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There's a reason most restaurants keep the kitchen doors closed -- and it's not just because it's so hot back there.
It can be tough for restaurateurs to turn a profit and Slashfood has uncovered some of the ultra-dirty deeds even the best restaurants commit in order to pinch pennies.
Read on for 10 true stories about the subtle, sneaky and sometimes downright disgusting ways restaurants cheat to save a buck -- and how you might be paying the price.
It can be tough for restaurateurs to turn a profit and Slashfood has uncovered some of the ultra-dirty deeds even the best restaurants commit in order to pinch pennies.
Read on for 10 true stories about the subtle, sneaky and sometimes downright disgusting ways restaurants cheat to save a buck -- and how you might be paying the price.
10. Using Cabbage in Place of Seaweed
Says a former maître d' at an expensive Chinese restaurant known for its celebrity clientele: "The owner figured his customers knew nothing about Chinese food (he was right) and was a genius at saving money. A specialty supplier used to provide edible seaweed for the popular seaweed appetizer, but when that got too expensive the boss began experimenting.
"The 'seaweed' on the menu ended up becoming thin strips of cabbage leaf, deep-fried, and then rolled in equal amounts of salt and sugar. It's possible even cardboard would taste good if prepared like that, but the dish remained a bestseller."
9. Deep-Frying Everything
But that's not all! At the same celebrity-friendly restaurant: "In addition to the 'Chinese seaweed,' the other two most popular dishes on the menu were a 'Mongolian lamb' main course and caramelized banana dessert," the insider says.
"Often a diner would order all three, and not realize that every item was cooked in exactly the same deep-fry basket. Although the restaurant denied the lamb was fried, in fact the cabbage (ahem, 'seaweed'), lamb shank and sugared banana would all go into the same oil."
8. Substituting Top-Shelf Alcohol with Generic Booze
One of the most common scams at restaurant bars is to replace premium vodka with generic brands, subscribing to the theory that most customers can't tell the difference. (We know of one restaurant which even did that with Scotch, but experienced whiskey drinkers could often tell and the scam was not so effective.)
A New York City bartender says, "The way of doing that is to start them on the bad vodka right away. You can't sub it in once they started drinking the top shelf brands or they'll notice. But if you serve the cheap stuff from the beginning they never know."
7. Topping Pitchers of Beer with Seltzer Water
Don't think the fiddling is restricted to top-shelf liquors, either. "In sports bars that sell pitchers of beers, the thing to do is to top the pitchers off with seltzer after the table has ordered like the third one," a source says. "The drunker the guys, the more seltzer they get."
6. Refilling Pricey Bottled Waters with Tap
It turns out not all water bottles are created equal. You might already suspect that some restaurants refill water bottles with tap water, but some places turn it into an art form. "Where I worked we served Voss water because it has the easiest screw top to re-seal," a waitress says. "You can't do that with the brands that have a bottle cap."
5. Recycling Baskets of Chips
One diner at a landmark cafe in Bethlehem, Pa., reported digging in to some bagel chips and finding they contained old pineapple rinds.
"Someone else got served the chips, didn't eat them all, threw their rinds from some other dish into the basket, the waiter picked it up without looking and threw more chips on top and re-served it to us," the customer claimed on an online ratings Web site. "Yeech!"
Management didn't seem to care and the patron says "they were trying to economize their chip ration, and it was probably standard practice to re-use uneaten chips."
4. Serving Rotten Meat
A steakhouse employee in New York says that sometimes not all the meat is as fresh as it should be. "It's an old trick to keep the steak that's past its prime and wait until somebody orders it well done or medium-well," the insider says. "The more you cook the meat, the more you disguise its flavor. When I'm eating out I never order anything higher than medium rare, because I know how the kitchen gets rid of bad meat."
3. Using Fake Creamer
A former waitress at an upscale restaurant in Philadelphia reports that one of the daily duties of staff was to mix a large pot of non-dairy, powdered creamer. When coffee or tea was ordered, the small milk jugs were to be filled halfway with fake creamer, and then topped off with the more expensive real milk.
