"Things I loved about Maple Street Biscuit in Gainesville: 1. The coffee 2. The comfort food 3. The name of the restaurant Things that countered the love: 1. The massive crowd and long wait time 2. The weird requirement of answering some kind of little riddle question thing when you place an order in order to receive your order Let me break down that last point for a minute, because it really was a big enough deal to shift my experience to an uncomfortable place, and is the primary reason I won 't be returning to Maple Street in the future. First off, I 'm an autistic woman. I know the next couple of paragraphs will only personally resonate with and impact a small group of people, but I 'm going to share about my experience at Maple Street from that particular lens. As an autistic woman, I thrive on routine and predictability. It 's especially important when I 'm navigating the real world and social settings. When it comes to restaurants, there 's a pretty standard flow that is generally followed. You walk into a restaurant. You 're either seated at a table or place your order at the counter. You pay receive your food or you receive your food you pay. You leave. Every now and then though, an establishment will implement some little change to that predictable routine. These changes are usually created with good intentions to make the experience fun or memorable, or to set the establishment apart from others. Usually I can navigate those changes okay enough, but at Maple Street Biscuit, I really struggled. After placing my order, I was required to answer a question that was posted next to the cash register. I say required because I quietly asked the cashier if I could skip it and just provide my name and she told me I couldn 't do that. This immediately set me into a state of internal panic that may seem dramatic to allistic (non autistic) people, but for me and a lot of people like me, it was a really huge deal, and actually made it challenging for me to verbally communicate. The question I had to answer was what is my kryptonite? I knew it was a Superman reference, and I knew it was something that hurt him, but in my state of increased internal panic, I couldn 't really recall context beyond that. It was really stressful for me to try to answer that question with a large line behind me while feeling so much pressure . I ended up just throwing out some random word snakes , I think? And then, in true autistic form, I went and overanalyzed the interaction, trying to understand where I went wrong while waiting for about 15 minutes for my food. It was truly challenging for me to even wait because I was in such a state of internal distress at that point. Again, I know this explanation won 't make sense to a lot of people, because most people will hear an account like this and immediately call it overreacting . But for a lot of autistic people, this type of unpredictable thing can really hurt us, send us into states of overstimulation, and for some people could actually start an autistic meltdown. The reason I 'm sharing this is because all of this is completely avoidable, and I 'm hoping that the team at Maple Street Biscuit could implement some small changes that make it a more inclusive experience for anyone who is autistic, lives with anxiety, or has any other invisible disability situation that might make this policy stressful to navigate. Maybe just give customers the option to provide a name instead of answering the question and don 't push back or mock them if they decide on this option. Make that a policy, and train the employees on why it 's a policy. Simple, inclusive, and you can still do the fun question thing for most of your customers."
