What can chefs tell us about how good a restaurant is? It’s always a crapshoot when dining out at a restaurant for the first time. While it may look good from the outside, the food might not match. And while it’s hard to know that without ordering and tasting the food, there are some clues that may reveal a bad experience awaits, and folks who are in the industry are the most likely to pick up on those.
Well, now those experts are sharing what to look out for, after someone on Reddit asked chefs to reveal the “red flags” that indicate to them a restaurant may not be good.
Red flags include:
Fish Tank
(Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
“Random, but if there’s a fish tank, take a look at it. If it’s clean, you can bet the kitchen is too.”
Bathrooms
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(Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)
Dirty bathrooms and dirty floors equal dirty kitchen.”
Huge Menu
(Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children )
“A huge menu is a sign that food is either frozen, precooked, and reheated — or ingredients are not very fresh.”
How's the Manager
(Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
“Where’s the manager and what are they doing? Do they look exhausted or are they upbeat, helpful, and engaging with their staff? Good managers tend to attract good staff which in turn leads to a good business. Bad management does exactly the opposite.”
The Bread
“The bread. It has to be good bread. If they can’t get the bread right, they don’t know anything. No chef in their right mind half-asses the bread.”
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
