Nobody wants to eat a meal in a dirty restaurant, because that can be dangerous to health. That's why we're here to help you with some obvious (and not so obvious) ways to tell if you're in a dirty restaurant.
The exterior is not well maintained
When you arrive at the restaurant, take a look around before walking through the door. Are the waste containers overflowing? Is there waste on the street? Is the facade or logo filthy and falling down? Could the whole place use a paint job? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you might want to consider eating there.
It stinks
When you step into a restaurant, smell. Does it smell like garbage, grease or something unpleasant? If so, leave.
The menus are dirty
Making sure the menus are in good shape is a pretty basic job, and if they're stained, sticky, or otherwise in bad shape, it's not a good sign. Hundreds of people have touched that same menu, and if they're not cleaned (or replaced) regularly, it means you're picking up germs from someone else who touched it.
The floor and walls are dirty
Are there streaks of sauce on the walls? Are the corners of the floors covered in dirt? Do your shoes stick to the floor when you walk around? If those aren't signs of a dirty restaurant, we don't know what is.
Everything is sticky
Is your table, menu, chair or salt and pepper set sticky? Well, they can't be clean and tacky at the same time!
The toilet is dirty
A dirty toilet is the best indication – besides inspecting the kitchen – that a restaurant is not safe to eat. If the toilets are dirty, the trash is overflowing, the toilet paper or paper towels are running low, the sink and mirror covered in grime, and the floor is a mess, that's a very good sign that this lack of attention to detail is also showing. the kitchen extends. Think about it:if a place open to the public is this rude, just imagine what it looks like behind the scenes!
There is no soap in the soap dispenser
In many restaurants the toilet is the only one; not many have space in the kitchen for a toilet only for the staff. (That's why almost all restaurant toilets have signs that employees should wash their hands before going back to work.) So if there's no soap in the soap dispenser, chances are pretty good the people who are on the point preparing your food have not washed their hands thoroughly.
The service is unkempt
If the ministry looks like a bum, it is an indication of a lack of supervision from management and a lack of care from the ministry. We're not talking about tattoos and piercings here (that's fine) – we're talking about personal hygiene.
The wait staff is sick
If your servant sneezes and blows his nose, or appears to be clearly ill, you are fully entitled to ask for another servant or simply get up and leave.
You find a hair – or worse – in your food
Cooks should go to great lengths to make sure their hair doesn't end up in your food - they should wear hairnets. So if you find a hair in your food, it means there is a problem with cleanliness in the kitchen. And if you find a fly in your soup, that's a big red flag there, too. If you find something in your food that shouldn't be there, return it immediately and make sure you get your money back or don't have to pay.
Kitchen workers don't wash their hands
It may be hard to know, but if you have the opportunity to peek into the kitchen, make sure the chefs are wearing gloves when they are preparing food and washing their hands. And if you find yourself in the toilet at the same time as a kitchen worker, keep an eye on whether they wash their hands or not. It's a sure sign that they're taking basic steps to make sure you don't get sick.
Tables are cleaned with a dirty cloth
View the way tables are cleaned in between. If the cleaning process involves moving the gunk on the table with a wet cloth, that's a good indication that those tables have a lot of bacteria. Many restaurants don't clean their tables properly (with a good sanitizer and a clean cloth), so a good rule of thumb is to treat food that gets on the table the same way it would if it were dropped on the floor:don't eat it.
Tables are not cleared properly
Clearing a table involves more than removing the dirty dishes and wiping the table. Have the dirty dishes been on the empty table for a long time? Is the floor around the table where food scraps fell also cleaned up? These are also things that deserve attention.
There is a lipstick stain on the glass
Be sure to inspect the glass before drinking, not just for lipstick stains, but fingerprints as well. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other people have put their lips to that glass and it is absolutely crucial that it is thoroughly cleaned before you use it.
Dishes and cutlery have not been cleaned properly
Check your cutlery before eating it, and when your plate of food arrives, make sure it doesn't have any leftovers from its previous meal. Every restaurant sends out a dirty fork every once in a while, but the fact that it wasn't discovered ahead of time could be a sign of carelessness.
Flies buzz around
If you see flies flying around while you are trying to eat your meal, it means the chefs are doing the same as they are trying to prepare the food. Fly infestations indicate a greater hygiene problem.
