How clean or dirty are most restaurant kitchens and procedures?

[HawkFan1298]

I went to a sub/pizza place yesterday (a small, hole in the wall type place) and ordered a small pizza.

I saw the teenage boy working there cut the pizza while holding down the crust with his fingers. He wasn't wearing gloves. I have no idea how often he washed his hands during the shift.

Are restaurant foods just filthy? Is it better not to think about it?

What do you think?

 

[seminole97]

I went to a sub/pizza place yesterday (a small, hole in the wall type place) and ordered a small pizza.

I saw the teenage boy working there cut the pizza while holding down the crust with his fingers. He wasn't wearing gloves. I have no idea how often he washed his hands during the shift.

Are restaurant foods just filthy? Is it better not to think about it?

What do you think?

Better not to think about it.

 

[QChawks]

Is it better not to think about it?

 

[millah_22]

Probably a lot more cross contamination than you'd want to know.

 

[BubsFinn]

I've worked in places that were kept spotlessly clean and I've worked in places that the level of filth would shock you. It largely depends on the owner's willingness to pay the staff to clean. Some owners expect the cooks to get off the clock as soon as the doors are closed and some understand that extra time is needed to properly sanitize things. And how "fancy" the place is does not matter.
As for the pizza guy, would you feel better if he was wearing gloves? Gloves can be just as dirty as hands.

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

Filthy.

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

I worked at a McDonald’s and a family run Italian place in high school. Both were pretty fanatical about cleanliness.

But gloves weren’t a thing. Hand washing and hep A shots were required, but restaurant workers cook with their hands like you do at home. Part of the deal.

 

[HawkFan1298]

I worked at a McDonald’s and a family run Italian place in high school. Both were pretty fanatical about cleanliness.

But gloves weren’t a thing. Hand washing and hep A shots were required, but restaurant workers cook with their hands like you do at home. Part of the deal.

Do you think most McDonald's and fast food kitchens are clean?

Dirty dining?

‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains. NBC's Lea Thompson reports.

www.google.com

 

[HawkFan1298]

I've worked in places that were kept spotlessly clean and I've worked in places that the level of filth would shock you. It largely depends on the owner's willingness to pay the staff to clean. Some owners expect the cooks to get off the clock as soon as the doors are closed and some understand that extra time is needed to properly sanitize things. And how "fancy" the place is does not matter.
As for the pizza guy, would you feel better if he was wearing gloves? Gloves can be just as dirty as hands.

How often would the workers wash their hands?

Are there any types of foods that are cleaner than others?

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

I've worked in places that were kept spotlessly clean and I've worked in places that the level of filth would shock you. It largely depends on the owner's willingness to pay the staff to clean. Some owners expect the cooks to get off the clock as soon as the doors are closed and some understand that extra time is needed to properly sanitize things. And how "fancy" the place is does not matter.
As for the pizza guy, would you feel better if he was wearing gloves? Gloves can be just as dirty as hands.

Exactly. ^^ You can't judge a kitchen by the front of the restaurant and it varies widely as to how clean things are behind the wall.

 

[BubsFinn]

How often would the workers wash their hands?

Are there any types of foods that are cleaner than others?

Most cooks I’ve worked with wash their hands a lot. As long as there’s a functional hand sink with hot water, soap, and paper towels to dry, cooks will use them.
And as for “cleaner” foods, the drier and hotter the food, the cleaner it likely is. Pizza crust right out of the oven is pretty clean, even if some teenager holds it in place while they cut it.
But that isn’t really the biggest problem in professional kitchens. What’s more important is the temperature at which the food has been stored and for how long. A cooler that is at 46 degrees is a lot worse than a cook with greasy hands.
Another big thing is cross contamination. Cutting boards don't get washed enough. If the prep guy cuts raw chicken then cuts lettuce, the board needs to be sanitized and that often doesn't happen. Just rinsing it with soapy water isn't enough. That's why I always had my guys do all the vegetable prep before they started on the proteins. I also had a board for chicken, one for beef, and one for fish. And over time they get gouges in them that hold bacteria and need to be replaced. Getting the owner to spring for half a dozen new cutting boards every few months wasn't always easy.
A lot has changed in the food service industry in the last 10 or 15 years. These days most places demand their cooks be Servsafe certified. Some states even require it.

