Chain restaurants which accommodate a picky customer’s requests? And those which don’t?

[Fivemoreminutes1]

What I mean by a picky customer’s requests.. for example:
Chicken Caesar salad without the bacon, and with the dressing on the side
Pad Thai without the bean sprouts or peanuts
Chicken pesto pizza without the pesto

From experience, Pizza Express and Zizzi have been very accommodating. Wagamama not so.

What’s Prezzo like? I’m sure to go there with the family soon. Any chains to recommend or avoid?

Was just going to comment that zizzi were fantastic with me when I had to be on exclusion diet (no soya/ dairy). The manager came and spoke to me about off menu options.

The problem with a lot of chain restaurants is that the meals aren't cooked from scratch so they can't alter them as they come in pre prepped and just need reheating.

Better to find an independent or order something that has to be cooked from scratch - steak or something from the grill?

Zizzi make all their pasta sauces centrally and send them out to the restaurants. They just heat things up.

I was going to say Wagamama because they are always very accomodating when I go! Must depend on the branch.

Prezzo were rubbish. We made our order, waitress took note of our extra request and took the menus away. We waited about 15 minutes, then she came over to tell us that our request couldn’t be accommodated.

I'm a bit special with my caesar salad requests and the only place I've ever had it go wrong was in a Harvester where I don't think the chef had ever heard of lettuce. Or chicken.

Most places are reasonably OK, as long as what you're asking doesn't mess up the recipe (for example bolognese without onions in the sauce) and can be easily added or taken out.

Giving the example of food allergies they should be able to tell you straight away if an ingredient is included and/or can be omitted.

Asking a 17yo on minimum wage to pass the message to the kitchen is another thing mind you...

I think it depends more on the dish than the restaurant chain. So things like serving dressing on the side of a salad can almost always be accommodated as dressings can't be added to far in advance as it makes the salad soggy. Bacon too would usually be added at the end so also shouldn't pose a problem. Same applies to peanuts in pad Thai.
If however you are asking for an ingredient to be removed from a sauce or pie, lasagne, curry etc etc those things will often either be prepped in advance or bought in and therefore can't be changed.
My experience has always been if it's a simple elimination, most places are happy to leave the ingredient out if they can.
If the changes you are making create a lot more work for the chef you are better going to an independent and wherever possible talking to the chef in advance.