It’s Time To Leave: 30 Dining Warning Signs, Shared By People Online

An overly diverse menu.

No, I don't think you are experts at Italian AND Mexican AND Japanese AND American BBQ.

I remember years ago in a Chinese restaurant we'd never been to before, I went to use the bathroom before our food came. I used it, then an employee (looked like a chef) came in, and as I was washing my hands, he used the toilet. By the time I was done, he was done, and he left without washing his hands.

I left the bathroom and saw our food on the table, told my wife and kids what happened, and we told the waitress what happened and left abruptly without eating. I felt obligated to let some other tables know what happened too, which I felt weird doing but also morally obligated to do so.

Yuck.

“I won’t eat in a restaurant with filthy bathrooms. This isn’t a hard call. They let you see the bathrooms. If the restaurant can’t be bothered to replace the puck in the urinal or keep the toilets and floors clean, then just imagine what their refrigeration and work spaces look like.”

— Anthony Bourdain.

When the server can't recommend the food. A good restaurant not just allows the servers to eat the food, but likes it when they do so they can give educated feedback.

I always like seeing a table of servers having their shift meals and the table is laid out with all the good stuff and they are enjoying the food and each other - it means the food is really good and they don't work for a******s, which is something I like in a restaurant.

Health Inspector weighing in.

If the front is sorta dirty, decor items kinda broke, bathrooms kinda need a good cleaning, and the corners and under the tables have napkins or crumbs, you can be damn sure the kitchen is dirty. What really goes on in a dining room? A kitchen is busy, stuff gets dropped, and when things get busy they cut corners. If they've started cutting corners where customers can see, then I'd bet money they are cutting corners in the kitchen.

If you can feel heat, steam, or sometimes even just kinda greasy cooking smells coming from the kitchen then their ventilation system isn't working or is inadequate. It should always be pulling air from the dining room and pushing it out the roof or the back of the restaurant. And if the ventilation isn't working and they cook grease bearing foods, then that grease is collecting on the vent hood, the walls, and the fire suppression system in the hood. That grease collects on surfaces, accumulates dust from the air, and then drips back into your food. And I've seen that grease, and it's absolutely disgusting black sludge.

And probably the last reliable way tell you're in a bad restaurant from a customer's viewpoint would be the wait staff. I've noticed there are two kinds of flustered when a restaurant get's busy. There's the in-control-but-busy kind of flustered where they are rushed but still courteous and attentive to their customers, and then the cooks-are-messing-up-and-now-everyone-is-pissed-and-things-are-spiraling-out-of-control kind of flustered. If a staff is in control, then they aren't making mistakes and they aren't potentially contaminating the food. A restaurant gets busy every single day, they should be able to handle when they get a wrench or two in their system, and if they can't, they will start to make mistakes.

There are a number of other things, but most of those would be circumstantial.

Edit: Coworkers found me. It's my best comment and now I've gotta cut and burn. Adios.

Sticky/greasy menus. If they can’t clean the menus down, they’re not cleaning much else.

I went to a restaurant a couple weeks ago that was called Somethingsomething Sushi and Oyster Bar. In their menu it had a section for fresh oysters, with a blurb that said "Ask us about our daily oyster offerings." When our waitress came over to ask us if we'd like to order appetizers, we asked what the daily oysters were. She said "Yes, we have oysters today." When we asked her to clarify on the kind of oysters, she made some vague comment about the fact that they just came in that morning and she didn't know. We asked if they were east coast or west coast and she just shrugged.

If your server cannot tell you anything about the raw food you are about to eat, that is a bad sign and you should not eat that thing.

Hardly any customers are there but it takes a ton of time to get served or order food.

You walk in and the staff don’t stop chatting to each other to greet or seat you. And then when they finally notice you they seem annoyed that you interrupted their gossip session. Then they don’t bring a menu or take your drink order, but don’t seem to be doing much else.

Just turn around and walk out. They just failed the easiest part of hospitality and probably aren’t going to do a great job on the other parts.

Tons of menu items. Greasy/dirty menu. Not busy. If you see kitchen clutter in the dining area. Bad Smells. Poor lighting.

Go to their bathroom and see how well kept it is . that should tell you everything you need to know about the place .



PS:This trick also works for anywhere .

When the not-quite-clean smell from the restrooms somehow permeates the entire place.

A buddy of mine uses the "nachos rule." In this rule, you order something basic like nachos. Depending on the quality and quantity of toppings you can infer a lot about how well the place is run- like whether the owners are cheapskates or not just by whether there's enough cheese, olives, and other toppings; which can roughly translate to how they may be cheapskates towards other meals, staff, and running the place in general.

My husband and I joke that the food at Waffle House won’t be good if there isn’t a staff member outside smoking. 😂.

The Denny’s near my house has had a “Help Wanted: Servers and Kitchen Help”sign for about 6 months. If it’s a bad place to work, don’t bother dining there.

A row of proudly displayed excellent hygiene certificates... That stop a few years ago.

Look at the salt and pepper shakers. If they are clean someone cared enough to check.

This is a bit of a different one, but ask about their allergy policy.

A good restaurant who cares about their customers will have a strict policy in place and educate all staff on it. It should include using seperate knives, prep boards, and designating a specific staff member to check every ingredient while preparing that dish. They may also have a specific station. But they absolutely will have a policy and the wait staff should know it immediately.

A poor restaurant will have staff that 'will go check'. Maybe they're new? But it's not a great sign.

Edit: a word.

I went to a Chinese food restaurant once, the "Happy Dragon". When we got in, the place was empty save for one woman dining alone in a booth. There was no hostess or waiters around so my SO and I stood there for a while waiting to be seated and wondering what to do. We thought maybe they were in the back or something and they'd be out shortly.
About 5 minutes later, the woman in the booth stands up, wipes her mouth with a napkin, and then grabs 2 menus, walks over to us and says "Table for 2?".

I think when you have to wait for the waitress to finish dining before you're served, that's a bad sign. Also it unsurprisingly was total s**t food and for too much money. One of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had. BEWARE HAPPY DRAGON!

If the employees take their aprons with them into the bathroom.

If you can see into the kitchen, and you see the cooks, watch for sweat dripping into food, not changing gloves/washing hands between raw meats and other food, and how clean the area is. If it is busy, it won't be pristine, but it shouldn't be disgusting.

If the menu either has pages of choices, or a wide variety of ethnic foods (like cheeseburgers, sweet and sour chicken, and escargot all on the menu for instance), usually the food that isn't ordered often is old, and close to if not expired.