How to Handle Dietary Restrictions for Office Catering: The System That Makes It a One-Time Job
Last Updated on 2026-07-28 08:39 AM
The most practical way to address dietary restrictions is to collect the information once, store it in a readily accessible place, and stop asking about it before every order. A Google Form sent at onboarding, with responses stored in a shared spreadsheet and refreshed once a year, covers the vast majority of what you need to know. Pair that with build-your-own options, such as taco bars, Mediterranean spreads, and grain bowl setups, and most dietary needs are handled without a separate order for anyone.
That is the system, and here is how to create it.
Why You Keep Having This Problem
The issue is rarely that your team has unusually complex dietary needs. Instead, it’s that most admins approach dietary needs from scratch for each order, asking people what they can eat, getting partial responses, making guesses, and still ending up with someone having nothing to eat when the food arrives.
In r/ExecutiveAssistants and r/AdminAssistant on Reddit, this topic comes up constantly. One thread on r/ExecutiveAssistants asked, “When ordering food for the office, how do you deal with people with food allergies, dietary restrictions, or just plain picky eaters?”
The top answer, with 11 upvotes, explained, “You ask them, ‘Do you have any allergies or preferences?’ And you add that to their contact information. Pretty standard.”
The second-most upvoted response said, “I have a spreadsheet and a form that I have all new hires fill out when they start, so I can easily cover all the bases.”
Simply ask once, store the information, and reference it forever.
Step 1: Collect Restrictions One Time
Create a short Google Form and send it to every new hire during onboarding. Ask these four questions:
- Do you have any food allergies? If yes, please list them. (It’s important to flag the severity, such as a mild sensitivity or one that requires an EpiPen, so you know which restrictions are preferences and which are medical requirements.)
- Do you follow any dietary practices we should know about? (Vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, gluten-free, etc.)
- Are there any cuisines or ingredients you strongly prefer to avoid?
- Is there anything else you want us to know when ordering food for team events?
Make the form optional, and note that responses are used only for catering purposes. Some people are not comfortable disclosing religious dietary requirements or medical conditions in a group setting. An optional, confidential form with a clear, limited purpose helps remove hesitation.
For existing team members who never filled one out, send it to them as well. Frame it as a quick two-minute form to help with future team lunches. Most people will fill it out immediately because it is in their interest to do so.
Step 2: Store It Where You Can Actually Find It
The form responses are automatically entered into a Google Sheet. Keep that sheet somewhere you will actually reference when placing an order, such as linked in your catering Slack channel, bookmarked in your browser, or saved in whatever folder or tool you use to manage recurring office logistics.
The format that works best is one row per person, with columns for name, restrictions, severity level, and any notes. You do not need anything elaborate. The goal is to open it and quickly scan it before you start looking at menus.
We recommend sending the form out once a year to capture changes. After all, people develop new allergies, start new dietary practices, or their situations may evolve. An annual refresh keeps the list current without any ongoing effort.
Another suggestion from the Reddit EA community was that, even with a complete list, always include at least one solid vegetarian option and one gluten-free option when ordering. People do not always disclose these preferences, and newcomers may not have filled out the form yet.
Step 3: Review It Before You Open Any Ordering Platform
The list is only useful if you look at it before you start browsing menus. The mistake most admins make is choosing a restaurant first, then checking whether it works for their team. That puts you in a position where you are trying to retrofit accommodations onto a menu that was not designed for them.
Before you open your delivery platform or call a restaurant, reference the spreadsheet. Check how many people need gluten-free options. Determine whether you have anyone with halal or kosher restrictions. And look into whether the vegans on your team have been well served by the last few orders. Then choose a restaurant that meets those needs from the start, rather than scrambling to make substitutions after the fact.
This single change removes most of the last-minute chaos that can make it challenging to accommodate dietary restrictions.
The Option That Solves Everything
The Reddit EA community has a strong consensus on the food option that removes dietary restriction-related stress: build-your-own setups.
Taco bars, Mediterranean spreads, grain bowl bars, and BBQ buffets all share the same advantage: They do not require anyone to make a special request or eat a modified version of what everyone else is having. The proteins, bases, and toppings are separate, everyone builds their own plate, and carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free eaters can all find something that works without a dedicated side order.
From r/AdminAssistant on Reddit, one EA described her standard approach: “If it’s a larger meeting I do ‘build your own’ lunches, like Mexican or Mediterranean bowls, or order a mix of boxed lunch options. Smaller groups I have saved emails with ordering options.” This was the most upvoted practical advice in the entire thread.
The comment that stuck with us from a Fooda community thread said, “Whatever it is, make sure to provide twice the amount of stuff that doesn’t have meat and cheese because 100% of the people who do eat meat and cheese will eat ALL the stuff without it, leaving the people who can’t with nothing.”
Build-your-own options solve that problem by default. The topping bar is not an afterthought—it is the meal.
If you want to make rotating through these options even easier, Waiter.com’s office lunch delivery lets you filter restaurants by dietary accommodation at the search stage, so you are only looking at options that already work for your team rather than hoping the menu has something for everyone once the food arrives.
The Four Main Restrictions to Address
The good news is that you do not need to anticipate every possible dietary situation before every order. These four categories cover the vast majority of any office team:
Vegetarian: No meat or fish, but dairy and eggs are fine. A vegetarian option should be a real entree, not a side salad. Build-your-own setups are ideal for vegetarians.
Vegan: No animal products at all, including dairy and eggs. This is stricter than vegetarian and easy to miss when ordering. Hummus, grain bowls, roasted vegetables, and legume-based dishes cover this well.
Gluten-free: No wheat, barley, or rye. Treat every case as a medical requirement, not a preference. The difference between celiac disease and a casual preference is invisible at the ordering stage, and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious. Ask the restaurant about cross-contamination protocols before ordering for anyone on your list with a gluten restriction.
Halal: No pork, and meat must be prepared according to halal standards. This is a religious requirement, not a preference. Many Middle Eastern, some Mediterranean, and dedicated halal restaurants can reliably accommodate this.
Include these four accommodations in every order, and you will cover the overwhelming majority of your team without needing to investigate every specific case.
Label Everything at the Table
When the food arrives, clear labeling at the serving area is crucial. A small card that says “contains dairy” or “gluten-free” allows people with restrictions to serve themselves confidently without having to ask. This also prevents situations where someone accidentally eats something they cannot have because the container resembles another dish.
Ask your vendor to label by allergen and dietary category before delivery. Most catering restaurants will do this if you ask when placing the order. For boxed lunches, individual labeling is usually included by default.
The Short Version
Collect dietary preferences and restrictions once via Google Form at onboarding. Store it in a shared spreadsheet, refresh it annually, and check it before you open any ordering platform. Default to build-your-own options when you can, and label everything at the table.
When you know what you’re doing, it’s easy to handle dietary restrictions when catering. It takes very little time to set up and monitor, and it saves you from having to re-solve the same problem before every order.
Waiter.com works with over 1,300 restaurants nationwide, and its ordering platform includes dietary filters so you can narrow down restaurants that already accommodate your team’s needs before you browse a single menu. See how office lunch delivery works at waiter.com, or contact us to set up a recurring meal program for your team.