I am always aware of the following ‘red flag’ issues when I go into a restaurant. But many diners who don’t have foodservice industry experience may not twig to them. I’ve chosen the most serious from a longer list…
No. 1 resto Red Flag for me…
It’s a matter of reflex with me. Instinct, you might say. I always scan the dining room of any restaurant I enter – with intent to dine – for red flags. The worst of which will turn me around on the spot and march me out of the joint…
Deal breakers…
I call them deal breakers. And I was inspired to share mine with you by a post I came across which featured ‘red flags’ contributed by Redditors.
I, in turn, curated my own short list of the worst offenders from the 21 featured in the post.
Worst of the worst…
Do these resto-fails resonate with you?
1. Dirty restrooms
“When the restroom is dirty, that’s how I know how ‘clean’ the kitchen and the whole restaurant is,” said jerrythecactus. “Yep, if the place can’t be bothered to clean what you can see, they’re definitely not cleaning what you can’t see.”
2. Dirty tables
“Ewww, I can feel it now. Slightly sticky, slightly wet. And there is a huge spot they clearly missed. Ughhh,” said shootyoureyeout.
3. Disengaged servers
“If you approach the bar or counter, and a group of servers are in a conversation, and they finish what they’re saying before they acknowledge you,” said NoAnything1731.
4. ‘Edited’ menus
“Rather than ordering new menus, they crossed off all the old prices in marker and added new, more expensive ones,” said Glen_Echo_Park.
5. Empty parking lots
“An empty parking lot right in the middle of peak dinner rush on a Friday night is the ultimate warning sign,” said Aggravating_Win6022.
6. Anybody home?
“Skeleton crew, both front of house and back of house,” said chasingit1.
My take
“Going out to eat is so expensive these days that it really pays to be picky about where you decide to sit down for a meal,” Buzzfeed Senior Editor
Megan, you said a mouthful!
~ Maggie J.