PurpleRighteous1 said:

I still say that at home is one thing, working with food for the public requires a whole other level of cleanliness. Restaurant workers are trained and constantly told verbally and with signs everywhere in the restaurant about the importance of washing their hands because they can literally make 100s of people sick by slacking on the cleanliness. So, again, I think that this was her norm, cuz despite all the extra expectation of cleanliness she did that shit like it was nothing.

Maybe I'll ask my friend for the specifics next time I speak with him, but I remember him telling me how he would never eat cole slaw again after seeing a guy with very hairy arms, elbow deep in a cole slaw vat (sans gloves) mixing that isht by hand.


My worst experiences involve seeing roaches at a couple of NYC restaurants. I try not to think too much about all the gross stuff that I'm sure goes on in the back when I'm eating out.

jone70 said:

grooooosssss

Never eat any type of free food that comes with the table, Chips, breads, pickles, whatever.

lazycrockett said:

What if they bring the bread out fresh (and warm)? Even chips and salsa?

.
[Edited 2/17/10 21:32pm]

jone70 said:

9/10 all that stuff is kept in a big ol recycling bin in the back of the house. When one table is cleaned the "non eatin" stuff goes into the bin and then gets re served. Even warm stuff are usually just kept under infared lights.

Honestly the fast food chains are usually the cleanest places cause almost everything is frozen n on stainless steel.
[Edited 2/17/10 21:42pm]

Oh lord these experiences are the worst.


I had an early dinner at this Indian restaurant and I ordered the fish tikka kabab cuz it was made with salmon and sea bass which are my fav type fish. So it takes a minute to bring the food, even though there are like 5 people in the whole joint (3 of them already eating), and this lil dude comes out with my dish and it looks so pretty I can't wait to dive in. I take a bite and I'm pleased even though it was a lil heavy on the chillies...I get ready for bite #2 and there is this long ass hair in my food all in the juice and everythang! AW HELL NO U DIDN'T!!!

"Um excuse me" I'm bout to get loud cuz I cannot....absolutely cannot...have hair in my food. Lil dude comes over already looking at me crazy which is not good for him. I'm like "you see this right? there is hair in my food!". So I expect lil dude to apologize, take the dish and bring me something different cuz aint no way I'm about to have the same dish again. What does this fool of ass do?

"Well mam, maybe that's your hair!"


I'm like

Then I'm just ghetto at this point and I say rather loudly with some colorful metaphors for emphasis "look that aint my hair that is your people's hair and I am not eating this nasty shit you gonna give my money back now what the hell kind of game you running....oh you tryna get racial and put some hair in my food is that it?Oh you think that shit is funny huh? . Why he didn't call the cops I have no idea cuz I had everybody's attention and I was by myself but his manager came out with a quickness all apologetic and I got my money back with a handwritten/signed coupon for a free meal. And hell no I didn't go back. I did report their asses to the county tho.

Back when I was sort of dating my soon to be wife, later to be ex-wife, I took her to Burger King, because I was already done impressing her and shit. We each got a number one, which was cute and all, matching meals, except hers had a cigarette butt in the fries and mine didn't. She didn't realize until she was mostly done eating them, it was toward the bottom.

lazycrockett said:

You've worked in restaurants? Thanks for that terrifyingly important information.

lazycrockett said:

that's what i get told but i never believed the person, now i do

DesireeNevermind said:

lazycrockett said:

Wait a minute... r u sayin' that the salsa at Chevy's is not fresh salsa? I've been eating other people's left over salsa that they've possibly double dipped in?

DesireeNevermind said:

Oh it may have been freshly made earlier that day.

DesireeNevermind said:

I've actually witnessed Nacho recycling at a restaurant nearby (not Chevy's). I guess they called themselves being discreet going toward the back, butthey were still in plain view to anyone paying attention.

lazycrockett said:

The best way to tell is if the busperson or whomever is clearing the table keeps the "free" items more seperate from the other dirty dishes.

If the busperson is throwing everything together in the tub, most likely its getting pitched, but if you see breads, salsa n chips being taken back seperately or stacked on the side, be warned.

Some years ago I was in a restaurant (cannot remember the name anymore) in Orlando, Florida, USA.

I was waiting for my food and I noticed a cock roach climbing the wall near me.



That ruined my appetite

ZombieKitten said:

DesireeNevermind said:

None of the restaurants I've worked at recycled anything and they were all sports bar type places not fancy joints. I definitely don't believe all or even most establishments do this.

SCNDLS said:

good 2 know it isnt every single place.

We were driving into the drive thru at McDonalds and a rat ran past the car and under the restaurant.

Good morning! I just got here...

1) Sorry, but I agree with SCNDLS on this one. That was just some nasty shit. Two similar things happened to me:
- I recently went to a deli counter to get a sandwich. When I walked up, there was only one guy there, and he was counting change out to the customer before me with the gloves on. When it was my turn, he was all ready to make my sandwich with those same gloves! I politely asked him to change the gloves, and he tried to argue the point with me.
- I was in the ladies' room of a Houlihan's in NJ, and the waitress was in the stall next to me. She came out, fixed her makeup & brushed her hair, and left. Ummmm... NO WATER ever touched her hands.
Next thing, I see her with a tray of food. So, yes, I told the manager I saw her leave the bathroom without washing those paws. He was not surprised and pulled her aside. Too bad if she got in trouble. She wiped her ass and didn't wash afterward... so I guess that makes me "people like you" too.
Nasty is nasty.

