When we're dining out, we're generally excited, because it's meant to be a positive experience. Good food with someone we love, or as our me-time, what's not to love?
The last thing we want to think about is the possibility that something is going wrong in the kitchen, but as some Redditors have witnessed, sometimes one of the kitchens we can't eat from... is one of the professional ones.
Redditor stevesmd asked:
"What's the most disgusting thing you have seen in a restaurant?"
Contaminated Food
"Condensation above a buffet turning brown and dripping back down on the food..."
- MountainHipie
Nah, That Was Just Super Rat
"I saw a napkin run across a floor. It was really a rat that somehow had a napkin draped over it but it was surreal and super funny to watch."
"We'd joke about eating at the place that held napkin races any time no one could come up with a place to eat, and then usually someone would be like, 'Naww, let's just hit up another restaurant.'"
- Sleestak714
Something Off About Those Smoothies
"While working at a restaurant, I pulled back the slushie machine because I smelled something off coming from behind."
"The smell was black mold. I quit on the spot and reported the restaurant to the health authority."
- Magic_a**1
Cleaning Up After the Baby
"A woman changing her baby's diaper on one of the tables. Before you throw hate at me, there were changing tables in both bathrooms."
- nanspud
Intimate Plating Habits
"As a waiter: watching the 'chef'/owner scooping spaghetti out of the steam table with bare hands and plopping it on a plate. We didn't call the resort 'S**thole' (Chateau) [name redacted] for nothing."
- calnuck
Build Your Own Germs
"This was one of those build-your-own frozen yogurt places with 100 different toppings."
"I watched a kid take a spoonful of cookie dough, eat it, and then put the spoon back in the container."
- moparguy_alec
Ill-Garnished Drinks
"The owner was snacking out of the garnish tray for the bartenders. She was just snacking on the lemon wedges and sugar sticks meant for the drinks."
"She was putting her fingers in her mouth and then diving back in for another cherry or orange wedge right there at the bar in front of me and a friend."
"I looked at her and said, 'What you're doing is f**king disgusting, those go in people's drinks, and you're putting your gross fingers in there.'"
"She scoffed and walked away. The bartender came over and thanked me for saying something and explained the staff tells her that all the time, but she doesn't listen because she's the owner."
- GrimWoldMcTheesbyIV
Sharing a Cutting Board
"They were cutting raw and cooked chicken on the same cutting board at the same time. The kitchen is open and you can see what's going on from the dining area."
"Everything comes pre-packaged, and they don't have anything fresh. I haven't eaten there ever since."
- Content-Wing-5015
A Misused Band-Aid
"Buddy ordered a burger. Took two bites then tasted something strange. It was a band-aid. A used band-aid.
- NeverGoneTooFar
"My mom and her sisters found a band-aid in a pizza once. The manager wouldn't refund them so they stood outside the door and told everyone who walked in."
"They got their refund."
- rahyveshachr
A Shocking Moment
"In-N-Out in SoCal, I saw a man chow down on his double-double, then immediately throw up into his red tray. He just kind of sat there shocked, and nobody else seemed to notice but me. It was surreal honestly."
- DarkPhalanxSet
One of Super Rat's Family Members
"A rat ran out from the kitchen and jumped on a table people were eating at. They all screamed, the rat ran along the table on the booth/table trying to find a way out but essentially took the worst route possible."
"This wasn't a high-end place and none of the wait stuff seemed that bothered, they had a similar attitude to if they had brought you the wrong meal. Like apologetic, but it's not a big deal. Which gave the impression this happens all the time and it was just another day for them."
"So we stopped going there."
- Cody6781
Questionable Feminine Hygiene
"I used to work at an Italian restaurant where there was a used tampon sitting around in the back of the kitchen. Of course, no one wanted to touch it so it sat there for the entire time I worked there. They never cleaned the back of the kitchen."
- Mighty_Meatball
Nothing Wrong with Dogs, But...
"I guess Starbucks counts as a restaurant, so a couple of Christmases ago, I stopped in for some coffee after getting a couple of gifts."
"I immediately saw multiple baristas petting a dog I assumed to be their manager's, but they went back to handling the food and drink without washing their hands, so I walked back out."
- ScorpionX-123
New Residents
"One of the creepier pandemic/lockdown stories I've heard involved a prosperous neighborhood in suburban Maryland."
"A guy who bought the house of a friend had lived there. He'd been just down the road from a strip mall with quite a few casual but upscale restaurants and bars."
"During the time, these places were shut down or limited to carryout, and the amount of trash put out dropped hugely. The guy's neighborhood was then overrun with rats looking for food."
"He couldn't even let his smallish dog hang out in the yard anymore. That was partly why he moved."
- 2PlasticLobsters
An Unhinged First Date
"In a very posh restaurant, a man in his early 60s with a smart suit was on what looked like a first date. They chatted happily and ordered wine and steak."
"But when the meal was served, he cut his steak while chatting, looked into her eyes, and dipped his steak into her red wine up to his knuckles, opened his mouth wide, and threw it in."
"Then he picked up a chip and repeatedly dunked that in her drink while she looked on, shocked."
"Then he wiped his fingers on his tie and drank his drink. She looked visibly shocked."
"Then she went to the toilet and snuck out the back and away into the night. He got a call and spoke loudly to, I assume, a friend about how a steak meal guarantees a booty call, so it's on tonight."
"I ate slowly, waiting to watch him realize she had left. One hour later, he got madder and madder, screaming into the phone at her number, calling her horrid things... That lass had a very lucky escape."
- Plus_Data_1099
It's easy to see why these were the most disgusting things that some people had witnessed, and it's even worse to think about all of the stories there are in the world that were not included on this Reddit thread...