2. Serving Caffeinated Coffee as Decaf
If your body has a problem with caffeine, it might be safer to make your own coffee at home. The same Philadelphia source also reports coming back to the kitchen with a cup of regular coffee when an elderly customer had requested decaf. "The head waiter took the cup from my hand, handed it right back to me and said, 'There -- now it's decaf,'" she says.
1. Souping Up Big Ticket Items
The most shocking story came from an internationally well-known West Coast restaurant -- trust us, you've heard of this place. Part of the shtick of this very fine-dining establishment is the presentation of a truffle at the table, so that customers have the opportunity to order some (super expensive) shavings to be added to their food. But while white truffles are more expensive than black truffles, their aroma is more subtle, meaning that they make less of an impression when presented during the sales pitch. "What the staff would do is add black truffle oil, which is more pungent, to the white truffle, to give it more 'pop,'" the insider says. "It's an absolute no-no to do, especially at those prices. But who's going to know?"
Got a gross-out restaurant kitchen tale you've been dying to tell? Share it in the comments below and we'll round up the best ones for a future post.
Ben Widdicombe is a former gossip columnist for the New York Daily News and Star and can be found dishing the dirt on fashion celebs at Stylelist.com. Click here for more annoying restaurant trends.
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9-21-2009 @4:11PM totoro said... Anthony Bourdain wrote a funny/scary essay about the "steak, well done" diner, and how the kitchen always appreciated their visit ;p
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9-21-2009 @8:52PM Greg Sherwin said... "Save for well done," I think was Bourdain's kitchen slogan.
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9-22-2009 @12:19AM doodoolemonque said... I worked at a world class resort, now costing nearly $2,000/day/couple, which greeted arriving guests with a glass of Pol Roger champagne. Only it wasn't, of course. Glasses were poured out of open bottles which had been refilled with, well, lets just call it 2 Franc Hank.
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9-22-2009 @6:14AM lorenzo said... I know a restaurant where a whole large bowl of cole slaw fell to the floor, was just scooped up and served to the customers!
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9-22-2009 @6:30AM 70s waitress said... When I worked in a diner in PA in the 70's, people loved their bread stuffing. Little did they know that it was made from all of the leftover rolls that were on diner's plates and in the breadbaskets that went back to the kitchen to the dishwasher. Often the dishwasher would pick the half eaten rolls off the plates with her dirty hands, sometimes drop them on the floor, and then throw them into a big can under the work table. To this day, I will never order anything from a restaurant that has bread stuffing!
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9-22-2009 @6:27AM Stan said... A good friend who owned a Chinese restaurant told me that several Chinese restaurants in my city would use left over rice & just put it back in with new, unserved white rice. He didn't & told me of othrs who didn't. But of those who did, he said, sometimes they used the left over rice to make fried rice as no one could tell.
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9-22-2009 @6:47AM Jon Davies said... I have many thoughts on the matter (as I work in the industry), but think it wise to direct you to my favorite video blog right now - a waiter on YouTube who says what so many of us in the industry think and feel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/YourDailyTip
He teaches people how to be better customers, and what to look out for when they are dining. He has already covered the caffeine sub for decaf trick, never order things well done, that people don't know what the heck they're drinking - as far as liquors and wine, etc. Plus, he's funny, nice, angry, cute, and charming!
I've seen his channel grow in a matter of months from 20 subscribers to almost 150... but I would like to see it grow even more. He deserves it, I think!
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9-22-2009 @6:54AM notallhere said... I have no doubt that you run into some gross things at restaurants and fast food places... the more I see and hear the less and less I eat out. Uggh. Try watching "waiting" and that show busted and disgusted... you'll never want to eat out again. People are disgusting and animalistic.
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9-22-2009 @6:56AM Texas919 said... I used to order pizza delivered from a well known pizza chain on a regular basis. In doing so I got to know the manager very well. On one occasion I went in and got it to go rather then ordering it to be delivered. While waiting for it I saw the manager drop dough as well as numerous toppings on the floor while he was making a pizza. And casually pick up all of the items from the floor as if nothing happened. I made the statement, what do you do with that once you cook it, throw it away? He said no, we don't waste anything. It's for delivery and they'll never know. Now there is some food for thought.................
