IBS sufferer on strict diet left humiliated at waitress' cruel comment on bill

21 August 2023 , 07:33

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IBS sufferer on strict diet left humiliated at waitress' cruel comment on bill

It's Billie Geena's "biggest anxiety" about dining out - and, to her distress, it has happened to her. The food blogger from Sheffield has been on a strict diet in a bid to help prevent the stomach ache and severe cramping she gets as a result of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

IBS affects around two in 110 of us, and can play havoc with day-to-day life for the people living with it, meaning they often need to take special dietary measures. During an outing to Amigos Mexican Kitchen in Sheffield, Billie ordered a fillet of sea bass from the menu and asked that it contain no onions, garlic or milk.

The order was placed, the food arrived and Billie had a lovely evening. Until she got the bill. To the 22-year-old's upset, it read "no onion no garlic no milk haha".

"The food was lovely and the service had been excellent," Billie tells "I've only been on this stricter diet for less than a year and it’s been difficult adjusting. I suffer really bad with IBS and about a year ago I had to follow a Low Fodmap diet to find out what causes my flare-ups to be worse.

"I found that onions, garlic, milk and all sorts of different foods that are triggers for me to be ill. What happened brought back all the anxiety I’d had about going out for meals, and it’s really not on." Billie explained that the restaurant had since apologised.

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Apparently the waitress had intended the message to be a private joke about the long list to the chef and had not thought it would appear on the bill. While Billie doesn't hold a grudge, she does want her story to highlight "how upsetting this sort of thing can be for people.

She added that better hospitality training is crucial to ensure people like her are made to feel comfortable wherever they choose to eat out. Restaurant boss Khalid Wani said, according to The Sun: "I apologised personally and spoke to the member of staff, who was given a verbal warning. Nobody should make fun of people with food allergies or intolerances. I'm satisfied it was not the waitress's intention to make fun of the customer but regardless of her intention this should never have appeared on the bill. We always try to give our customers as good an experience as possible and fulfil all their needs, and I'm very sorry about what happened on this occasion."

Zahra Mulroy