We have probably all read or heard of restaurant line cooks or servers deliberately spitting in a dislikable customer’s food, or doing even worse things, but how common is this? (in particular, asking Dopers who own restaurants or have worked in them)
I worked in two restaurants for a total of about 5 years.
In the first one, where I worked for about 3 years, I saw deliberate tampering happen 3 times. General food handling practices were a bigger concern, as they were totally disregarded, so…yah.
In the second one, where I worked a bit less than 2 year, I never saw anything happen, and their food handling standards were fine - I would be happy to eat food prepared there.
No cite, but I recall a thread where someone in the business said it is not done.
- Too busy doing actual job
- Get caught and lose your job
- A vast percentage of people aren’t dicks (at least IRL - online? well…)
Spent my life as a server, never saw it. Never worked with anyone who would stand by and let it happen, never worked in a restaurant where it would not be immediate grounds for dismissal. Never heard anyone brag about doing it.
(Fellow staff member’s food and drinks, are however, fair game!)
I worked with two people who messed with people’s foods but it was just them being jackasses never in “retaliation” for anything. You could be the nicest person and they would still burn your burger to a crisp deliberately if they felt like it.
One would just ruin food by adding too much or too little of something so he had a believable excuse in case of complaint. Other would actually spit in food. I reported him multiple times until he was actually fired and eventually arrested.
I was told at some chinese restaurants they cut corners alot like reserving rice to customers off anothers plates and such and if a health inspector comes in they cant speak english.
From a case in the local high school Home Ec class: teacher fed contaminated cupcake
Cooked for a year in a nice restaurant and I never saw anything done to food. It was just unthinkable. In fact, if anything the opposite occurred. Like refusing to cook/serve fish that was just starting to turn. Management thought the fish was still ok, but we disagreed.
We did, however, fuck with waitstaff who we didn’t like. I remember a metal plate placed underthe broiler long enough to be very hot, then covered and put up with the rest of a server’s order. He grabbed the plate and got some serious burns.
And I was told that McDonalds uses horse meat for their burgers. I think the OP is looking for something a bit more substantial.
I worked in kitchens from my teens until my mid-twenties in a variety of restaurants, from chains to small family run places. I never once saw anyone tamper with food. People would joke about it, but I didn’t see it once in about 10 years as a cook. Mostly what I saw happen to food, is that the dish that the cook prepared with pride and attention to detail lay dying under a heat lamp while the waitron played grab ass with the manager.
Uncommon I guess. I worked part-time through university in a pizza place for two years, and then at a hotel restaurant for one year. I never even heard anyone joke about doing something to a dish.
In high school I worked at that one burger chain restaurant, and oh yeah it happened.
I also worked at a pizza place where it never happened. The pizza place was not a chain, and perhaps the sense of involvement had something to do with why it never happened. but I don’t know.
My time in food service was mercifully short but I have friends who have made it their life’s work. I would say rare; once every couple of years or more. Its probably more common in fast-food that diners and up-scale places but that is more a guess based on the age and experience of the workers. More often its accidental; touching food without meaning to. That one is probably more like daily.
I’ve worked as a cook for 20+ years. I only know of two incidents. One cook and one server. The cook spit in the food of one our payroll guys that he was having problems with about pay. The server was on his last day and had some really annoying guests.
When I was managing I made sure that everybody knew that they would be out the door if they tried pulling any crap like that.
As a rule of thumb I think you can count on the percentage of staff being high school aged boys being a fair indicator of the chance of funny business.
I worked at McDonald’s for a year. The cook staff was primarily teenage boys. Never saw any tampering. The only thing close would be putting way too many onions on a burger after someone kept complaining they didn’t get enough.
I worked in 3 different restaurants and never saw any of it. As kitchen staff, it is rare if ever that you interact with the customers and thus have no idea who is getting what food.
Never saw it. Too busy. The cooks were actually defensive of their food. If they thought some jack-hole server was fucking with it, there would be a world of shit descending.
Worked in ‘Coffee Shops’, middle of the road rooms and in a ‘Fancy’ Steakhouse place.
Fast food people who have never seen it happen: Where on the funny business scale would you rate a burger that was accidentally dropped on the floor, but scooped up and served anyway? It is possible that I happened to work with a bunch of degenerates.
Never saw it happen. Just as bad (if not worse considering the chemicals on the floor) as spitting on a burger. Anything that touched the ground was thrown away. Even a completely wrapped sandwich.