Unless you've worked in the food service industry, it's hard to comprehend what goes on behind those big swinging metal doors that lead to the kitchen. You hope your food is being prepared with caring, attentive, and, most importantly, washed hands.
Anyone who's worked in the food service industry, however, can most likely attest that's not always the case.
Reddit user, u/maybe-i-am-crazy, wanted to know what to avoid when they asked:
Food workers of Reddit, what menu item would you definitely NOT suggest?
It's Just A Little Blood. What's The Problem?
Giphy"In highschool, many years ago, I worked at a nation wide pizza place that rhymes with Sparrow. I cut my finger badly while grating cheese. I went to throw out the cheese that had blood on it. My manager stopped me, washed it off, and used it for pizza."
That's 3 Zeroes...
"At RA sushi: don't get the scallop dynamite appetizer."
"It's 3,000 calories."
Check To See If Meat Is Their Specialty
"Brisket."
"Unless you go to a proper smokehouse in America or something, the brisket will almost always be really dry."
All That Flavor Hides All That Expiration
"Not restaurant-related; but I worked at various meat departments in some grocery stores in my teen years. I've noticed that the 'pre-seasoned' fillets or chicken breasts are usually always cuts that have either expired or are VERY close to expiring. Douse it in some cajun or lemon pepper seasoning and you just see convenience."
You Can Bet Corners Will Be Cut
"Late to the thread but it's not a great idea to order "football food" on big game days unless you are at a dedicated sports bar."
"In the same way that many juice machines can handle x amount of oranges a minute, kitchens are designed with x amount of product an hour to be produced."
"If a restaurant usually sells x number of nachos an hour and on game night that number becomes 4x quality and execution suffer."
"Nothing unethical or unsafe ever happened but I'm not particularly proud of some of the wings and nachos we made on big football days."
*stops chewing pizza
"Local pizza chain. Where I worked was usually pretty tight about the cleanliness of things BUT watch out for those parmesan shakers. After we found mold in them we uh... started cleaning them a bit more often. I think the reason it took so long to realize was nobody complained about it. If anything it just was more tangy."
Bagged Everything. Everything In Bags!
"Don't trust Panera Bread. I just left after a year and lemme just say EVERYTHING is in bags. It's all pre-cooked, all the soup/Mac is in bags we heat it up. All the meat is gross when we open it from the bags. There's little to no prep involved with it. Also it's all premeasured I swear you're wasting money. It's over 15$ to get a meal for yourself with small portions. Loved working there though made some excellent friends."
Stay Away From Case Items
"I worked at Steak n Shake briefly. Saw enough in that month that I quit and don't eat there."
"*Guy was making a shake, cut his finger, bled into shake, KEPT GOING. *Fly landed on something? Either shoo it off or bury it in the food. *No clean glasses? Rinse a dirty one in water and fill it up. *Burger fell? Pick it up, add some more ketchup. ITS FINE. *Salad dressing has moldy watery layer on top? Scoop it off. *Moldy bread? People can't see it when it's toasted."
"I also worked at a grocery store deli. Oh my lord. Do not get the items in the case. We were told to put fill the bowl half way with new stuff and then put the days old, almost stuff on top. Little bought meats were often expired. Once the wrapper is off, the expiration date is gone. So if it doesn't smell, it's still good."
Ham Is Known For Being The Slippiest Meat
"At the deli I worked at we were required to wash off any meat dropped on the ground put it in the back so no one would see and then use it later. The most dropped one was ham and Virginia ham especially, because damn was it slippery. The cold cutter machines are probably not cleaned properly like we just rinsed them off with a hose at night!!"
"Rotiserry chickens sold at night were reheated in a warming oven and sat there for hours so we didn't have to cook new ones, and put back out and relabeled with a different time... I mean I guess it's not the worst thing but..still? it depends on your deli maybe. Higher end stores like whole foods have actual standards but cheaper or more localized stores probably do not. The workers are often left to their own devices and cut corners!"
A Moldy Fan
"Sonic drive in worker here. I CAN NOT SAY IT LOUDER YOU ARE EATING MOLD IF YOU ORDER OUR ICE CREAM!!! No body cleans the machines unless they break down. Even then no body cleans the cabinet in the bottom that the fan blows on the milk. The fan is ALWAYS covered in mold because we can not get to it to clean it."
Just Left To Sit Out
"The salads at McDonald's. Sure our food isn't great but (at least where i am) the cucumber and grape tomatos are only used in the salads and are usually left sitting longer than they should be."
