Patty Anselmo, an Idaho grandmother, experienced a panic attack after being denied permission to bring outside food for her three-year-old autistic grandson, Cason, who has avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder, at the Caddyshack Pub and Grill in Coeur d’Alene. The restaurant cited state code prohibiting outside food to address concerns about cross-contamination, despite Anselmo's explanation of her grandson’s dietary needs. The incident led to a heated exchange when staff refused to accommodate Cason, resulting in him not eating for the rest of the night. While the restaurant owner expressed openness to revisiting their policy following this unusual situation, it highlights ongoing debates around accommodations for disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Patty Anselmo, a grandmother from Idaho, experienced a panic attack after being told at Caddyshack Pub and Grill in Coeur d’Alene that she could not bring outside food for her autistic three-year-old grandson, Cason. The restaurant staff cited Idaho state code as the reason behind this policy to prevent cross-contamination issues. Anselmo's family brought pizza from Mod, a brand Cason can eat due to his restrictive eating disorder. When confronted with the policy, Anselmo felt overwhelmed and suffered a severe panic attack that required medical attention. The incident highlights challenges faced by families dealing with dietary restrictions for children with autism.
Written for “Restaurant Outside Food Ban Controversy” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 60957: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-06
An Idaho grandmother suffered a panic attack after a local restaurant told her that she could not bring outside food that accommodated the needs of her autistic three-year-old grandson.
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that → suffer → grandson
Patty Anselmo's grandson, Cason, was recently diagnosed with autism and avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder, a condition recognized by the National Institutes of Health that causes people to severely limit what kinds of food they eat.
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they → diagnose → food
Anselmo and her family went to dinner on Saturday evening at Caddyshack Pub and Grill in Coeur d’Alene, a city in northwestern Idaho about 30 miles east of Spokane, Washington.
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Anselmo → go → Spokane
The family brought Mod pizza for Cason, as he is only able to stomach pizza from that brand or Costco for dinner, Anselmo told KHQ.
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Anselmo → bring → KHQ
But after they sat down, a man leaned over the family's table and said, 'you're not allowed to have outside food in the restaurant,' Anselmo recounted.
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Anselmo → sit → restaurant
The grandmother said her daughter 'looked up at him, and she said, "Well, he's autistic."
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he → say → him
And he stopped her.
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he → stop → her
And he said, "That does not matter."
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That → say → ?
Anselmo said she became overwhelmed by the situation and had a panic attack that was so severe 'the fire department came and had to check me out.'
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department → say → me
'It's just the emotions that go behind not being able to protect your grandson and allow him to eat,' the grandmother said, explaining that Cason was unable to eat for the rest of the night after the family left the restaurant.
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family → go → restaurant
Idaho grandmother Patty Anselmo said that she suffered a panic attack at a restaurant in Coeur d’Alene after staff told her she could not bring outside food for her autistic grandson
Anselmo's three-year-old grandson, Cason, was recently diagnosed with autism and avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder.
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grandson → say → autism
The grandma and grandson are pictured together
Cason will only eat Mod pizza or pizza from Costco for dinner because of his condition.
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Cason → picture → condition
The boy is pictured getting fed Costco pizza
Anselmo said that staff told her family that Idaho state code prohibits outside food from being brought into their restaurant.
Caddyshack Pub and Grill co-owner Marni Lundblad told KHQ: 'Food standards, cross-contamination, can become a really big issue, and that is what we are concerned about when outside food comes in.'
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food → picture → what
'We have several customers with autistic children that come in all the time and eat our food,' Lundblad added.
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Lundblad → have → food
states businesses that serve the public must provide accommodation, or 'Reasonable Modifications,' for individuals with disabilities.
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that → serve → disabilities
Those accommodations include: 'Letting someone bring in outside food if they have a dietary need because of a disability.'
Lundblad said it was the first time in 28 years of business that she has encountered a situation where someone had to bring outside food because of a disability.
But she said the experience has made her open to change.
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her → include → change
'I will be definitely reevaluating how we handle that,' the co-owner told KHQ.
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owner → reevaluate → KHQ
Anselmo also appeared to show some regret about how the night played out and said her family could have warned the restaurant about Cason's dietary restriction.
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family → appear → restriction
Anselmo said that her family had to leave the restaurant because staff said they could not give Cason the Mod pizza they had brought for him.
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they → say → him
Anselmo is pictured with her husband
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Anselmo → picture → husband
A co-owner of Caddyshack Pub and Grill, the restaurant that told the family they could not bring outside food, said she will be reevaluating how to handle similar situations in the future
'
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she → tell → future
I definitely think we should have approached the waitress first, or maybe asked for the manager on duty and explained the situation,' the grandmother said.
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grandmother → think → situation
The Daily Mail has reached out to Caddyshack Pub and Grill for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
The Aporia