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9-22-2009 @7:07AM Mary said... Anyone who ever worked in a restaurant (myself included)can tell you, it's gross back in that kitchen! If you are picky at all, it's best to eat at home. I would go back and fix my own food when it was my break time!
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5-21-2010 @9:49AM Chris said... Have worked in the restaurant industry for almost 15 years as a server (the worstjob ever), in the kitchen and delivery. Let me tell you from the high-end places I worked at, the owners would say "recycle" things not eaten or used and I saw an owner of a super popular resort place pick food out of the garbage!!! yes! to use again. If you have ever worked at a restaurant, you know it is a cut-throat business dependant on every cent of revenue and whatever corners can be cut - the owner or gm will find a way.
9-22-2009 @7:16AM GM said... I have been in the restaurant business for 30 years and I HAVE NEVER seen anyone abuse the food or knowingly serve bad food. I would never tolerate anything of that nature no matter how annoying the guest. Anyone caught doing these things should be prosecuted...
The vast majority of restaurants are clean, safe and do the right thing by their clients.
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9-22-2009 @12:53PM ycav4424 said... Now that restaurants are paying more for the food they serve, it will get a lot worse. Just think of how many are paying attention to the tips posted in this story. I cook for my self and no fast food. It's hard telling what those pimple pickers have touched before handling the food. Yuck.
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9-22-2009 @7:19AM H Somervill said... I drink VO on the rocks and OFTEN, I am served regular cheap bar whiskey. I can always tell and request a fresh bottle be opened and pour me a new drink. It's true that most people drink liquor with soda pop as a mixer and could never tell the difference.
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6-12-2011 @1:53PM WolfRider said... no offense buddy, but VO is cheap bar whiskey. I've been a bartender in many different places and have never once seen a top-shelf liquor substituted with something from the well.
9-22-2009 @7:56AM Luna said... I worked for Cracker Barrel for over 5 years. Believe me, it's not as "wholesome" as you would think. I've seen servers taking food off customers plates that were waiting to be delivered and eat it. I've also seen the servers who were supposed to be taking food temperatures and just notate the same temps as the person before them without even using the thermometer. I've seen frozen steaks (that's how they come) fall to the floor and the cooks just pick them up and put them right back on the grill. You could get in trouble for food waste. The list goes on and on. Needless to say, I eat home a lot.
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9-22-2009 @7:49AM abbydaz said... I ran a fish market and commercial fished myself and ran nets about twice a week.I would catch about 600 lb of carp and catfish ann buffalo each trip.Their was a Chinese restuarant farther down on the corner and a man would come while I was cleaning my fish and offer me 5.00 for each No3 wash tub of guts I had.I usually would take guts to the river and take out in the middle and dump them so I decided to sell them to him and they would bring the tubs back sparkling clean and I got 15 dollars for nothing and saved taking boat out after a hard nights work.What they did with 500lb of guts and eyeballs and scales I have no idea but maybe they had a lot of cats!!!!!!
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9-22-2009 @7:25AM peggy said... Back in the 60's and 70's I worked in food service. I worked for one of the well known family restaurants in NY and I've seen some real nasty thinks done in the kitchen.
In the 70's I worked for a 4 star res in Fl and same thing. Unbelievable what places do, with the managements knowledge
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9-22-2009 @7:26AM Jane said... I worked at a restaurant in a college town when I was in school there. The owner was always complimented for the lovely hearts of lettuce he used in his salad bar. Actually, he would go buy lettuce that was rotted on the outside for a pittance, then we would have to remove the slimy parts until we got to the heart. Yeah- that's why his salad bar had hearts of lettuce on it. Make's you think about that salad bar!
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9-22-2009 @7:31AM Mark said... Old Shrimp! No problem , worked somewhere that asked me to soak in bleach to take the nasty smell out of it and then serve it , told them I would'nt. Asked for my paycheck and cut my ties before someone died.
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