I was running tonight and I smelled something funky emanating from a Larry’s Giant Subs (sub restaurant). I also heard fire alarms and saw them flashing from inside the building, and when I got close enough to peer through the windows, I saw plumes of smoke filling the building … and I started chuckling at the irony … if only had it been a Firehouse Subs … :D.
Turns out the it was just routine pest control - it wasn’t as if there were a kitchen fire. The pesticides had set off the fire alarm, and the pesticides were responsible for the funky smell.
However, the sheer amount of pesticide plume I saw inside the restaurant concerned me … when I looked inside … it was as if someone had left a fog machine on for several hours. I’m now a little concerned about eating there because the tabletops were obviously exposed to the pesticide, as well as the food preparation surfaces.
Are the pesticides used in restaurants safe? What are the chemicals used?
I can’t answer as to the type of chemicals used, but IME working at restaurants, “bug night” (which is what we called it, and it happened once a month) was always preceded by a very tedious plastic covering of everything that would be contaminated by the chemicals. And then the exposed surfaces were wiped down/cleaned off the next morning.
I’ve worked in restaurants close to 20 years and will confirm this is standard practice in many restaurants. However, it is more common today to have weekly extermination performed as it does a better job controlling potential problems.
In the scene described by the OP, my concern would be what the hell kind of pest problem did that place have before the exterminators visit. If they had to exercise the nuclear option I would be more concerned about what might have been in my food before the place was fogged. That is an extreme solution.