23 Red Flags to Look for to Avoid Miserable Restaurants

Author image for Eric Lund
Eric Lund
May 22, 2019 11:00 AM EDT

Cooks and Servers are eager to tell you exactly what to look for to avoid wasting too much money on bad food in a dirty restaurant. So here are some red flags to look for the next time your friend tries bringing you to a place they "swear is decent." For more insider knowledge on restaurants, here are some of the biggest mark-ups and ripoffs in the industry.

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  • 01
    Text - SoMuchBsHere 33.1k points 19 hours ago When the menus are super dirty and never cleaned, that means everything is super dirty and never cleaned
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  • 02
    Text - Bee 27.6k points 20 hours ago AAi If the area is busy but the restaurant is empty, that's usually a bad sign
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  • 03
    Text - heroesforsale 26.5k points 17 hours ago S Ask where your oysters come from. If they don't know, you don't want them Works for most seafood
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  • 04
    Text - fancyfrenchtoilet 25.1k points 15 hours ago If a restaurant has a one-page menu that's usually a pretty good sign, it means their line cooks have become specialists and can usually nail all the dishes listed. Conversely, if a restaurant has a giant, multi-page menu that's a gigantic red flag. The longer the menu the better the odds that you're paying to eat a boiled bag frozen meal.
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  • 05
    Text - ruizpancho 24.3k points 19 hours ago Cook for a small Mexican restaurant here. I 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. That's how it always is for the smaller, family run restaurants I frequent anyway, which I believe always have the best food
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  • 06
    Text - AllyMarie93 14.4k points 17 hours ago I have a family member who's worked in multiple different restaurants, and they always advise me never to get drinks with ice because too many places don't keep their ice machines cleaned because it's so often overlooked compared to other kitchen equipment. Share Report Save impossibly_pixar 8.6k points 17 hours ago Ran a kitchen. Can confirm. When I started they only cleaned the ice machine and soda machine when black stuff was in the mountain dew. W
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  • 07
    Text - utahjuzz 58.6k points 17 hours ago If a restaurant has a HUGE menu.... Its all frozen.
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  • 08
    Text - 19 hours ago MurielsChild 12.8k points dirty stained carpets
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  • 09
    Text - pantsdowntomyknees 12.4k points 16 hours ago We have a sushi place me where the chef gives you free samples of future dishes. This usually means they take pride in their work and want to see peoples reactions before committing it to the menu edited
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  • 10
    Text - John__Wick 10.3k points 18 hours ago There's a Chinese restaurant in my town with a sign out front that says: "Clean food. And fresh." I still can't help but wonder why they would bring that up unprovoked
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  • 11
    Text - -eDgAR 3.9k points 18 hours ago S This isn't so much about sanitary red flags like most of these, but more about saving you money. If you're goung 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
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  • 12
    Text - 16 hours ago eyebrowshampo0 9.8k points Not a chef but worked in food a lot. Carpet. Yeah it's quieter and doesn't get slick, but it is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. I saw them pull it up when they remodeled (and put in more carpet). Vacuuming only goes so far in a restaurant and I know they never, ever shampood it.
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  • 13
    Text - 18 hours ago Emmsw 9.1k points If there is different cuisines on the same menu. It usually means it's not gonna be good I don't trust that people can do Japanese and Italian in the same kitchen
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  • 14
    Text - PanicAtTheMetro 22.1k points 19 hours ago Pictures of food on the menu that clearly aren't from the restaurant
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  • 15
    Text - Guzzles 13.9k points 17 hours ago Not a chef, but I just took a chance on a restaurant today and the chefs were sitting, legs up, right next to the front door as I walked in. No one but staff and me there. So, according to how my stomach feels, probably that
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  • 16
    Text - robotran 17.0k points 15 hours ago Pastry chef here. As much as people say avoid specials, I can't speak for everyone but at least in desserts/breakfast pastries, if you see something new its worth trying. Chances are it's something the chef has been working on for weeks on their own time, there's a lot of love and effort put into it. Also, the standbyif the menu is a book, it's probably not great The biggest thing to keep an eye on though imo is the staff. If there's pissed off people, g
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  • 17
    Text - kjimbro 8.0k points 15 hours ago edited 9 hours ago I've worked in restaurants for over a decade. A couple years in the kitchen and the rest as FOH If your server's response to "how is the [item]" seems disingenuous, that's a big red flag. We know what goes on in the kitchen, we know the complaints, and we know which items to stress over when we deliver them. Servers who pause or seem uncomfortable with that question generally equates to a menu full of stuff we wouldn't eat even as a free
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  • 18
    Text - edited 3 hours ago greyingjay 7.9k points 15 hours ago I agree with most of these tips but man I remember my trip to Malacca, Malaysia. We walked up to a stall where an elderly lady was squatting down just in front of the sidewalk with a plastic basin and washing the dishes in it. Stray cats were coming in from the alley and licking at dishes. My first question was "is this a restaurant?" Upon closer inspection: yes, it is. My second question was "who on earth would eat here???" Then our
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  • 19
    Text - 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
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  • 20
    Text - FoxZach63 7.4kpoints 15 hours ago edited 6 hours ago S2 This is late but I clean kitchen exhaust systems. If you walk in a restaurant and can smell grease walk out. That means the place isn't clean. From the exhaust system to cooking equipment. We clean some places where grease drips off the hoods onto cooking surfaces.
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  • 21
    Text - A_pencil_artist 6.9k points 16 hours ago If employees try to argue with you about food quality in order to dissuade you from sending something under cooked back, just leave. It means they have a cook who can't take criticism and your chances at getting a sneezer are greatly increased. Share Report Save synsa 2.2k points 12 hours ago Back when my husband and I were dating, we went to a Thai restaurant. Ordered broccoli and noodles and when the dish arrived, we saw there were lots of black
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  • 22
    Text - edited 14 hours ago 2 CrossFox42 5.4k points 17 hours ago Cook at a fancy casual fine dining restaurant here. If your food is out impossibly fast, it's probably something to be concerned about. I'm talking ordering an entree and it's out in like 10 minutes. This usually means it's already been cooked and they just have to reheat it. Now something like a salad, okay that shouldn't take any time at all, but you want to make sure your lettuce (or whatever green it is) is still crunchy and fr
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  • 23
    Text - newgrl 4.1k points 15 hours ago Not a chef... front of the house. 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." And then turn her biggest shit-eating grin on them ) "Can I add you to the list?"
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  • 24
    Text - InuMiroLover 3.1k points 15 hours ago A $4 steak is not a good steak.
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