 

[On Iowa]

I've been in a LOT of kitchens in my career. Everything from sub shops to chain restaurants to VERY high end restaurants with chef names you would recognize. My simple rule is that once you go in the kitchen, you probably won't eat there again.

And the use of gloves is a joke. About half the time, I see the guy in the kitchen wear gloves to touch the food, then go back and handle storage or knives, then back to food, then their shirt, and so on. A glove is only as good as you clean it, and most of the time that's not often. They're a false sense of security.

 

[HawkFan1298]

I've been in a LOT of kitchens in my career. Everything from sub shops to chain restaurants to VERY high end restaurants with chef names you would recognize. My simple rule is that once you go in the kitchen, you probably won't eat there again.

And the use of gloves is a joke. About half the time, I see the guy in the kitchen wear gloves to touch the food, then go back and handle storage or knives, then back to food, then their shirt, and so on. A glove is only as good as you clean it, and most of the time that's not often. They're a false sense of security.

Wow.

Most restaurant kitchens and workers are unsanitary?

 

[bhawk24bob]

A county health inspector once told me a general rule of thumb is a clean bathroom means a clean kitchen and Vice versa

 

[UKGrad93]

I worked as a dishwasher and busboy at a Cracker Barrel in the early '90s. The kitchen would get pretty sloppy during a shift, but every night around midnight, another crew would come in. They would move all the grills and hose everything down and clean the front of the store too. Back then, we didn't have gloves. I had to tip the bus tubs up and use my bare hands to strain all the juice out of them. There was a big can that all the food waste went into. This was also before smoking was prohibited, so lots of cig butts and ashes.

Whenever the slop can got full, a couple of us would take it out back with a manager and empty it into another can so the manager could check for silverware that accidentally got tossed in there.

Sometimes near the end of the night, I would get pulled from the dish room to help prep cook. No time to wash hands, just a good rinse. I usually made the hashbrown casserole.

 

[On Iowa]

Wow.

Most restaurant kitchens and workers are unsanitary?

I'm not so sure they're unsanitary in the eyes of the health department, but what you see will typically make you wonder, because it's stuff you'd never even consider doing in your own kitchen.

 

[hawkeye54545]

My company deals with many restaurants. A couple times a year I will get out and help a driver out. I'm shocked by some of the stuff I've seen.

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

Do you think most McDonald's and fast food kitchens are clean?

Dirty dining?

‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains. NBC's Lea Thompson reports.

www.google.com

I don't know. I have been in a lot of McDonald's that weren't nearly as clean, but I can only really judge by the one I worked at, which was well run, and really clean. Product thrown out on the times McDonald's suggests; two hour opening and closing cleans each day; 1 person paid to do nothing but clean all day (rotating between several workers).

If i had to guess, I would say the one I worked in was probably one of the best if they were compared to all others.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

I've been in a LOT of kitchens in my career. Everything from sub shops to chain restaurants to VERY high end restaurants with chef names you would recognize. My simple rule is that once you go in the kitchen, you probably won't eat there again.

And the use of gloves is a joke. About half the time, I see the guy in the kitchen wear gloves to touch the food, then go back and handle storage or knives, then back to food, then their shirt, and so on. A glove is only as good as you clean it, and most of the time that's not often. They're a false sense of security.

Reminds me of early-mid 2020 when they people walking around in public were wearing latex gloves with their masks. Never mind that they touched everything with those gloves. Unless you're a doctor/nurse changing your gloves every time you enter a new room, gloves don't really help you keep the things you're touching clean. They are useful in keeping onion/peppers/etc. smells and juices off of your hands though. That's why I will sometimes wear gloves when I'm cooking, but only when dealing with a food like that. Most of the time it is regular hand washing in food prep.

