# food places you avoid **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102 "2008-11-30T23:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/1 "2008-11-30T23:03:49Z")
Are there any places you’ve eaten at or got food from that was bad enough that you never want to eat there again? That you acively avoid now. I was going through my mail today and found a coupon for pizza deals from Papa John’s. I almost considered ordering a pizza but I don’t eat from PJ’s. Years ago me, two other guys and one guys wife ordered pizza from Papa Johns. Then we all went out to a club. Within an hour all of us were retching in toilets. I never ate at Papa Johns again. A friend of mine ate at Popeye’s once and ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. I was kinda turned off from Popeyes since then. I’ve eaten there since but I’m always worried about it. Then there was a time I ate a burger at Roy Rogers., It was raw in the middle and when I took it to the manager she told me I should have ordered it well done. I threw it away and I never ate there again. ---
**Author:** ![MissIntent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/97f17d/32.png) [@MissIntent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissIntent)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/2 "2008-11-30T23:09:56Z")
Jack in the box. Many years ago I got a burger and fries from there, went home to eat it and found several live spiders crawling in my food. Yup, done thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/3 "2008-11-30T23:12:00Z")
I’ll be avoiding Wendy’s. The last two times I went, the quality was lousy, the orders had been gotten wrong, and the staff didn’t seem to even understand the complaint. It’s gone downhill since Dave Thomas died. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/4 "2008-11-30T23:26:28Z")
I avoid Wendy’s like the plague; same with Taco Bell. And I don’t like Papa John’s Pizza but it will do in a real pinch. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/5 "2008-11-30T23:37:08Z")
Both Denny’s and IHOP. I’ve gotten freezer-burned/spoiled meat from both of them. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/6 "2008-11-30T23:40:15Z")
Huh. I also got sick after eating at Papa John’s, and I got violently ill after eating at a Kenny Roger’s Roasters. I don’t think Kenny Roger’s is around anymore, and Ivylad makes homemade pizza anyway that’s much better than anything you can order. ---
**Author:** ![CAT\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@CAT\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAT_1)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/7 "2008-11-30T23:45:20Z")
There is a place called Hong Kong Buffet in a town near us, that I avoid. I think it is part of a chain. The hubby and I went a few times, when it first opened, and it was so-so. What turned me off was that within just a few months, that brand new place was really dirty! ICK. Just one example wat that they were stacking dirty dishes on the floor in a hallway going to the bathrooms. Very strange. I would hate to see the place now, after it has been there a few years! ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/8 "2008-12-01T00:13:36Z")
Jimmie’s Egg. Its a local chain in Oklahoma City. They are only open for breakfast and lunch. In this respect, they are like many greasy spoons, coffee shops, and similar establishments. However, Jimmie’s Egg sucks big time. You could say, I suppose, their eggs suck eggs. Everything they make is substandard in every way and overpriced, to boot. Yet people line up on weekend mornings and wait for an hour to eat there. The Charcoal Oven. Also in OKC. You order at the window, then drive over to a line of covered spaces to eat. Very 1950’s, big neon sign and all. It’s been around for decades, and I think the burger I ate there was one of the original ones, it was certainly fossilized. Overpriced, nasty, dried out, tiny, gray burgers on crappy buns. They also put their famous ‘come back’ sauce on some of the burgers. It appears to be cold, strangely tasteless tomato paste. It will make you want to threaten to ‘come back’ there and kick somebody’s ass. Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili. OKC again. Their burgers suck, though not so much as the Carcoal Oven. However, they have the gall to claim their chili has won awards. Maybe they were the only entrant. Nasty stuff, more of a runny meat paste than a food. Bitter, tasting mostly of flour and grease. The Spaghetti Warehouse. I just wanted some pasta and tomato sauce. How hard could it be? Overcooked, watery pasta, abominable thin, acrid sauce, and that powdered ‘cheese’ crap that you find at places like Pizza Hut. That’s a mistake I won’t make again. The fact that this place is a successful chain with locations in 9 states proves that every bad thing I think about the typical American’s palate is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Much\_poison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Much\_poison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Much_poison)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/9 "2008-12-01T00:21:03Z")
I generally avoid that place that’s clear across town, to where I never have any reason to go. ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/10 "2008-12-01T00:33:18Z")
