Diners have their favorite restaurants to go to when they don't feel like preparing dinner at home after a long day at work.
There's something comforting about hitting your go-to dining establishment and greeting familiar faces and favorite entrees.
And while customers are quick to rave about and recommend the restaurants to friends and family, they can be just as passionate about the places they avoid like the plague for various reasons.
Curious to hear about these nightmare establishments, Redditor PuzzleheadedFix8972 asked:
"What restaurants do you refuse to go to and why?"
For most Redditors, buffets are a no-go.
A Customer's Touch
"Golden Corral. Walked into one once in Florida. A small kid walking past the food bar was putting his hand in every tray he passed. Out we go."
– Ardothbey
"I am mildly surprised Golden Corral wasn't a victim of the pandemic. Like who on earth would eat there from March 2020 on?"
– Robbylution
The Buffet Worker
"I knew a girl who worked at a buffet. On busy days they would have an employee hover looking for gross people. People using the serving spoon to take a little taste to see if they like it, grab food try it and don't like it and put it back, fingers in pudding all kinds of nasty sh*t. I don't eat at them anymore."
– Yaniji1923
Pro Tip
"Go right when they first open. Actually, show up before they open and be the first one in, that’s about as close to safe as you can be."
– YoghurtSnodgrass
Chain restaurants are not any better according to these folks.
Boo To Applebee's
"Applebee’s - was a fry cook there."
– Jfonzy
"Was a server there. What a temple to mediocrity."
– budda_belly
"Applebee's - when I'm too lazy to use my own microwave."
– FlattenInnertube
Fallen Quality
"Panera Bread, extremely overpriced, bland food."
– wyoflyboy68
"Thing is it used to be really good. Then they got bought by a VC and did a speed run into serving the cheapest, food-like meals ever to squeeze as much margin as possible out of the place."
"It’s like that scene in The Founder when his future wife convinced Ray Kroc to sell powdered milkshakes instead of the real deal. The VC that bought Panera did that with the entire menu."
– Doctor_Kat
People Don't Go For The Food
"Hooters. Waiting 45 minutes for a hamburger and baked beans and then immediately having diarrhea doesn't do anything for me."
– bravesgeek
"It's because they put all of their effort into the gimmick of "HoT wOmAn!!!" instead of serving actually good food."
– AverageFurryFemboy
Fake Italian
"Olive Garden."
"They know why."
– liltrixxy
"My friend’s mom is a little old lady from Sicily and her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden."
"Totally not joking."
– YinzaJagoff
"Because it's a loud place were everytime you clean your plate someone comes out and puts more on it just like any Italian dinner."
– Zkenny13
"They All Suck"
"Noodle & Company and Chili’s I honestly don’t know what I am supposed to order in either of these restaurants. They got so many things and they all suck."
"Oh and Pizza Hut because their pizza sucks."
– Soup_and_Rice
It can't get any worse than some fast food joints.
Do They Do Chicken Right?
"KFC. I dont know why but I get sick an hour later every time."
"Churches doesn't do this."
"Popeyes doesn't do this."
– Wolfman01a
"I went to KFC once and i took ONE bite of the chicken and literal blood was coming out. Ordered another one. SAME THING. Ordered another one! Guess what.. SAME THING. Never going to KFC ever again."
– Reddit
Bad Reputations
"Subway - because of food poisoning & there are better sub places in our town."
"Golden Corral - food has always been subpar & I always felt sick after leaving…and not due to overeating."
– amyria
"This is also my two for the same reasons. I got food poisoned by subway twice in a row 20 years ago. Never been back, never will be back."
"Golden corral is so bad. I won't go for any reason. Not even because old great uncle whoever wants to see all the relatives and I'll make him sad if I don't come and get free food. If I wanted to serve people food of that low quality, I could just go to Sam's club and hit the freezer isle. Most of their items are the same processed heat and serve junk."
– Illogical-logical
Have It Your Way
"Will pass on BK. It's always been the participation trophy of fast food."
"Wendy's has gone downhill severely, especially the wait times (I might be overly critical because I worked there one summer)."
– zoinks690
Panda Express used to be my favorite default mall food court choice.
Until I got sick from their beef broccoli once and felt bloated for hours. I realized that with age, my body wasn't able to break down everything I was consuming there.
As a teenage patron everything there used to be so flavorful.
But then my tastes changed after I found out why eating there is the worst thing for your body.
