatory and unlawful. This is exactly what is happening here, just substitute dairy allergy for medically mandated diet and wheelchair-bound for immunocompromised.
If you want to patronize ethical businesses, avoid this one.