::shudder:: Waffle House. The bathroom was horrifically filthy. Shit on the floor, shit on the walls and no soap in the dispenser. It had all leaked out to a gummy glop of orange goo on the floor. I actually stood there and pondered peeing my pants. If I had gone in before we ate, all they would have seen of me would have been a vapor trail heading out the door. If I go by one now, I hit the gas so the filth can’t slither out and catch me. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/11 "2008-12-01T00:35:57Z")
I just don’t do fast food any more. It’s not good for me and it’s expensive. That’s not to say I’m any kind of health food adherent, however. I still make periodic visits to my favorite Mexican food restaurant here locally. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/12 "2008-12-01T00:57:11Z")
Bojangles, in NC, 25 years ago… I woke up in the wee hours with the worst case of Puke and Shit babies I’ve ever had, sick as hell, laying on the floor. My friend who ate the same chicken thing that night there had the same result. Called the store next day, and they weren’t at all accomodating. “Whatever…” So, that was a nice customer service call. I became a solid vegetarian after that, but , even if that weren’t the case, they lost a customer for 25 years because of ineptitude with basic customer service. GottaWannaNeedaNo Fuckin’Way after that crap. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/13 "2008-12-01T01:19:55Z")
Hoffbrau used to be one of our favorite restaurants. However, the last two or three times, we’ve received bad steaks. Not poorly cooked steaks, but meat that had gone bad. So, we’ve decided not to go there any more. Once might be an accident, but two or three times makes me think they have poor quality control. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/14 "2008-12-01T01:23:04Z")
I will never enter an Applebee’s again. They had it all: terrible food AND terrible service. I also try to avoid IHOP, except for the one on Green St in Champaign IL, just because. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/15 "2008-12-01T01:46:59Z")
An awful lot of “I had a bad experience at one place, now I avoid the entire chain”. I don’t get that. There’s one specific KFC I won’t eat at because it’s always filthy, one that I won’t eat at because it’s prices are seriously out of line with the other restaurants in the chain. There was one McD’s in my old neighborhood that I wouldn’t go to because the staff were assholes and they constantly messed up orders. But the one in the other direction was always clean, accurate and nice. Hell, I look closely at both the cleanliness of the place - wherever I go - and how busy it is if I’m there at a meal time. You walk in and the place is both filthy and empty at noon - don’t walk, FLEE IN TERROR! That’s not someplace you want to eat. (Especially places that just opened at 11am. If they’re not clean at noon, then it’s because they’re NEVER clean.) ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/16 "2008-12-01T01:47:16Z")
Hooters. My only experience was so mindbogglingly horrible that I actually didn’t tip the waitress. On Christmas night. Do you know how bad it is to not get a tip from me on Christmas night? AT HOOTERS? ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/17 "2008-12-01T01:48:02Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I will never enter an Applebee’s again. They had it all: terrible food AND terrible service. I got roped into eating at one of those with some friends a few years ago. Ye gods, what a mess! Every single thing on the table was previously frozen and then microwaved or deep fried. Without a doubt the worst of the TGI-whoever, goofy stuff on the walls, sit-down casual chains. Who the heck is their target market? People who hate food but want to pay more than they would at McDonald’s? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/18 "2008-12-01T01:55:00Z")
I avoid Hungry Howie’s Pizza, because I do not believe that human hair is an appropriate pizza topping. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/19 "2008-12-01T02:03:59Z")
I don’t eat McDonald’s non-breakfast menu. Not because of any issues with hygiene or service or anything, I just don’t feel like I’m gaining any benefit from the food. Not only am I almost immediately hungry again after eating it, it’s got very little nutritional benefit, and it’s not getting any cheaper, either. Having said that, I do still eat Bacon & Egg McMuffins and Breakfast Deli Rolls from McDonalds because they’re just muffin, bacon, eggs, and cheese- pretty much what I’d cook at home. Except I can’t make a McMuffin for $2.95. I don’t eat at Pizza Hut anymore because their pizzas are entirely too greasy and oily, not all that tasty, and have made me ill on more than one occasion. My wife and I also avoid a steak restaurant where we found bugs in our salad and their attitude was basically “Well, the salad was complimentary with the meal so WTF are you whining about?” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102/20 "2008-12-01T03:58:51Z")
> [@Influential\_Panda](#): > > Hooters. My only experience was so mindbogglingly horrible that I actually didn’t tip the waitress. On Christmas night. Do you know how bad it is to not get a tip from me on Christmas night? AT HOOTERS? Care to elaborate? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-places-you-avoid/475102.md?page=2)