 

[red/green hawk]

Do you think people getting paid minimum wage care about sanitation?

 

[boxahawks]

After retiring I had a part time job delivering flowers and sometimes those flowers went to restaurant employees. We always had to use the back entrance which led through the kitchen. Every one was disgusting and some of them were considered high quality by their client base.

 

[bagdropper]

CSB time.

I spent 20 years in the restaurant business, from dishwasher to manager, mid 70's to mid 90's. Cleaning in every store I worked at was stressed. But with each store, "deep cleaning" was sort of a once a month thing. They kept the places clean, but tearing everything apart on a daily basis did not happen.

Not one store had a verified health code violation. Handling of the food itself was done as one would hope, and as the 90's began tagging prepped stuff was an industry standard and strictly performed and adhered to. By then the "stuff you had to do" kicked into high gear and fortunately the gigs I had...they hammered cleanliness and food handling.

However, these two decades post-career sort of burned me out on the dining out experience because I tended to always find the zips in the wire. I'd "look into the cracks" of every restaurant I went into eat knowing full well what it took to truly keep a restaurant from top to bottom clean and safe.

I would go into a restaurant and noticed if the ceiling vents were dusty or not - cobwebs, etc swept away. Whether the tables/chairs were clean when I sat down - along with table tents, salt/pepper shakers, napkin bins, condiment bottles etc. Whether the silverware is truly clean. Whether clear glasses were clean. Whether the floors were clean. Whether the bathrooms were picked up, stocked, clean, etc...like they had someone assigned in-shift to keep them from getting trashed.

Things like that. The little things - how does this store perform all those little things.

If a restaurant is getting that stuff right (like...all of them), chances are it's doing enough to not have to worry about whether the food is safe to eat. Not a foolproof system obviously...but that's how I look at it.

 

[UNIowaHawk]

The wife (no pic) works with restaurants a lot and refuses to eat at most “quick eats” where you can’t see food being prepared. She also mentioned that if you’ve ever seen the behind the scenes of a fountain pop station after a spill, you’d never have fountain drinks again.

 

[HawkFan1298]

The wife (no pic) works with restaurants a lot and refuses to eat at most “quick eats” where you can’t see food being prepared. She also mentioned that if you’ve ever seen the behind the scenes of a fountain pop station after a spill, you’d never have fountain drinks again.

I read it's really hard to clean them.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

Best not to think about it.
Same with hospitals.

 

[isufan21]

I worked in food service when I was younger, worked my up to general manager of one of the stores I worked at. I was servsafe certified multiple times.

This allows me to notice many times when places aren't following standards. I see miss use of gloves constantly, what good are the gloves if you grab your pants, cell phone, money, credit cards etc and don't change them?

I have friends who leave food sitting for hours if not days on the stove and continue to eat it.

Most places I go it looks pretty bad. It makes me avoid quite a few places.

When I was a manager we would randomly secret shop other stores in the chain, timing the service, temping the food after order, looking for proper proportions, and checking customer service skills.

 

[UNIowaHawk]

Best not to think about it.
Same with hospitals.

And Jack Trice

 

[Pinehawk]

It's all about the owner/manager and if they make it a priority or not.
You can look up inspection reports online, and avoid places that have a lot of problems. And, if you see issues you are concerned about, you can call the inspectors and have them go address the issue with the restaurant.
But, start with the restaurant, as consumers, we need to tell them we expect a certain level of sanitation.
Whenever I see a place that has a filthy dining room, or has bad practices out front, you know behind the scenes it is even worse. There are places I won't go.

 

[TC Nole OX]

A county health inspector once told me a general rule of thumb is a clean bathroom means a clean kitchen and Vice versa

Yes, clean bathrooms, paper and other assorted small trash in the parking lot, condition of the area around the dumpsters and any burnt out light bulbs inside or outside.