Restaurant turn offs ...

I have learned never to look into the prep area of any McDonalds, Burger Kings or Little Caesars. The people I see in there putting my meal together sometimes repulse me and I have to wonder what really goes into my meal.

Other things:

Here in town the Burger King seems to always have about a dozen house flies that share your seat if you eat inside. Bad enough that I cannot eat there what-so-ever inside or take out.

We also got a new bakery this summer called "Bake Superior". Their website and Facebook page shows the head baker with long somewhat scraggly hair, tattoos up the arse, and a scraggly beard. Sometimes the photos show him making items. No hair net, no beard net. Again, I cannot bring myself to stop there and try their awesome looking items.

What turns you off at restaurants?


EDITED to spell "turn" correctly in the title (and it took 3 times total to get that right. geeesh!)

Coughing, sniffling servers.

I can't help it, but those with tattoos all the way up their arms turn me off. And Oriental cooks in the kitchen. Too many horror stories here in Memphis regarding Oriental food preparation.

Cases in point: The man who killed a cottonmouth just across the state line in Mississippi. A Chinese cook saw him and bought it from him. A deputy sheriff caught the cook in the restaurant's kitchen preparing the cottonmouth for cooking.

Another Oriental restaurant was caught with dead ducks "aging" on a clothesline behind the restaurant.

Pretty unappetizing!

Bob Wright

We have a carl's junior near our house at the truck stop. I used to go for biscuits for breakfast. I have swore I never would go back about three times now but do give them a try again after a couple months. About 75% of the time they make a mistake on the order. I think their cooks and help are illegals?
About six months ago it seemed I waited at the window for twenty minuets locked in between cars, rang the bell, no one come (had already ordered and paid). Finally I got the car behind me to back up, got out, went in and tore azz. It was crowed and one customer popped off to me and we almost got in a fight. Maybe 25% of the time they get it right. About two days ago I went, got home and the wife's biscuit didn't have the ham or cheese on the egg! Mine was right.
Awhile back wife and I went to a favorite cafe and three girls were there with two or three uncontrollable kids apiece raising hell and none of them even tried controlling them. We had already ordered but got mad, got up and left before we got the food!

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I long ago stopped patronizing the Friendly's chain of ice cream restaurants.

On 4 different occasions, at 4 different locations in New England, I found:

1) A plastic dental floss that looked like the letter "P" in my mashed potatoes.

2) Green mold in the applesauce served on the same plate as my dinner.

3) Foul-smelling beef in a Yankee Pot Roast dinner.

4) Black "floaters" in my carbonated beverages (multiple).


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Many years ago I was in a Mexican town. There was a dead dog on the sidewalk and I swear I seen a guy with a taco cart throw the carcass on the undercarriage of his cart and push it around in alley!
Years ago we had some nice Filipino neighbors. My ex wife said they always had new dogs and she didn't see the dogs again, always new ones. Wife ran off with Jody. I had another woman living with me from England as I was fighting for child custody and worked graveyard. The neighbors invited us over for a Christmas party. The place was whistle clean, a huge smorgasbord style lunch with everyone there Filipino but us. What my ex claimed went through my head but I didnt tell Martine. There was some strange looking meat with strange looking bones so I tried just a small piece. I noticed Martine took some too. She took a bite, spewed it out on the floor with everyone watching and blurted out she thought it was dog! Fixed me up good. She was good at that!

Getting a cup of coffee at the airport in Louisville and as I was waiting in line I was thinking about getting a muffin when I saw a line of ants crawling and gnats flying around behind the glass case. Needless to saw I stuck with the hot coffee only. Even on subsequent visits I stuck to coffee only even though I didn't see any more bugs.

pete44ru said:

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4) Black "floaters" in my carbonated beverages (multiple).

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Yep. I have seen that too. Heard that a lot and I mean A LOT of places never clean the drink dispenser gun and hoses and / or the ice machine never gets cleaned and they both have mold that builds up and occasionally chunks break off and get in the drinks. YUCK!!!!

Hotel ice machines are notorious for that

One of the few nice things about living in San Francisco is the restaurants. I have excellent Thai, Chinese and Italian all within walking distance, all of them super clean and inviting. I actually have to drive a mile for good Japanese but it's well worth it. There are very few chains here in the City for the simple reason that there are too many good family run restaurants. Why go for the dreck you get at KFC, Taco Bell, Hardee's etc. when you can get better food nearby?

