Q: My mother is wheelchair-bound due to a recent fall. She still enjoys going to restaurants and I take her out at least two times a week. When she needs to use the restroom, I provide assistance to make sure she safely moves from the wheelchair to the toilet.
Since I am male, I cannot accompany her in the women’s restroom. Some restaurants that don’t have separate restrooms have offered to provide assistance, but I am not comfortable with this. This has definitely become an issue which limits the choice of restaurants.
Is there a way that the Sun Sentinel could solicit input from readers and especially restaurant managers and owners that have individual, one-person, wheelchair-accessible restrooms in order to compile a list and make the public aware? I am sure other caregivers would also greatly appreciate this and it would be an opportunity for restaurants to increase traffic among another user segment. — David Sellers, Weston
A: David, this is such an interesting problem that I’m learning many people encounter. I know some restaurants have restrooms for individuals while others have several stalls for each gender, but I hadn’t thought about the challenges the latter create for people who need to accompany their opposite-sex meal partner to the toilet.
I did some research on when restaurants are required to have one-person restrooms. Leonard Vialpando, director of Broward County’s Resilient Environment Department, said the Florida Plumbing Code has detailed requirements regarding number of stalls, their size and accessibility to disabled users. But the codes don’t specify when family restrooms are required, leaving this decision to individual establishments.
There are several apps that help people find public restrooms, including Squat or Not and Bathroom Scout, but one that may best help your situation is Flush, which tells you whether the bathroom has disabled access or requires a key (which often means there’s a private stall).
You told me you have discovered several Broward County restaurants that meet your mom’s needs, so I’ll list them here: Brio Italian Grille in Plantation, Cooper’s Hawk in Fort Lauderdale and Coconut Creek, and Seasons 52 and Grand Lux Cafe, both at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise.
I called 10 Broward restaurants but found only two that said they have individual restrooms: North South Grill in Pembroke Pines and Ferro Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria in Tamarac.
So readers and restaurant managers, it’s now in your hands: Send names of Broward eateries that have one-person bathrooms to Ask . David, his mom and a host of disabled people will be very grateful.