"If you're trynna go to Maccas and be 'healthier' you're better off getting a grilled chicken wrap (ask for fresh grilled too if you don't mind waiting the 8 or so minutes)."
"Better yet spend probably the same money and go buy salad ingredients. You'll make something 100x better than you'll get from us"
Again With The Ice Cream Machine
"Former McDonald's manager- the ice cream machine had numbers on the front. That was how many days until the next deep cleaning. If that number is below 12... Maybe don't get the ice cream. It counts from 14. No one empties the machine and deep cleaned it daily, it goes into an automatic sterilization mode around 12a-3a unless the store changes the time, which is why you can't get ice cream at night, but the inside of the machine is HORRIBLE when you break it down."
"The shake syrup tubes are very prone to mold. Even if you run sanitizer through them regularly."
"The McCafe and Frappe machines are also very gross. The McCafe machine gets cycled nightly (unless they skip through it without doing it, which is hard, so unlikely.) but people like to ignore the foamer heads, so mold is an issue there too. The frappe machine doesn't get deep cleaned but once a week. It is a literal mold machine. The blenders are cleaned regularly but not the mix tubes."
"The actual food is fine, just sh-t quality. But my best advice for food is go when it's busy. If you go when it's slow, food might be sitting past it's prime to cut down on food cost. If it's busy, you KNOW it's fresh and within its time."
Any Poland Readers Out There?
"if you ever visit poland (i assume it's just our thing) and see a restaurant called The Sphinx, never ever eat anything from there. Worked in one for like a year. The standards were so mind blowingly low that some sh-t looks like from a sitcom."
"Example: waiters would REGULARLY drop meat or other stuff on the floor, pick it up with their bare hands, throw it back at the plate and carry it to customers like nothing happened. If they recognized low tippers, they would do it on purpouse, tho never seen anybody spit in the food so there is that plus."
"We had "spoiled chicken day" at least once a month where all chicken dishes were made with awful horrible quality meat that smelled like death. Fish too but much rarer."
"Milk used in shakes was also frequently past expiration dates, beer was stale and we had fungus growing on the whatever you call beer dispenser where it wasnt visible to customers. Sometimes dishes and cutlery were just wiped, not washed."
"And i know from coworkers that it went that way for years in many many restaurants in the chain."
It Still LOOKS Good?
"I used to work at an old mom and pop movie theatre. We reused the popcorn from last night, put it in a big Tupperware container overnight and threw that stale sh-t back into the machine to heat up."
"I also once found half a bug in the ice machine but management didn't seem overly concerned."
Well-Done? You Monster.
"If you order a well done steak, your steak has almost always (read: absolutely) aged out."
"I've worked places that had a separate bin on the line for steaks that smelled sour and had turned green, just for people who asked for WD."
"Never got them sent back, though."
"We had to hide them if the health inspector came."
"Yes, this was a legit, fancy "$40 an entree" place.
Stay Away From The "Recommendations"
"Chefs recommendations... They are usually made from ingredients which are close to or over due date"
Microwave Fish? *barf*
Giphy"Long John Silvers, do not get the Baked Cod. They're stored in a bucket in the fridge and all we do is microwave it over rice. It also makes the back smell worse than it already does."
"Microwaved fish? F-cking psychopaths"
Breads Along The Line
"Outback Steakhouse. I worked there 15 years ago (sidenote: holy f-ck that amount of time just hit me like a truck) and I still don't eat the bread."
"It comes prepackaged and it was placed on a toaster at random by busy workers. Since there was no way to know how long it was on there workers would tap the bread to see if it was toasted enough to go out to the customers. So basically each price of bread may have between 2-8 people's hands touching it. Busy people who are touching everything and are sure as hell not washing their hands as frequently as they should."
Never Once Thought About This One
"If you're [going] to get sushi rolls, make sure you read the ingredients. A lot of places have what amounts to a California roll for a premium price."
"I've told this story before, but it is the best example of what I mean. I worked at a Japanese restaurant for a while and we had this thing called a Volcano roll and it cost $7.25. A California roll there cost $3.75. The Volcano roll was a Cali roll cut into the shape of a triangle and topped with spicy mayo that has been heated up with about $.10 worth of fish, literally just a few bits that was not worth it. You are much better off ordering a Cali roll and paying $.50 extra for spicy mayo on the side and asking them to heat it up."
