If a Restaurant was dirty looking

[OneOftheB's]

My biggest shock was a couple months ago when the country club we held my daughter in laws baby shower in was closed down for roaches, its a beautiful private club too, so you just never know.

As a former Env Health Inspector, country clubs are notorious (in my area) for being gross. The chefs are super protective of their personal knives, so won't allow the dishwashers to clean their knives, and keep them locked up in boxes so others can't use the knives. I've seen way too many gross knives with dried on debris in lock boxes that are not cleaned. Just gross.

As for eating in a restaurant that is dirty, no. A restaurant that is older/less well maintained? Probably, depending on the place. We have a local hot dog place that has been a restaurant since the 1920's, and with very minimal updates since the 1950's. I would have had zero issues eating there, but never did as I was their inspector. I just felt that it was a conflict of interest, given that the prior inspector was asked not to come back by the owner/manager due to multiple conflicts.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Run down yes. Hole in the wall yes. Flat out dirty as in not cleaned no. I get it. Sometimes you don't have the money to replace old equipment or you do have the money and don't want to spend it. But it doesn't take money to clean, keep your walk in rotated, and the like. All that takes is caring about what you're doing.

Honestly I have been in places that seemed dirty and got an A on their health dept inspection and in places that seemed immaculate that got a C. Yeah, I go to the one that got an A regardless of the appearance.

Unfortunately some of those As... Are rechecks after failing. And after that A, they're somewhere on the path to failing another.

My biggest shock was a couple months ago when the country club we held my daughter in laws baby shower in was closed down for roaches, its a beautiful private club too, so you just never know.

Country clubs are some of the worst offenders. The food is often an afterthought and the Chef isn't checked up upon by the country club management. The chef is often underqualified and over arrogant at many country clubs. That is a bad combination.

 

[dish rag]

There is a down the steps off the street dump Chinese place in China Town NYC that is amazing. I really don't care to know what the kitchen looks like.

 

[luvsJack]

Run down yes. Hole in the wall yes. Flat out dirty as in not cleaned no. I get it. Sometimes you don't have the money to replace old equipment or you do have the money and don't want to spend it. But it doesn't take money to clean, keep your walk in rotated, and the like. All that takes is caring about what you're doing.


Unfortunately some of those As... Are rechecks after failing. And after that A, they're somewhere on the path to failing another.



Country clubs are some of the worst offenders. The food is often an afterthought and the Chef isn't checked up upon by the country club management. The chef is often underqualified and over arrogant at many country clubs. That is a bad combination.

Yeah that can happen. Actually there is a state site where you can see the grades given and why. So if anyone has a doubt they can check. And if it’s local, the grade has to be prominently displayed so can always see the grade over time.

The “immaculate” one with the C had it through several checks. Looked great but apparently didn’t keep food at the correct temps and a few other things that you can’t really see by looking at cleanliness. And it was a fast food place whose tag line is all about “fresh”. Yeah, not so much. It was in a truck stop so I would see it while getting gas, etc.

A dirty dish on a table doesn’t bother me too much especially if I can see overwhelmed employees. But failing due to not keeping temps, having raw meat in the wrong place, not following dishwashing or handwashing procedures, those are the things that will keep me out.

 

[anniemae]

Yeah that can happen. Actually there is a state site where you can see the grades given and why. So if anyone has a doubt they can check. And if it’s local, the grade has to be prominently displayed so can always see the grade over time.

The “immaculate” one with the C had it through several checks. Looked great but apparently didn’t keep food at the correct temps and a few other things that you can’t really see by looking at cleanliness. And it was a fast food place whose tag line is all about “fresh”. Yeah, not so much. It was in a truck stop so I would see it while getting gas, etc.

A dirty dish on a table doesn’t bother me too much especially if I can see overwhelmed employees. But failing due to not keeping temps, having raw meat in the wrong place, not following dishwashing or handwashing procedures, those are the things that will keep me out.

Agree. But the problem is that when you walk into a restaurant, you can only judge it by the dining room. You have no idea what is going on in the kitchen or if they are keeping meat at proper temperatures. You can try to look stuff up online, but some of that is not accurate, you are looking at past performance, which could be better or worse since it was done. A place with passing grades could have gone lax on practices and a place with bad grades could be excellent now. Also, you have to think that if it failed inspection it would not even be open.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We had a Mexican place in town that was pretty shabby looking inside, stained toilets & all. But, the food was fantastic. And my MIL, who worked at the county health department for many years, swore this place always got glowing reports from their inspector. Meanwhile, some more modern places with “neater” appearing dining areas had multiple citations for what went on in their kitchens. So, unless I’m seeing actual filth where the food is, I tend not to worry about such things.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I've eaten at many greasy spoon diners with massive aesthetic concerns (the walls have holes in them, the decor is from 1962, the front door is actually a large piece of plywood) and had no issue at all.

However I have also suffered food poisoning from a fancy restaurant.

It all depends on the cleanliness of the workers. If they are good about hand-washing and keeping their body parts out of the food, it's not a problem. But you won't know that unless you observe the kitchen. And many places that let the customer see the back of the house, well, the workers know to do all their gross stuff out of the line of sight.

 

[EscalatorKid]

I have and I do. My immune system is pretty healthy.

I also have limits as to what I'll tolerate for dirty. If the cooks are seen touching their faces and/or coughing into their hands and then touching food without cleaning, I'm out.

There's a delicious BBQ joint near me. It was an ice cream dairy back in the day, and it has wood walls that were not sanded and finished and have been painted over for the last 60-70 years. They tend to be grimy or dirty or appear so after decades of use.

The kitchen is visible and is all-tile or metal sanitizable surfaces. I eat there and I love it.

Conversely, I have gotten food poisoning from "Clean" restaurants that have perfect scores from the health department as well.

 

[RedAngie]

Poppie's food is delicious. I don't care what happened behind the scenes.

 

[portocall]

I prefer not to eat at dirty looking restaurants but I will get take out if the food is good.

 

[AppleDumpling]

It depends. Agree with those saying dirty is different than old and rundown. And as others have also said, you have no way of knowing what goes on behind the scenes. I generally judge based on quality of food and quality of service.