Here are some clues that will tell you just how up to par or low-down dirty the place you plan to eat in is.
Get your senses ready!
Odors
Breathe in, breathe out is not just for practicing meditation. When you enter a restaurant, you’ll want to be captivated by its wonderful aromas of delicious food, not slapped in the face with unpleasant aromas. If your nose senses stale food, sour smells, and musty odors, these are definitely not good signs of a well-taken care of establishment.
Restrooms
Most people want to visit the restroom before they are ready to leave, but it might be a good idea to make a trip there after being seated. Dirty restrooms often reflect the overall cleanliness of the restaurant, so check for how well the bathroom is being kept. If supplies are not fully ready, and conversely if trash is way too full, it is a sure sign of neglect. if your initial response upon entering is “ew” and you have to keep checking for a somewhat clean stall, think twice about how clean the rest of the restaurant may or may not be.
Tables and Floors
Don’t forget to look down when you walk in. Dirty floors, crumbs on the chairs, and sticky tables are sure signs that cleanliness is not a high priority. Should you really need to wipe your own table before you eat to feel somewhat comfortable or ignore the unsticking sound of your shoe as you lift it from the floor? And don’t look the other way over sticky condiment bottles and menus. Almost makes one yearn for the day of somewhat post Covid times when a masked and gloved worker would spray and wipe everything down with disinfectant before the next customers sat down, doesn’t it?
Walls and Ceilings
If general maintenance is of no consequence to those that run and own the restaurant, how much effort are they putting into the healthfulness of the food they’re preparing? Unless you don’t mind rustic evidence such as peeling paint, cobwebs, and grease stains on the walls, these are all indicators of pure and simple neglect. So don’t be surprised if the kitchen where the food is being prepared comes with it’s own evidence of dirt and grime.
Cutlery and Dishes
Have you ever sat down and noticed spots on your cutlery or food residue on your plate? Does rubbing it with a napkin really make it all sanitized enough to eat from, and what really would be the point be to ask for a clean fork if they’re all washed together anyway? These are all red flags that the hygiene of the restaurant is not good to say the least.
Staff Hygiene
What about your server? Is their uniform dirty? Does it look like they need a shower and a hair washing? If the management doesn’t care about what its food servers look like, how much can it care about what’s happening behind the scenes where the food is being prepared and supplies are being stored or even if that employee is working while they really ought to be home recuperating from an illness?
Kitchen View
If you happen to be seated near the doors of the kitchen, when servers go in and out and the doors are swinging, take a look-see if there are spills, clutter, and just general disarray going on in there. Just like a person preparing food at home, a clean kitchen is indicative of healthy cooking routines, and unfortunately the vice of this versa is true, too.
Pest Evidence
If insects and rodents don’t send you packing, perhaps nothing else will. It’s one thing to swish flies away if you’re dining alfresco, but if you see roaches or rats strolling by, you’d be wise to pick up your things and walk out without any explanation. Evidence that creatures have made this restaurant their free-for-all buffet is a definite sign of serious unsanitary conditions.
Fast Food Anyone?
Basically, just paying attention to these clues can help you gauge the cleanliness of a restaurant before deciding if you want to stick around and take your chances with actually dining there. Perhaps this is why so many people go on vacation and stick to their favorite fast-food establishments where it’s business and food as usual according to franchise standards including cleaning schedules and structure.