"I had one guy come in with a girl and he ordered a couple of regular rolls like spicy tuna and yellowtail, along with a Volcano roll. When served in the restaurant, unless they ask us, we would put the sauce on top so it looked nice, like a Volcano. When I brought that roll over he was like, "Oh, I didn't know you guys put the sauce on, I've only gotten it for pick up and the sauce is always on the side. I don't really like it, could you bring me one one without it?" I tried not to laugh and said sure. I went back and the sushi chef asked what was wrong. I told him that he didn't like the sauce and want one without it. He laughed and said alright, so he took a Cali roll, cut it up, and put it on the plate. I brought it back to the guy and he was super pumped."
"Basically this guy paid $7.25 for a roll that would have cost him $3.75 and me and the sushi chef got to split a free volcano roll. Normally I would have just told him about it, but the dude was being so arrogant the entire time, I'm guessing to act like he was a sushi expert to impress the girl he was with."
"I've seen this at a couple of other places too where they slightly dress up a California roll and jack up the price. You don't want to end up like that guy just because you didn't take a few seconds to go over the ingredients."
On second thought, we have food at home like Mom always said.
Tough guys put on a facade that indicates to others that they always know what's going on.
But their confidence doesn't always match their intellect, which is probably why they cover their insecurities by walking around and trying to show everyone who's really the boss.
If that's the case, they should keep their mouths shut because not everything that comes out of their mouth needs to be heard.
Yet, it can be amusing to everyone else.
Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor PrototypeShadowBlitz asked:
"Reddit, what is the stupidest thing you've heard from the 'alpha male' community?"
You might find these guys at a bar.
The Dude Must Be Hungry
"Had a run in once with a group of young lads about something in a bar and one of them said we are top of the food chain bro and you will be the prey."
– insertitherenow
"'Whatever, mall ninja" -proper response."
– TheEighthLord
If The Shoe Fits
"That they were an alpha male."
– I_Have_A_Name37654
"The use of 'Alpha Male,' unironically is every indication that you're dealing with a child's understanding of manhood."
– 88Dubs
Brat Pack
"Me and my bros are all alpha males."
– SonOfDadOfSam
"I was skiing one time and rode the lift with a guy that said, 'I don't feel no pain. I live with 5 roommates and none of us feel any pain.' Okay, bud. That's a really interesting coincidence."
– NicPizzaLatte
They sure thrive on making sexist comments.
Contagious Femininity
"A coworker said, 'I don't spend too much time with my girlfriend because I'll become too feminine.'"
– Lazy_Natural6154
"FELLAS IS IT GAY?!"
– aliebabadegrote
Sexist Categorization
"I have been called a beta for saying that my wife makes more money than I do. She works in a more lucrative field and is more educated than I am, so it makes perfect sense that she makes more than I do."
"So I came back, and this post has really blown up. There's just a few things I want to clarify."
"1- I have only ever been called a beta online."
"2- I work full-time in project management. I have a master's degree. I have a 6 figure salary."
"3- My wife has a PhD and works in finance. She also has a 6 figure salary, it's just a higher salary than my own."
"4- I'm sorry to anyone who might feel as though my original post misled them."
– ExaminationDouble240
It's Teamwork
"A real man would be proud of his wife for achieving success, and not fall for that sort of insecure bullsh*t."
"It's not a contest, that's the real joke here. Good on you for seeing the big picture."
– Mrbeardoesthethings
Do these roles about parenting sound familiar?
Childish Things Are Too Girly
"Real men don't take their kids trick or treating is one that I heard recently."
– constructionguy89
"Related. Guys who brag about not changing diapers, not playing 'girly' games, etc. Essentially guys who brag that their only contribution to fatherhood is money and masculine things like fishing or football. Even then some of them brag about not paying a lot of child support to prove they didn't let the system take advantage of them."
"I can't imagine a life so empty my only accomplishment worth bragging about was being a terrible parent."
– Green7000
This Woman's Work
"I was told that taking care of my kids is woman's work. Apparently it's concerning that I try to spend so much of my free time with them. Oddly enough the meatheads at my grappling club think it's sweet I occasionally have my daughters' hair clips on and nails painted."
– MrFunktasticc
People discussed rules in the bedroom.
Never Submissive
"That a man is turned off when their wife/girlfriend seduces them, because if she wants sex and shows it she is a sl*t, also making the man the submissive one…"
– kamalaophelia
Stifling Emotions
"Not the whole community, but was cuddling with a guy once and could tell he was trying not to get emotional over something that was bothering him. He said, quite literally, 'it's not alpha male behaviour.' I told him that I liked that he showed emotions sometimes, and he looked disgusted by the fact that I pointed it out."
– LambLifts
In high school, a classmate who was on the football team said I was a "sissy" for listening to classical music.
