We all knew my voice was loud...but this time it was worth it.

This blog posting is a follow up to my blog posting of May 7th, regarding my local franchise Red Robin's decision to serve a different pasta than the spaghetti they had pictured on their kid's menu:

After sharing my blog post for two days, Red Robin contacted me via Twitter Direct Message Wednesday night asking if I had heard from the executive management of the franchise that I had the issue with, as they had been trying to reach me. As the number I had give them was my work number, I let them know that I hadn't heard from them yet, and there were probably messages waiting for me as I was away from my desk most of the day.

Upon returning to the office on Thursday, I retrieved three messages from the Executive Vice President / Operating Manager of the local franchise. The messages were apologetic in nature and expressed a sincere need to want to talk to me. She left me her personal cell phone number and asked me to contact her at my earliest convenience. I called her back and left a message.

She shortly returned my phone call and our conversation commenced. She immediately apologized for the strife that Lex and I encountered. She explained that she decided to make the decision herself to change out the pasta in all of her 7 franchise restaurants because she considered the cavatelli pasta to be a higher quality pasta than the spaghetti. One thing that I didn't know is that she made this decision around six or seven years ago. She fully admitted that she never thought of the consequences of substituting the pasta without informing the customers until she heard about my complaint. It was also mentioned that it would have been smart to maybe have the servers tell the children when they ordered the spaghetti that they would actually be getting a different pasta. But hindsight is 50/50.

She said that once she heard about the impact that the "bait and switch" would have on children with autism, she said she knew my complaint made sense, as she knows children who are affected which autism spectrum disorders and could see how that would cause discomfort.

She continued to tell me that after speaking to me, the manager of the franchise restaurant that we went to went out on his own and bought boxes of spaghetti to have on hand in case there were children who came in who had the same issue. I was surprised to hear this, as one of the things that he told me was that he wasn't "allowed" to do this.

But now for the good news.

I was informed that from this week forward, all seven of her franchises will carry spaghetti. The servers have been instructed to offer the children that order the spaghetti the choice of it as pictured or the cavatelli as was being served for the last 6-7 years. I completely understand allowing both choices as some children who are frequent visitors to the restaurant (like my son was) may have come to love that and would be upset to now learn their favorite food is all of a sudden gone.

I was asked for my home address as she wanted to invite Lex and I back as her guests to prove that things have changed. Yes, I'll be back. In fact, I'll be visiting all seven franchise locations. And I'll let you know exactly what happens when Lex orders the spaghetti. Let's all pray that he gets what he orders, because I would really hate to intentionally be inducing a meltdown.

Why We Won't Be Going Back To Red Robin Again

Two weeks ago on a Sunday night, after a long day, my son and I arrived at Red Robin for dinner. This has long been his restaurant of choice because he likes the free balloons and he is able to order for himself because of the "picture" menus.

The "picture" menu is key to this story. One key learning tool for children with autism is the use of Picture Exchange Communication System, or PECS. This is the use of small pictures to be used instead of words to communicate. Kids will exchange them with their therapists in order to get what they need or even "speak". It is the tool that Lex first used to communicate before he started talking.

On this night, Lex strayed from his usual order of pepperoni pizza. He was studying the menu and pointed to the picture of spaghetti and said to me "I want the spaghetti, no sauce, butter."  So when the waitress came, I placed our order and thought nothing more of it.

Our service was spotty that night even thought the restaurant was half full. Finally, a server arrived with our food. As she put it down, I looked at Lex's food. I stopped the waitress and asked her where the food he ordered was, because that obviously wasn't it. She had brought him a bowl full of cavatelli pasta, not spaghetti. She said no, that's what he ordered.  I then asked to see my waitress. While waiting for her, I had to convince Lex to just eat the pasta, even though he knew it wasn't what he ordered. The last thing i wanted was him to have a meltdown in the restaurant over not getting what he was expecting. After some hemming and hawing, he finally caved and started eating. I was so relieved there were no hysterics or issues.

When my waitress finally came over, I asked the same question. She proceeded to tell me that the cavatelli pasta was what the restaurant considered "spaghetti". I pulled out Lex's menu and showed her the picture of the menu item, which clearly showed traditional spaghetti. I asked how they can offer a menu item titled and showing one thing and knowingly serve another. My thought process now was heading towards autistic children. I know many autistic children who simply need to have structure at mealtimes. If you show them a picture (thinking of the PECS system), you pretty much have to give them what is on the picture. Giving them anything else will cause hysterics, crying, meltdowns, etc...  I was lucky this day in that Lex decided he was hungry and would eat after just a little cajoling. I knew that this was not ultimately the waitress' decision so I let it go.

But I wasn't done. I had to find out what was going on.

While I was sitting at the table, I took pictures of the menu item and of Lex's meal and I tweeted them to the Red Robin Twitter account, asking them to tell me how they could justify telling me they were the same. This got their attention. They direct messaged me and by the next week, they had put me in touch with the manager of that restaurant. But the discussion I had with him was even more disappointing.

I recounted my experience with him and was given the following explanation for the replacement of the pasta: It wasn't the restaurant's decision to make the pasta switch and not change the menu.  It was the Corporate Office's. Corporate made the decision to replace the pasta and not change the menu because it was cheaper. So basically, they don't care about false advertising to kids. And in my case, and to all parents of kids with autism, where that could potentially mean a public meltdown, it means we have to deal with managing the emotions of our children, because we aren't important enough. Money is king, you see.

For these reasons, Red Robin has lost two loyal customers. I'm extremely disappointed in the fact that no one seems to care about pulling a "bait and switch" on these children who actually depend on getting what they order.