5 Reasons to Take your Child with Autism to Bubba Gumps
Bubba Gumps is a seafood restaurant chain that was inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump..Based in Houston, Texas, it currently operates twenty-nine US and twelve international locations. Our first introduction to the chain was in Miami but have dined in their Charleston, Chicago, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Galveston as well as all their Southern California locations. If you have never been in one of their restaurants you probably wonder why we would go back instead of trying new places; so here are our top five reasons you should take your kid with autism to a Bubba Gumps’ venue near you.
No Judgment!
The restaurant is one of the least judgemental environment you’ll find in the food business, after all, this place’s theme is that being’special’ is not only ok but totally cool! So far, every location we’ve dined at, the staff was not only super polite and patient with our son but took the time to chat with him and make him feel welcome.
Lots of Paper Towels available
As parents to a special needs son, we’ve had our share of unintentional table spills and messy dining scenes over the years. Generally, patrons would need to flag down a staff member to ask for help with the clean up or, at least, provide the table with additional napkins. But not at a Bubba Gump’s restaurant! Here, the tables are pre-prepared for spills with handy paper towels one can just reach out and grab immediately.
Extensive menu selections
Our son, like many other kids on the autism spectrum, is somewhat of a choosy eater. At Bubba Gump’s, there’s a budget friendly extensive menu available with a lot of different choices.Furthermore, the portions are quite generous, so our son gets to take home part of his favorite po’boy sandwich dish and enjoy it the next day.
Get your kid excited about healthy choices
We couldn’t get our son to taste any fruit smoothies for years -until we set foot in one of the restaurants and he saw it offered drinks in a light-up cups.Nowadays, he not only loves dining there but orders his favorite the mango-pineapple, as soon as we are seated.
Fun while waiting for a table
Many food venues can get crowded and busy during the regular lunch and dinner hours. For us, since waiting was difficult for our son we used to walk away and look for an alternative. The only exception so far has been Bubba Gump’s restaurants that have stores too. Walking through the shop, checking out the different trinkets seems to be work well for our son that loves looking at the all the various items. For kids that don’t like shopping as much, there’s always the option to gawk at the different license plates used as the restaurant decor or take a selfie next to the two statues (one of Forrest on the bench and the other of Forrest standing with his suitcase) right by the entrance.
Have you taken your kid with autism to ‘Bubba Gumps’ -how did you like it?
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