The other classmates laughed at me, which was hardly surprising since all of the guys on our unbeatable football team were considered stars on campus.
This kind of mockery was a typical day for me.
I can laugh at their idiotic comments now but back then, I don't know why I ever let them get under my skin.
We've all done things, or in some cases, regularly do things that others might consider weird.
Even so, we often feel no shame or embarrassment and embrace how unusual these habits are, and take our friends teasing or laughing at us for doing so in stride.
Sometimes, however, we might not like to advertise some of our unusual habits or actions and make every effort to keep them a well-guarded secret.
As raised eyebrows are much easier to take than blatant judgment from friends and peers.
Redditor Key_Nectarine_1969 was curious to hear all the weird things people have done which they still keep under lock and key, leading them to ask:
"What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done that you could only tell people anonymously?"
The Devil [Dogs] Is In The Detail...
"All throughout middle school, there was someone who tucked unwrapped Hostess Devil Dogs into the toilet paper dispensers in the bathrooms, so that when you pulled some toilet paper out, the devil dog would fall out into your hand."
"We had to have an assembly about it."
"That person... Was me."- bejeweled_sky
Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
"Was drunk at an escape room with coworkers."
"It was an extreme one where you are handcuffed the entire time."
"I decided in my drunken state that it would be bada** to dislocated my thumb and slip off the cuffs like the movies."
"It wasn't."
"We got kicked out, my coworkers were weirded out and I had to go to the hospital."
"I quit a few weeks later."
"White collar wasn't for me."- Grotesque-penguin
The Bread Of Heaven
"Stole over 1,000 wafers from church because I really liked the communion wafers & didn’t know where else to get them."
"I felt really blessed & cursed for a long time."- hALLIEcinate
catholic the exorcist GIFGiphyRetracing Steps...
"Once I got off the subway in NYC and I was super early for an appointment."
"So I picked a random guy and just followed him on foot for like 30 minutes, pretending I was like a private detective or something."
"Always kept about a half block behind."
"He turned this way and that, and eventually went into a building I had lived in 9 years earlier."
"It was weird, and so was I."- OKsurewhynotyep
Hygeine Be Damned...
"I found a dead rat in a field when i was younger and kissed it bc I wanted to say goodbye."- qeleia
exercise push up GIFGiphyBad Decisions Have A Way Of Getting Back To You...
"We got super drunk and ate a ton of spicy food in New Orleans."
"Back at the B&B, the food started to come out the back side."
"I was sitting on the toilet sh*tting bricks of fire."
"At that moment, the booze decided to hang a u-turn."
"The trash can was out of reach and I couldn't risk standing up from the toilet for even 5 seconds."
"The closest receptacle was the bathtub."
"I managed to turn in such a way that I could keep shi*ting in the toilet while projectile vomiting into the tub."
"Both ended up clogged, and there was no plunger."
"I had to call the owner to explain that I had destroyed both their toilet and their tub simultaneously."- HoopOnPoop
Things Best Left To Professionals...
"My partner is weirdly prone to cysts."
"I had to drain a 3 inch cyst on her back (thankfully she had a dr's appt the next week), then multiple other little cysts on her legs and chest."
"I never told her to her face but that first giant cyst literally haunted me, the amount of pus and blood I saw....good heavens."- SleepyBiologist
uruguay spot GIF by sargentoPezGiphyAt Least A Lesson Was Learned...
"When I was walking to school one morning, I saw a kid (7-8 yo?) kicking a dog."
"I ran over & kicked the kid and asked him how it felt."
"He ran off and no one saw."
"Still not sorry."- sneezyailurophile
All Creatures Deserve Love
"I was extremely socially isolated as a child and tried to make friends with the coyotes who lived in the woods by our home."
'I caught one in a snare and fed and kept her."
"I wanted a friend."- letthetreeburn
That's What Friends Are For...
"My wife and her best friend pick me up from a frat party black out drunk."
"Then they helped me take a sh*t on the toilet, wiped my a** and then gave me a shower and put me to bed naked."
"Don’t remember any of it."- nc3100
Party Love GIF by Chris CiminoGiphyNot The Right Kind Of Manure...
"One time I went outside at like 2AM and put the garden hose nozzle into my butthole and sprayed some water into it, then farted it out onto the lawn."
"Basically gave myself an enema with a garden hose."
"I did this because I was bored."
"My neighbour saw me and told my dad (lived at home at the time)."- WaspsInMyGoatse
A Little Fantasy Now And Then...
"When I was younger I joined an international dating site that I figured was a scam."
