People Are Sharing The Telltale Signs In Someone's Kitchen That Make Them Scared To Eat There
If you've ever been hungry and saw something that made you lose your appetite in a flash — you're not alone. I recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share kitchen red flags that make them scared to eat there. Here's what to keep in mind before your next meal out:
Note: Some submissions are from this Reddit thread.
1."No hand soap on the kitchen sink is a small but important thing to look for. I'd even accept a bottle of dish soap on the counter. If there is no soap visible and easily accessible, they are not washing their hands while cooking, which can be a real problem if they are handling raw meat or if they end up with a mess on their hands. Please, for the love of God, wash your hands, people!"
2."I was standing in a friend's kitchen talking to him when he turned, opened the door to the backyard, and peed out of it. Pee splattered across the kitchen floor, and then he turned back and continued talking like nothing was wrong. Never ate there again."
—Louise
3."If the dining room you can see is dirty, the kitchen you can't see likely is as well."
4."Seeing someone handle raw meat and then wipe their hands on a dish towel before handling other foods or dishes. My in-laws did this all of the time. They were always on a quest to figure out what mystery food sensitivity was upsetting their stomachs and I believe they were just chronically poisoning themselves with bacteria."
—Mel from Texas
5."Just pop your head in the kitchen. If you aren't blasted with 120 dB of yelling, you're in the wrong place."
6."I'm in the camp that if you're cooking for yourself, anything goes, as long as you're prepared to deal with the consequences. But if someone is cooking for me, I watch out for things like: Watching blatant cross-contamination, such as using the same plate as raw food as a landing spot for cooked food or using the same cutting board without disinfecting between food groups. Using old, improperly stored oil. Using old dirty pans again with different food groups. Seeing chicken on the top shelf of the fridge with fresh produce under it. Anything that's supposed to be refrigerated is left out for extended periods (eggs, sour cream, cheese, etc). Using their hands instead of utensils when cooking for others. Not washing their hands after prep or between food groups. Using the dirty, bare counter as workspace. If I see any one of those, I say I already ate. If I see a combination of those, I RUN!"
7."You open the cabinet to find a glass and it is full of dirty dishes the host tried to hide from the last dinner with friends three weeks ago."
—Lisa Michelle
8."Overworked staff. What cleaning jobs do you think are getting missed if staff are far too stretched or unhappy at work?"
9."Dirty refrigerators! I have seen fridges with hair and even roach eggs in them. Sorry, but I would rather starve than eat anything prepared there."
—Rosa from New York
10."When people lick their fingers and continue to touch everything without washing their hands."
11."Any restaurant that doesn't provide sick leave. That's how you get cooks working with Hepatitis and Norovirus."
"Sick waitstaff. If restaurant owners encourage their waitstaff to work while sick (or don't help to find a replacement), you can count on getting sick, too."
12."I was employed by a national pest control service. The salespeople told me if the dining room is dirty or gross, do yourself a favor and walk out because their kitchen is going to be much dirtier. There are also roaches at expensive restaurants, the same as there are at cheaper places. It's the restaurants that don't clean kitchens properly that attract pests and have continual problems."
13."How someone sneezes or coughs. If they don't 'vampire' cough/sneeze away from food, I don't trust it."
14."I've heard that if you smell fish at a sushi restaurant, it's in yours and your inside's best interest to hightail it out of there."
15."When the soggy sponge you use to wash the dishes is right next to the cutting board with the scraps of the food I'm being served. Yuck, yuck, yuck! The sponge belongs in the sink, not right next to food!"
16."A red flag for me is seeing wait staff do too many things and touch things they shouldn't or touch them in the wrong way."
17."It was my 21st birthday at a mom-and-pop restaurant. I saw a cockroach from hell climb the wall, and I lost my appetite. Nothing was done, and I got shamed by my ex-stepfather for expressing my disgust."
—Anonymous from Texas
18."You might have to be a chef to recognize this, but my red flag is going into a busy restaurant and noticing none of the tables have food, or not many customers are eating. This usually means the kitchen is going down in flames. One time I noticed this and could see some food slowly stacking up in the window, but no orders coming out. I mentioned it to the server and he replied, 'I wouldn't suggest ordering food.' He brought our drink check and we left. He was tipped well for his honesty."
19."My friend had a cat, and the litter box was in the kitchen. There were paw prints from the litter box up, across the counter, and over the dish rack. Yeah, no thanks! I'm not hungry!"
20.And finally, "I've seen some pretty nasty open kitchens that have a heavy focus on 'sightlines' to make sure what the customer sees is clean, but everything else is trashed."
What are the biggest red flags in a kitchen? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
