Chefs advise where not to eat

At a recent Reddit thread, a user posed the question: “Chefs, what red flags should people look out for when they go out to eat?” Here are just some of the numerous responses:

Avoid restaurants with carpets

Carpets are one of the most disgusting things, one user said, to which another user, who cleans carpets for a living, responded that they often pull out black slime from them because of grease and grit. Most of the people we clean for try their best to get clean regularly, but even then I find it hard to eat at those restaurants, he said.

Ask where the food comes from

It's very simple, restaurant workers say – ask where the food is from. If they don't know, don't expect anything good, especially if it's seafood. One user who worked at a restaurant said that they had to know everything about the food they served.

Long menu

A long menu is a red flag. If they have 40 different entrees, it means that they are preparing a bunch of frozen ingredients or they have the exact same entree rebranded as a different dish based on the sauce, one user wrote and added that short menus tend to mean fresher ingredients.

Staff

A cook for a small Mexican restaurant wrote to always look for how the staff interact with each other. If they all seem to enjoy being there, and coordinate well, more often than not it's because everything is running smoothly and they have a good system, which usually means they know what they're doing and you can expect good food.

Waiting for a table is a good thing

One user wrote: “When my boss (the owner) used to host and people would complain to her about the hour wait on Saturday night at 7pm and then threaten to leave, she would tell them, 'If the restaurant you choose does not have a wait on a Saturday night, you may not want to eat there.'“

restaurants

chefs

cooks

food

where not to eat

Reddit

restaurant waiting list

restaurant staff

carpets in restaurants

long menu