What's the most disgusting/disturbing thing(s) you've seen done at restaurants? Did you report it? Yes, there's things we may witness here & there. What worries me is what we don't see in the back kitchen, etc. :unsure: I definitely pray over my food! I witnessed something at Chipotle a few days ago while in line getting my food. W/i the course of a couple of min, this employee scratches her elbow TWICE w/ her gloved hand & then continues to put together peoples' burritos in which she's of course touching the burrito w/ the fingers she just scratched her elbow w/! For all we know, she has a wart, rash, etc.! She's probably been scratching her (irritated, rashy, etc.) elbow all day long! Other customers may not notice this or take the time to report this, but I will. I emailed the company when I got home. Other times, I just hear my BF talk about how clean or unclean various places are since he's in the pest ctrl business. Once or twice as bad as bugs IN the food!
When I was in my early 20's I went to a 24 hr diner after partying with some friends. My french toast came out and there was a dead fly laying upside down on the edge of my plate. Disgusting. In my present sober state I would have just left, but in the state I was in that night, I just sent it back. lol Recently I went to Starbucks inside our local Target. Just as I was getting ready to order a coffee, the one girl working there turned to the other and said, really loudly, "I gotta take my break. I gotta POOP!" I was so disgusted, I just left. That totally killed my appetite.
ICk! There's a LOT that goes on that we don't know about, which is one reason why I rarely eat out. My dad has worked in this industry all his life. Growing up, I've seen a lot.
I dated a guy that was a manager at McDonald's and they ran out of hamburger buns because there was a big fair going on locally and they had more business than anticipated. I rode with him to a McDonald's in another town to pick up buns. When we got back there was a mouse happily eating his through the hamburger buns. The mouse had gotten caught between bins of buns and could not escape. The other manager threw away the buns that looked like they had bite holes in them and shook out the mouse poop and then used the rest to serve to customers. That was the last time I ever ate at McDonald's and that was in 1982. My hubby will not eat McDonald's either because he worked there in the 1970's and said he saw some of the grossest stuff in the world there. My kids always said they were deprived because we would not take them to McDonald's.
I can't recall anything I've seen, but I HATE places that have servers give straws without wrappers. Eeeeewwww
I worked in a seafood restaurant all through high school and college, and never once saw anything that would have prevented me from paying to eat there. In fact, a dozen years after I quit to teach, it's the place where we got engaged. And never have I seen anything I would want to report.
I always wonder when they pick up some glasses to refill, how do they REALLY know if they are giving you back the right glass.
I was at a Chuck E. Cheese's & watched a worker toss the salad with BARE hands. Even though we were leaving, I immediately asked for the manager.
I think it's always wise to be nice and polite to the food server. It always amazes me that rude people will demand that there food be taken back to the kitchen, and then let the server they have just made miserable deliver their food. I also worked as a waitress and never saw anything horrific.
I worked at a restaurant in high school and can say with confidence we didn't intentionally do anything gross or inappropriate. I can't promise we didn't scratch an arm absentmindedly and then touch food, but as far as using unfit food, dropping a spoon and using it anyhow, or spitting in food and things of that nature, no way.
A cook at a Chinese restaurant came out of the kitchen for his lunch break, made his plate and sat in front of me. He had enormous chunks of skin and scabs in his hair. It was the nastiest thing I've ever seen. I threw up in their bathroom, then I asked to speak to the manager. So, other Texas folks, there's a Chinese food place just outside of Austin that you never want to visit.
Some minor things like the scratch of the arm and then serve food are not a big deal to me. Most chefs don't cook with gloves on, they just wash their hand and cook. When you have bare hands sometimes you touch other things, I don't think its a big deal. As long as I don't think about it, what I don't know, no big deal. I quite often find a hair or something of the like in food when I eat out (I just move it out of the way and keep eating).
