# Horrible Practices You've Witnessed Behind the Scenes in Restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940 "2012-04-25T18:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/41 "2012-04-26T15:56:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been served wine with a floating gnat or two, especially when patio dining. I’ve always just used a fingertip to scoop the fellow out. Yeah, I would have done the same. It was my wife’s glass of wine, though, and she’s not as easygoing as I am about stuff like that. And to be honest, I was less surprised that the server just picked it out than I was that she picked it out in plain sight of our table. I mean, at least make an effort to hide it. Sheesh. To further answer the OP, my very first job was at McDonald’s and I saw stuff there that put me off fast food for years, and not just the general level of filth and disregard for food quality–there was some intentionally disgusting stiff going on. People spit tobacco into the fry vats and licked chicken nuggets and put them back in the drawer to be served. One guy liked to ride the frozen quarter pounder patties across the floor like a little round skateboard, then plop them on the grill and serve them up. I didn’t stay at that job very long. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/42 "2012-04-26T16:07:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been served wine with a floating gnat or two, especially when patio dining. I’ve always just used a fingertip to scoop the fellow out. “Spit it out, ye wee bastard!” ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/43 "2012-04-26T17:10:02Z")
Worked in a McDonalds from 76-77. Only nastiness that I witnessed was when the management decided to have this big guy trained on grill. He was 6’ 6" and quite menacing. He sweated quite easily and I watched in horror as he was cooking quarter-pounders and saw a constant flow of sweat dripping from his brow onto said burgers and on the grill surface. Little salt scuffs were left on the grill when the sweat boiled away. After that I would never eat the quarter pounders from there. (The grill for quarter-pounders was separate in our restaurant, so I felt standard burgers/Big Macs were safe). ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/44 "2012-04-26T17:31:19Z")
I worked at a little fish/crab market when I was in high school. On New Years Eve, we had a special clam bake thing we sold - a bunch of shrimp, clams, mussels, a couple lobster tails, corn, and potatoes in this big tin. You could add water to it and put it right on your stove top to cook. After we put everything in the tins, we’d use an oyster knife to poke holes in the top so the steam could be released while cooking. It was a hugely popular item and we had an assembly line set up to make dozens of them. I was poking the holes in the top and my hand slipped. I sliced open a huge gash in my hand and there was a ton of blood on everything in that tin. The owner, not wanting to sacrifice all that nice seafood, had me rinse everything off and put it back in its container, to be sold. I had a friend in college who worked in a donut shop. They kept big vats of glaze on the stove overnight uncovered. She’d get there in the morning and have to scoop a layer of tiny green flies off the glaze so that she could dip the donuts. I’ve also had the drink-tasting thing happen. A friend complained about his margarita tasting weak and the waitress took a sip and handed it back to him, saying she thought it was okay. This was a pretty nice restaurant, too, not a total dive. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/45 "2012-04-26T17:36:20Z")
McDonald’s, in the late '80’s, watching cockroaches dive into the fry oil and disintegrate. Blech! Yes, the oil was super-hot and no, no germs would survive. But, yech! Just yesterday at a drive-thru, the cashier took my card, purposefully wiped it across the crack of his behind, and then swiped it in the machine. I mean, he was wearing pants and all, but what the $&\*!@) was the point of that? Is it making him feel better about having to stand on his feet all day? Sick, sick sick!!! Thank goodness I always have a good supply of baby wipes in the car. When he held my receipt out to me, I ignored him, and made him stand there with his hand out while I wiped the card before returning it to my wallet. I know I should have told the manager, but I just didn’t even want to discuss it. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/46 "2012-04-26T17:49:47Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Just yesterday at a drive-thru, the cashier took my card, purposefully wiped it across the crack of his behind, and then swiped it in the machine. I mean, he was wearing pants and all, but what the $&\*!@) was the point of that? Is it making him feel better about having to stand on his feet all day? Sick, sick sick!!! Poor judgement maybe but it’s probably a more prosaic reason. Some machines are more sensitive than others. At one lane in my grocery store the only way my card will work is if I wipe off the magnetic strip. Now I use my sleeve or pant leg rather than my ass but the effect is the same. Thank god for chip cards 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/47 "2012-04-26T18:03:31Z")
I’ve worked at a lot of restaurants but really never saw anything like that. However, I am certainly never eating a bear claw or rum ball again. And another vote for the cashier wiping the card to make it work better, though he needs to think about WHERE he’s wiping it. OOH!! Thought of one. I’ve worked in a LOT of restaurants, of all types, but only a few fast-food, back when I was young and desperate. Long John Silvers has good fish and batter, granted. BUT… One of the jobs at the end of the night was to wash the unused, uncooked battered fish fillets under water to take the batter off, saving the fish for the next day. Not the WORST thing in the world, but still kinda oooghy. Also, don’t wash fresh fish under warm water, no matter how cold your hands are. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/48 "2012-04-26T18:10:16Z")