2) I was in a diner on a (bad) breakfast 1st date, and all of a sudden a roach mosies by my plate. The guy was mortified, since he picked the place, and called the waitress over. She said, "For Real?" and flicked it off the table with her towel.

3) My Mom said she was in the bathroom at an AC casino, and she looked down and a tray of drinks were on the floor in the next stall while the cocktail waitress peed. My Mom said she did her business, picked up the tray, bypassed the sink, and went out to serve the sucker at the poker table.

I have no idea why, but for some reason many people in my life retain some affection for friggin' Red Lobster. I've HATED them for my entire adult life. My wife dragged me there about a year ago, and, already assuming there'd be trouble, I ordered the Frutta di Mare (translation into English = "rotting ocean garbage").

Well, it arrived looking standardly mediocre. But when I began to eat it, the veneer of grease, the sodium content (which darned-near gave me stroke after those salty-ass cheese biscuits), and the slimy scallops began to make me feel... not quite so. Then the smell hit me, and I was rocketed into some strange intoxication...

The whole place, from the ugly faux salt water-damaged wood panelling to the annoying waitress and her Ms. Texas hair, became a carnival of malaise. I looked across the room to see some dude wearing a muscle shirt. Trying to impress the chick he was with, I think, he raised his muscly arms in a stretch, revealing his armpits. No big deal -- I even dig armpits in other contexts ; but for some reason, the sight of this guy's pits combined with all the other sensations I was experiencing made me immediately vomit in my mouth!

I struggled to first drive it back down my throat, and then to keep it all inside without spewing on the table. And I must've looked like I was choking, because my wife and daughter suddenly went nuts... and the waitress came running over. "Sir! Sir! Is everything OK?!"

I did manage to compose myself... though I had to make a trip to the washroom. When I returned, that Frutta di Nightmare was gone, and I chose to just watch my family eat as I chugged countless glasses of ice water.

Ol' girl got a decent tip. (I figured Jesus would like that.) But I won't be returning to Red Lobster... not alive, anyway.

FauxReal said:

Soon-to-be-ex wife, eh?

Admit it: That was your cigarette butt, wasn't it?

Lammastide said:

Don't get me started on the "nastiness" that is Red Lobster!
And for some reason, every Sunday, Mothers' Day, and other "special occasion, that place becomes "5-Star".

I knew NONE of this would end well.

In my old age, I am definitely becoming more sensitive to smells/sights in restaurants. To the point where it completely shuts down my appetite. For me to be offered FREE muthafuckin' food at HOUSTON's and run outta there empty handed that shit really fucked me up.

Fucked Up Experience #2

Now, this wasn't the restaurant's fault as moreso an unfortunate incident that I had the misfortune to witness.

So, I leave Houston's disappointed, dejected, and starvin' like Marvin since I had not eaten all day. I have somewhere to be in an hour so it's either now or never for getting something to eat. I go across the street to the La Madeleine which is another great place to get a damn good salad.

I go in and order my usual Regular Chicken Caesar with tons of tomatoes (a salad is incomplete for me without tomatoes). I watch homegirl like a hawk, and although her attitude is kinda stank, she doesn't do anything gross so I'm all good.

After I sit down and start eating my salad, an elderly couple sit down at the table directly in front of me. Every time I raise my head, I'm looking at their table. I see that the wife, who weighs maybe 85 pounds, has a cup of soup and the husband has a bowl of soup. Then I'm like, wait a minute . . . it's 5 pm, which is the usual older person's dinner time, and that's all their eating?

One time I look up just in time to see hubby with a trail of spit from his spoon to his lip. Grossed me the fuck out. I'ma let him make it cuz he old, but still nasTEEEEE! On top of my previous experience too

Anyway, as they eat, they get up 3-4 times to get some of the complimentary bread and jelly from the condiments area. So, they basically fill up on the free bread and jelly. I assume that maybe they're on a fixed income and that's all they can afford.

I can understand that and feel sorry for them, but the killing part was when they got up and got a fistful of the jellies and proceeded to open each one and eat the jelly straight outta the containers, even using their fingers to scoop out the last lil bit.

What the fuck is wrong people? I understand being broke, if that's what's going on, but can you at least put the extra jelly in your purse and have dessert at home?????

This is what my ass get for trying to eat a fucking salad. I shoulda just went and got the BBQ baby back ribs I been craving and called it a day.

SCNDLS said:

Hilarious.

I went to kfc one time and started to eat my chicken when i noticed it didnt look cooked all the way...So i bring it up to the guy at the counter and tell him my chix isnt done could I please have another piece... He proceded to pick it apart, look at me and say...in this hick accent no less.. "oh, Its done, that is just some seepin bone marrow" SEEPING BONE MARROW!!!

Lammastide said:

Red Lobster is gross! Give me Fisher&Turneries