Chefs Reveal Red Flags Diners Should Look Out For At Restaurants

Redditor /u/marahsnai:

If you order a long-cooking meal and it comes out fast, it means it was precooked.

This happens mostly on quiet nights. If it comes out right away, it sat there. But during busy times, there is enough turnover; chefs are just preparing food.

Redditor /u/fancyfrenchtoilet:

A one-page menu usually signals a good restaurant. Line cooks become specialists and can usually nail every dish listed.

A giant, multi-page menu is a huge warning sign. The longer the menu, the more likely you are paying for a frozen, boiled meal.

Redditor /u/contrabardus:

Buffets are gross. Skip the buffets. They are cheap, and the "all you can eat" idea sounds appealing.

No matter how well managed a buffet is, it cannot be sanitary. Running a sanitary buffet business is not possible. This holds true for salad bars, hot bars, dessert bars, or any bulk food service.

You depend on the public's hygiene habits and underpaid staff wearing plastic gloves. Employees sometimes watch a food safety video and get told to wash their hands by a manager every few days.

An oblivious 80-year-old took tongs from the fried fish. He used them for rotisserie chicken, green beans, three raw oysters, roast beef, and a pizza slice on his plate before putting it back in the pan. No employees noticed.

Ignoring signs telling customers not to reuse plates, some lady took a piece of fried fish. She put it on a plate reused multiple times in the food trough and put it back in the bar pan. No employees saw this.

A 8- to 10-year-old kid wiped his nose into his shirt sleeve. He had been coughing into unwashed hands all day and touched every utensil on every pan on every bar while trying to choose what he wanted. He ended up with a third plate of mac and cheese, spaghetti, a chicken tender, and half a dozen chocolate chip cookies.

A 6- to 7-year-old sucked on their fingers and picked their nose simultaneously. The little germ ninja went to the bar alone, avoiding staff and adults, and grabbed fistfuls of whatever was on their plate.

"I didn't pee on my hands, so I don't need to wash them": 60% of adult males and 95% of young boys.

Do not eat at a buffet. It seems good until you think about it. Then, it loses appeal.

I don't know how buffets are legal here. Everything about them signals a sanitation risk.

From Redditor /u/Tickle_bottom:

Businesses show many signs or specials. They post things like, "Lunch special: $4.99!" or "Free appetizer from 5-8 pm weekdays!" or "BOGO main course Wednesdays all day!". That's the scene.

This usually signals the business plans to close and boost sales, unless it is a chain.

From Redditor /u/Splinkyyy:

Culinary school instructors all state the same thing: if a menu item is misspelled, it is intentional.

They do this so they don't sell you the real thing. "Krab Cakes" is a prime example.

From Redditor /u/drMyronReducto:

Avoid places with menu items that do not match the rest. I worked at a pub making steaks, burgers, chicken, and pasta. They kept an orange roughy on the menu, and it rarely sold. It spoiled fast.

My bosses did not like us discarding it because it cost money. It was gross. Get something the place specializes in.

From Redditor /u/eyebrowshampoo:

Not a chef, but I worked in food a lot.

Carpet. It is quieter and doesn't get slick, but it is one of the grossest things I have ever seen. They pulled it up during the remodel (and put in more carpet). Vacuuming does not clean a restaurant well, and I know they never shampooed it.

From Redditor /u/InuMiroLover:

A $4 steak is not a good steak.

From Redditor /u/A_pencil_artist:

If staff argue about food quality to stop you from sending back undercooked food, just leave.

This means a cook cannot handle criticism, and your chances of getting a refund increase.

From Redditor /u/heroesforsale:

Ask where the oysters come from. If they do not know, do not order them.

Works for most seafood.

From Redditor /u/robotran:

Pastry chef here. The biggest thing to watch is the staff. If people are angry, leave as fast as you can, obviously.

If everyone seems apathetic and ignores each other, leave. That is a bad environment too; everyone is likely passive-aggressive, and you will see it.

If people act genuinely good even when busy, or if there is playful teasing, that is where you want to be. The better the staff gets along, the better everything runs.

From Redditor /u/SoMuchBsHere:

When the menus are super dirty and never cleaned, everything is super dirty and never cleaned.

From Redditor /u/kjimbro:

I’ve worked in restaurants for over a decade; I spent a couple years in the kitchen and the rest as FOH [front of house].

If your server's answer to "how is the [item]" sounds fake, that is a big warning sign. We know the kitchen operations; we know the complaints; we know which items to focus on when we deliver them.

Servers pausing when asked about a dish usually means the menu has food guests won't eat even for free.

From Redditor /u/CrossFox42:

How does the place smell? Does it smell like good food? That suggests it is. Does it smell like perfume or too sterile when food sits on the tables?

That smells could signal they are hiding something unpleasant.

From Redditor /u/FoxZach63:

I clean kitchen exhaust systems. If you smell grease in a restaurant, leave. That means the place is dirty, from the exhaust system to the cooking gear.

We clean places where grease drips from hoods onto cooking surfaces.

From Redditor /u/Tickle_bottom:

Regular lunch/dinner restaurants starting to serve brunch:

1. Brunch service is the worst. Chefs dislike it and are usually unhappy.

2. Brunch makes money. Companies charge high prices for thin pancakes and orange juice with a $4 sparkling wine splash. Sudden brunch means the place seeks more money, charging double and using chefs who do not want to work there.

From Redditor /u/liberty285code6:

I worked as a chef for four years. If you are curious, go near the back door or trash cans.

A good restaurant looks like a normal back-door trash area. If it is a place you should not eat, it looks like a disaster zone.

Cooks who fail in the kitchen cannot manage boxes or garbage. They throw items outside and handle them later: full-size boxes, garbage bags not in dumpsters, food waste leaking from openings, etc.

A messy outdoor area shows a poorly run kitchen inside.

From Redditor /u/-knave1-:

I have not seen the number of ServSafe certificates posted on their wall yet.

ServSafe is a national food safety training course all managers must pass. It is required for all food service spots, and every ServSafe-certified employee needs a visible certificate for customers (like a health inspection).

Seeing more certificates means more employees understand food safety. Passing this test requires real understanding of the material.

From Redditor /u/thefabulousbomb:

Check the cutlery. Most cutlery gets little washing. Soap rubs it, water sprays it, and a dishwasher throws it in.

Staff should polish cutlery with hot water at the table setup. This is where we check for leftover grime. If your cutlery is dirty, your wait staff is likely failing their job.

From Redditor /u/AAiBee:

If the area is busy but the restaurant is empty, that signals a problem.

From Redditor /u/thefabulousbomb:

If your server looks sick yet keeps working, skip the meal. They either underpay staff for days off or force workers into unsafe food handling conditions.

Kitchen staff likely faces the same treatment and illness.

From Redditor /u/Derelyk:

[I] was a line cook. My best advice is to look up. See dust caked on the ceiling fans, ornaments, or light fixtures?

That means the kitchen is just as bad, maybe worse, and that stuff falls on the food and prep surfaces.