I was in a diner once, in princeton, with my then boyfriend. we ate there regularly after church. We saw a waitress use a fork to adjust the heat/thermostat - it was stuck I suppose. Well, after she adjusted it, she put the fork right back into the clean fork bin. It was not that gross per say, but is really turned me off. We never went back there again Guess it doesn't take much for me.
I'm not "overly concerned" either...I mean, a hair isn't ideal, but it doesn't make me feel sick to my stomach and I don't ask for a new plate.
I went to a submarine place and the guy was taking out the garbage when I arrived along with another customer. He then proceeded to prepare our subs without washing his hands. I was really shy back then and didn't say anything but I threw my sub out on my way out...
I was in a hometown buffet (in Toledo OH) and I went to the restroom in the stall next to me was the guy who was cutting the meat, I noticed that with his pants down around his ankles he had a "serving towel," to clean the blade tucked in his belt and it was lying on the floor, he left after washing his hands but did not get a new "towel," I told the manager and she made him get a new "towel." I was given a gift certificate for a free meal, as if!
That's beyond disgusting! I rememer once in the 80s when I was a child w/ my parents at Knott's Berry Farm, my dad & I left the order window when the employee had saliva just drip from his mouth on the counter. At a Wetzel's Pretzels, this one worker must have been getting over a cold because he was coughing all over the place! I emailed the company about that too. He definitely should have stayed home for another week. We'd probably all be horrified if we knew how many food handling employees didn't wash their hands after using the restroom, etc.
I worked in restraunts for two and a half years and never saw anything terrible. But then again, I don't think touching an elbow is a big deal. As for the non-gloved hands, bare hands are often more sanitary if hands are washed often. Many times workers will have the same gloves on for hours which causes more contamination than clean bare hands. My DH is in culinary school and this is what he was taught.
I've worked in restaurants for over a decade. I've never seen anything horrific, but nothing really grosses me out anymore. I watch people shake hands with dinner guests, and then eat their food without washing their own hands...and they have no idea what their guest was just doing (picking their nose in their car, visiting the bathroom, scratching themselves, running their hands through their hair, etc). That right there is probably more disgusting than almost anything that is going to be happening to their food. I used to work at a restaurant that had a dessert tray with examples of the desserts. Those desserts were sitting out ALL night, and were not for eating. I witnessed several times customers picking a berry up off the tray and eating it. Disgusting. I guess my point is, that nothing is clean. You pick up a snack at the convenience store to eat in your car? The bag could have been touched or sneezed on by who knows how many people. We *should* complain about the truly awful things, but I think people don't realize that there are disgusting germs getting into their mouths all day long. I also think people like to *say* that they are a lot cleaner than they really are. "I always carry hand sanitizer, wipe everything with a wet nap, wash my hands if I saw someone across a crowded room sneezing." I have a hard time believing that. I have a hard time believing what people say most of the time anyway, though.
I've been dining out my entire life (when I was young, my entire family would go to a restaurant on Fridays), now that I'm married my husband and I eat out 1 or 2 times a week. Never been sick. I guess maybe I could have caught a bug or a cold at a restaurant, but I could have just as easily caught it at the food market buying my own food to prepare at home.
I totally agree. I'm a bit of a germaphobe. After touching the menu and ordering, I will go and wash my hands. I always use a paper towel to open the restroom door and never touch anything else until I eat. I probably wash my hands, easily, at least 20 times a day. But, I don't use antibacterial soap. I don't believe in hand sanitizes. Just good old hand washing is good enough for me.
I have had a couple of gross experiences that have turned me off to some restaurants. Years ago I was picking up a take out order at a pizza place and I watched a server scrape food off a "clean" plate with his fingernail and then take the plate to the table. To this day, I can't eat in at that chain pizza place. More recently, I ordered a meal at a local taco place and I asked them to make sure not to put onions in the item. (allergies). The person actually opened my item and rummaged through it with his bare hands to check for onions, then wrapped it up and handed it to me. I was flabbergasted, but not flabbergasted enough to tell them to make the entire meal over! I no longer go to the drive in window at that chain. I don't go to that specific restaurant at all.