Their highly-caloric dishes are also known to be extremely high in sodium, which if eaten frequently can lead to all sorts of health issues–including obesity and heart disease.
Buh-bye, P.E.
Curious to hear from dispirited diners online, Redditor enjoysuffering asked:
"What discontinued menu item from a restaurant do you miss the most?"
Fast food joints are constantly updating their menus–sometimes to much success, and others, much to the chagrin of fans.
Yesterday's Salad
"Wendy's used to have a mandarin orange chicken salad that was amazing and the potato wedges from Jack in the box!!"
– RogueSleuth_
"I remember that salad! As a kid I thought it was strange to put fruit in there until my mom let me try some."
– Wooden_Artist_2000
Bye To The Snack Wrap
"Every fast food placed used to have a chicken wrap, and I don't get why they're gone. I mean they were never that great, but they were the best food to eat while driving."
– Justice_Prince
The Colonel Has Spoken
"popcorn chicken from KFC. They were genius, why would they remove them?!?"
– Will-i-n-g
"KFC is dead to me. Why get rid of potato wedges? It's criminal."
– fingerpuppet716
Back To The Beginning
"The entire Subway menu needs to be switched back to it's original form."
– jimbosdayoff
"When you walk into a Quiznos and ask for a sub that has its ingredients pre-selected the workers actually knew what to put on it without looking at the menu.When you walk into subway and they have all these new fancy pre-made subs they have no f'kin idea what goes on it and just ask you what you want anyways."
– t_funnymoney
Nothing sweet about these goodbyes.
The Bell Said 'Adios'
"Caramel apple empanadas from Taco Bell."
– Capable-Pay-4308
"There were nights where I'd go to Taco bell for a caramel apple empanada...and that was it. Not sure what the staff thought of me when that happened, but I don't care. Those things were fcking delicious."
– Better-be-Gryffindor
A Scalding Hot Favorite
"The fried cherry pies from McDonald's."
"Some places still have fried apple pies (popeyes, Taco Bell used to have a fried caramel apple empanada), but nobody has cherry."
– NecroJoe
"Oh man...! I remember those as a kid! You had to wait a several minutes before you bit into it, otherwise the Liquid Hot Mmmag-ma that is the cherry or apple filling would lay waste to the roof of your mouth."
– Any_Street
Healthy Goodbye
"Fruit and yogurt parfait from McDonald’s. Don’t understand why they got rid of it."
– Billiesoceaneyes
"Can almost guarantee they became 'too expensive' when produce started going up like crazy. Hell, everything went up, I believe it was around early pandemic when there were supply-chain issues galore. But they got rid of salads right around the same time, I guess you can hold frozen stuff damn-near indefinitely, but not so yogurt or lettuce."
– Sp1d3rb0t
It's not always about fast food.
Mad At The Factory
"Cheesecake Factory f'ked me thrice."
"First, got rid of their chicken Caesar sandwich. Second, got ride of their shrimp po-boy sandwich (remoulade was awesome). Third, got rid of the chocolate peanut-butter cookie dough cheesecake."
"Complete a**holes."
– CalabreseAlsatian
Another One Bites The Dust
"They got rid of their Oreo cheesecake years ago and I’m still not over it. Now it’s a half chocolate cake, half Oreo cheesecake fudge thing and it’s just too much."
– FiftyShadesOfGregg
"Chocolate Perfection"
"Chocolate lasagna at Olive Garden early 2000s, not the fake thing they have now. The old one had like a whipped cream cheese icing between layers of fluffy chocolate cake. There were white chocolate shavings on top. I was broke but would buy slices of it to take home and slowly devour. It was chocolate perfection."
– GreyWanderingFish
It's the bargain prices these customers miss most.
Beloved Dollar Menu
"It's more a general thing, but back when there were actual dollar menus at fast food places."
"Like you could get 2 tacos, a Jr Bacon Cheeseburger, and fries for $3. The broke adult's feast."
"Now the 'value menu' is like $2-3 an item."
– AVBforPrez
Meal For A Steal
"90s prices"
– Kangaroowrangler_02
"I'll take even late 00's pricing."
– Bubba420
"$5 footlongs!"
– Professional-Kiwi176
I still lament the loss of the garden poutine that used to be offered at my favorite mediterranean restaurant in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan called Kashkaval Garden.
They seriously perfected the ratio between gravy and potato pork belly.
The other items on the menu are definitely delicious, but when they unceremoniously did away with my and my husband's favorite dish, it was enough for us not to go back.
Sad but true.