"Put a black square as my picture and gave myself a fake name, and then looked through their users."
"And after about 10 minutes I had like a 100 messages."
"Most of them were messages telling me how handsome I was or how these women fell in love with me at first site."
"Now I knew it was a scam but when ever I felt down or got rejected for a while I would pop back on the site and read a few messages."
'Yeah it’s kinda cringy and probably pathetic but it made me feel better."
"I would just turn off that logical part of my brain that knew it was a scam for awhile and just pretend I was this popular and desirable guy."
"And it honestly got me through the day sometimes."- Demonking3343
dating app GIFGiphyIf anyone says they've never done anything they're ashamed, or at the very least less-than-proud of, in all likelihood, they are lying.
Or, more likely, they understandably want to pretend that it never happened.
Which might be a little easier than harboring a secret.
Who doesn't love a first date?
The anticipation. The hopes and dreams. The romance.
Even those first-date butterflies are fun.
You're hoping this could be the one.
Or maybe this will just be a lot of fun.
Then you sit down with one another and they open their mouth and BOOM... dating disaster.
Life is ruined. Or maybe you were saved.
Redditor MiloMilkOnDrugs wanted to hear about the conversations that can ruin a romantic time, so they asked:
"What's the worst thing someone can say on a first date?"
Having worked as a waiter as long as I did, I can't tell the things I've overheard without fainting.
I'll just say... sometimes it's okay to stay single.
Promises
Players Association Sport GIF by NBPAGiphy“'I need you to promise not to tell my wife.'"
FriendNegative6013
Honk Off
"My cousin (F) went on a first date where in the middle of the conversation, her date reached over and squeezed her breast and said 'Honk.'"
"She said 'What on earth do you think you're doing?'"
He said 'I've had quite a lot of success with that move.'"
"There was no second date. My cousin was the girl. I realized from a comment it was ambiguous."
blu3teeth
Circa 2005
"My mother was freshly divorced and we signed her up on a dating website (circa 2005) Helped her take pictures etc..."
"She met this guy online real smart, seems to have his sh*t together, independent, etc..."
"They set a date at a local restaurant they park side by side."
"The moment she greets him he says: WOW I love those big boobs I can't wait to taste them!"
"She 180° stepped back in her Mazda 3 and f**ked the right off this parking lot lol."
mageakeem
Safety First
"Does anyone know you're here?"
Baby-hazell
"It's a safety thing. Sometimes, people let others know where they'll be before meeting a stranger for a date. However for him to ask can be seen as a little creepy like he would be planning to do something to them and would need to know that info so he can figure out how long she'll be gone before the police are called. If that makes sense."
Hachiko75
Previously...
canadian what GIF by CBCGiphy"I was on a date once, the woman apologized before looking a bit rough because she had just had sex before coming."
REDDIT
What happened to putting your best foot forward?
My goodness, it's not that hard to at least run a brush through your hair.
Mirror Mirror
"'My ex looks way better than you.'"
Academic_Ingenuity84
"What a coincidence. My ex looks way better than you."
"Maybe they can get together and leave us ugly fools to mope about it together."
LurkerOrHydralisk
Oh Baby
"After pulling her chair out for her, you pet her head then rub her belly saying 'I’m gonna put a baby in here.'"
BuffaloInCahoots
"Ha, can you imagine, being a proper gentleman and then ending with a head pat and belly rub?"
phillmybuttons
"I once had a guy tell me on the first date he wanted to have at least six children. I heard later from his sister he married a woman who was already pregnant with someone else's kid, and he had her pregnant again within the year."
ashoka_akira
Family Dynamics
"'You remind me of my mom.' Bonus points if there is this weird attraction component to it."
Kiunan5
"My partner went on a date with a young woman shortly before we met, he said she repeatedly compared him to her father ('my dad drinks scotch', 'my dad is also bald,' etc). He said no amount of attraction could save the date after that."
Digital_Punk
"Oh God, I'm guilty of this one. It wasn't a date. but I told that to a woman I tried bedding later on. Honestly, she didn't look like my mom i was just shooting my shots at trying to keep her around."
Bobtheguardian22
Be Serious
Shouting The Goldbergs GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy"I went to a nice French bistro in the Bay Area, there was a table right behind me and the friend dining. The guy literally said to the girl 'I am the alpha of this relationship.' (in a serious manner). Me and buddy sort of looked at each other while the girl literally burst out laughing, grabbed her bag, and then walked out of the restaurant."
295DVRKSS
It feels like some men have no one to bounce conversation ideas off of.
Or do they really believe what they say?
