A tony restaurant can be a health obstacle course, filled with hidden dangers for people with food allergies. Worries about the allergens that may lurk in an innocuous-looking dish are enough to dissuade some allergy sufferers from eating out at all.

The WSJ’s Beckey Bright reports on options and precautions for diners who can’t tolerate some common foods and ingredients. War stories include the touch of soy sauce that quickly led one allergic woman to feel itching like ants were crawling up her pants.

“First of all you have to recognize that the fear is real,” says Sloane Miller, president of Allergic Girl Resources. “However, there are ways to manage that fear.”

Miller’s allergic to tree nuts, salmon, eggplant and most tropical fruit. She founded Worry-Free Dinners, a club for people with food allergies that arranges special meals in New York and beyond.

Rule No. 1 for worried diners: Make sure the waiter understands and respects what you’re talking about. If you have any doubts, get up and walk out of the restaurant, top chefs told Miller. If the waiter doesn’t get the message, the folks in the kitchen never will.