The only thing that consistently bugs me at any restaurant is slow service. Worse is a slow check when I'm ready to leave.

Jeff

I suspect that almost anyone can find something objectionable in every restaurant, if checked.

My wife and I notice that in every restaurant where we have eaten for decades there is at least one obvious food item that, to us, we avoid. The hot oil deep fat fryer that is kept hot 24-7 for who knows how long.

When I was in college in Iowa State College, 1954-1958, in one nutrition class, every quarter for each new class, the danger of heated vegetable oils was demonstrated. I believe I have reported on this here previously.

In summary, the class comparing fresh vegetable oils with animal fat, each kept hot for seven days before the demonstration, using previously heated animal fat, and vegetable oils when "painted" on the back of pigs always resulted in cancers developing on some of the pigs' backs during the quarter when painted with vegetable oil. The previously heated animal fat (lard) painted on pigs' backs never developed cancer in each test each quarter.

When I first moved to my current location I stopped by the local pizza place for a delivery menu. I walked in saw the huge pizza chef pouring sweat right on the pizza he was cutting. Never went back.

I had a friend who was in the army and said the "cook" was stirring mashed potatoes with his nose dripping in it. He busted the cooks nose.

Bad music --usually country, rap, or other crap --- played LOUD for the wait staff!

Turn around, walk out.

wunbe

BK is my go to fast food place-most of the time. When I'm away from home, if I see only blacks in the cooking area, I look elsewhere.
The local BK has a clean staff with minimal tatts showing and good attitudes--they seem to be the first choice of LEO's, construction workers, and farmers. McD's seems to hire more middle aged chunky chicks which doesn't increase my business there. I've only been to the new Arby's once and it was full of college kids (both sides of the counter) and the ball games on TV were way too loud. Local Hardee's is hygienically questionable, more difficult to access, and costs more so I seldom go there. Steak -N-Shake has good burgers and prices but are often run by Middle Easterners in my experience.

Four years in the Army gave me a cast iron stomach. Servers on the line constantly coughing and sneezing, GIs with the flu on KP, cooks who don't know the first thing about proper food handling.

Unruly or loud kids,,, without parental control.
Dirty appearances to the restaurant.
Staff with lots of tattoos, dreadlocks, or whatever that shows they do not care about personal hygiene.
Lazy, inefficient staff,, yet they EXPECT a tip.
Restaurants who demand a certain percentage of a tip,, no matter how bad the service is.

I was raised in a restaurant,, and I can be critical of a place when I see such things. BUT,,, I can also be very giving and complimentary when I see service above & beyond "normal" expectations.

When in the Army over in Korea (67-68) I got GOOD FOOD on Osan AFB, and GREAT FOOD down at Sea Range (Missile practice range on the Yellow Sea) BUT, I ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to eat in the mess hall at Camp Humphreys south of Osan. BARFFFFF !!!!!

Unruly brats! Obnoxious music, obviously sick employees serving, slow service at fast food restaurants etc.. Here in Middle Tn, Hardee's, and BK are slooow. OTOH McDonald's is fast! I deliver flowers, and I don't have time to putz around. If I wait 5 minutes, and haven't paid, I am out of there! I take vegies and turkey sticks with me to munch on to bypass fast food! Occasionally, I get lazy and go for a Wendy's chicken sandwich, or a McD's cheese burger.
gramps

With rare exceptions, I just don't eat at fast food restaurants anymore.

When I did shop work as an electrician, I had occasion to work in restaurants. My fellow employs told me after you work in one of these places you will never eat in one again. I did not believe them at first, but after working in them it turned out to be true. Two of the most memorable were the most famous Sea Food restaurant in town and the most famous Mexican Food restaurant in another town. I don't do the eat out thing. Period.
The one exception was a place on highway 77 outside of Robstown, Tx called "Cotton's BBQ". They invited me to inspect their kitchen, so I took them up on it. It had red tile floors. That tile went half way up the walls also. All of it was spotlessly clean with stainless food prep areas and staff in white clothes and aprons. I've never seen anything like it since. To say I was impressed is an understatement. That was in the seventies, no telling today.