I once watched a busboy at a Chinese buffet scrape uneaten shrimp off of used plates back into the steam tray. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/49 "2012-04-26T18:43:18Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Poor judgement maybe but it’s probably a more prosaic reason. Some machines are more sensitive than others. At one lane in my grocery store the only way my card will work is if I wipe off the magnetic strip. Now I use my sleeve or pant leg rather than my ass but the effect is the same. > > Thank god for chip cards 🙂 No, he was a big guy, he had to reach around a bit, it was definitely purposeful and creepy. And “across” ws a bad word to use, it wasn’t horizontal, it was vertical. He saw me catch him and the insolent look he gave me was horrifying. I guess you had to be there. . . ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/50 "2012-04-26T18:46:45Z")
Worked at a few pizza places. The “five-second rule” is not a myth. ETA: to clarify, the rule itself _is_ a myth, but I’ve seen it put into practice several times. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/51 "2012-04-26T18:50:53Z")
I dated a bartender once who told me, “\*never \*eat the pickles and pickled tomatoes you see in bowls on the table–they sit in open vats in the kitchen for _days_, and people spit in there and drop cigarette butts and things you just don’t want to know.” ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/52 "2012-04-26T18:58:38Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I also got yelled at once for pouring half a bucket of mix down a drain while I was out, because it’d gone sour, and two people had just complained. I was out alone in the van, but they worked out I was way short on the mix from the amount of money I’d brought back. > > . When I worked at a local fastfood place that also served soft serve ice cream/shakes it was not uncommon for somebody to haul a bag of ice cream mix out from the back and just LEAVE it to sit beside the machine for a good hour or more (sometimes up to 3-4 hrs if we were slammed). Bleh. I was also the only person (that I was aware of) who followed the “Every 20 Minutes you must wash your hands for at least 20 seconds” rule. I was a cashier and touched a lot of grimy, mucky money and had soda spilled on my hands from making drinks constantly. I washed my hands SO often I ended up becoming allergic to the soap and my boss got upset with me when I asked to bring in Brand X soap which I was NOT allergic to. I also worked in the snack bar of a department-type store and had one teenaged male coworker who liked to ‘play’ with the used fry oil by jamming his arms nearly to his armpits in the vats of used oil waiting to be picked up.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/53 "2012-04-26T20:22:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been served wine with a floating gnat or two, especially when patio dining. I’ve always just used a fingertip to scoop the fellow out. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > “Spit it out, ye wee bastard!” Was he doing the backstroke? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/54 "2012-04-26T21:38:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A friend and my cousin both worked at the same branch of a major theme restaurant whose name is not Jumpin’ Jack Flash but is from a song by the same group. Well, that narrows it down to about a hundred. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/55 "2012-04-26T22:33:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A friend and my cousin both worked at the same branch of a major theme restaurant whose name is not Jumpin’ Jack Flash but is from a song by the same group. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Well, that narrows it down to about a hundred. Unless this is a whoosh, [I knew the name right away](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Tuesday%27s). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/56 "2012-04-26T22:38:55Z")
I’ve never seen one. Also, I’ve never seen a commercial for one. . ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/57 "2012-04-26T22:42:42Z")
I used to love Ruby Tuesday’s, back when I had a big thing for burgers. They used to specialize in burgers, and had one in particular that I loved, topped with shrimp and a remoulade. Then they shifted their focus off of burgers and got rid of the shrimp one, and I became less obsessed with finding the perfect burger, so I hardly ever go there anymore. They do have a good salad bar, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/58 "2012-04-26T23:09:16Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > so I hardly ever go there anymore. Wait. . .you said, “Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday’s”? Sorry. I lack self control. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/59 "2012-04-27T00:04:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wait. . .you said, “Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday’s”? > > Sorry. I lack self control. Heh! That got a good grin! ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940/60 "2012-04-29T14:04:46Z")
I’ve worked for McDonald’s, Domino’s, an independent pizza & sub shop, and a convenience chain working on transforming into a “Quick Serve Restaurant”. I have never actually witnessed anything as bad as the worst stuff here, but I have no problem believing it. In my group of friends, there wasn’t a single fast food place in town where none of us had ever worked, and universally wouldn’t eat at the place they’d worked. “Are you crazy? I’ve seen how they make the food!” But the best story I have isn’t mine: Franchise of a major donut chain where they ran a very clean shop, so the kitchen floor was cleaned regularly and well. Still, … dropped a whole batch of dough onto the floor. The employee looked at his manager with that “oh crap, what did I just do” look, and the Manager responded, “If there is anything on this floor that can survive in _there_,” (indicating the oven where the donuts would be baked), “We’re all dead anyway.” So it was used. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-practices-youve-witnessed-behind-the-scenes-in-restaurants/619940.md?page=4)