Mr_small
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Filthy restaurants? Should I really worry?

I recently came across a website that has a map that tags every restaurant in King County with the health department's ratings of cleanliness and safety.

This is the website:
http://www.dinegerous.com/

I checked restaurants that I frequently visit, and one of my favorite joints had a really bad, I mean, shockingly baaaaad rating. As far as I'm concerned, the location of the restaurant is perfect (just a block from work), food is good yet affordable, the person working there is super nice and kind, and the waiting time's less than 10 min. I have noticed a bunch of flies flying by the front and back door that has bothered me, but because of the "pros", I always try to ignore them. Other than the flies, I never thought the restaurant would get that sort of "highly hazardous" ratings.

I've never worked in the food industry. I don't know what's going on behind the kitchen. Should I really worry about how cleanly the restaurant operates? If I were to be too picky, I wouldn't be able to go out to eat. But if any of you have worked at restaurant industry, I'd like to know how bad things would get in the kitchen, or have you seen any filthy operations done behind customers' back???

MR asked in Eating Out 8 months ago | Report

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4 Answers

  • Cats_small
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    I would worry about meat and dairy temperatures and keeping raw meat from contaminating foods that aren't cooked. The illness these can cause would be a doozy on a healthy person, and deadly for an immune-compromised person.

    If it's for hand washing stations or chemical storage, I'd let it slide. I'll admit it: I am terrible at washing my hands regularly.

    This is a recession, maybe if you let them know a die-hard fan is concerned they'd clean up their act. A returning customer is worth a lot.

    internet_jen answered in Eating Out 8 months ago | Report
    2 comments by MR and Kristin Bell…
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  • Richscoot_small
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    I agree that it depends on the nature of the violation. Sometimes they really do write you up for nonsense. Sprinkle parsley on a dish with your bare hands? Thats a violation. But then again there are some violations that are pretty serious. If your favorite restaurant got red flagged with a "highly hazardous" rating, I would reconsider eating there.

    Because you just dont know what is lurking in their walk-in, or how they are really handling the food.

    Consider this: One restaurant I looked up got a "spotless" rating, but this very same restaurant not long ago served me food with a roach in it. What one has to do to get a "hazardous" rating I cant imagine. I guess that COULD work both ways, and a clean restaurant could get shafted on an inspection, but personally, I dont know that I would risk it.

    And thanks for posting the site, now I'm checking out all my haunts!

    rastabilly answered in Eating Out 8 months ago | Report
    4 comments by MR, freikja, and MR…
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  • Kermitsex_small
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    freikja

    Be honest and ask them. Some food inspectors assigned to certain areas are notorious for knocking off points on complete and utter bullshit with little to no hazard risk. Add to that nervous cooks who may fuck up somehow on the job while the inspection is ongoing, and you might see a much lower rating than the restaurant deserves.

    I worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade. Most places l worked or managed we cleaned regularly, because health inspectors love to drop in unannounced and do random checks. We would still be floored by some of the low scores we got and the shit they docked us on. This is why it's hard for a popular joint to get a genuinely shitty rating - in a recession with random health checks, the possibility of the business being shut down is pretty high, so most people don't fuck around unless they're undercooking chicken or some shit. A coworker once got docked for wearing his wedding ring. While metal can be conducive to bacteria, the fact that he wore gloves during all food preparation kind of neutralized the issue, yet he was penalized anyway. Some inspectors are overly germophobic assholes with a lust for power and a sadistic streak. For the record, in all my years working and eating in my own restaurants, l've never once had food poisoning.

    l would speak with the owner and just ask straight up what the deal is. Not everything is always as it seems.

    freikja answered in Eating Out 8 months ago | Report
    1 comment by MR…
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  • Il_570xn
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    I just got food poisoning this week! It was from a place where I have eaten twice before. Thanks to your link I see they have a green dot and everything seems to be satisfactory to the health department.

    In my experience the health inspectors ratings really have nothing to do with whether you are going to get sick by eating at the restaurant. For instance you can't leave a door open and a million other trivial little rules.

    When I lived in Los Angeles the restaurants had to post their "grade" on the front window. I never hesitated to eat at a place that had a "D". Never a problem.

    The only other time I had food poisoning was in a Oaxacan restaurant that had an "A". The food looked so good I took a picture before I ate it! It was a very serious case too!! Maybe I should have taken a picture of the food when I saw it later that night :-/

    SNAPHEAT answered in Eating Out 8 months ago | Report
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