Photo: @MSG, Flickr.
No, no and no. Judging from the amount of care expended, there's nothing restaurants value quite so highly as ketchup.
Say a table orders two rounds of onion rings and a single serving of fries. By the end of the meal, those grease-happy diners will likely have burned through half a bottle of ketchup. But that bottle won't reappear in its half-empty state, nor will it be topped off from the giant bladder bag of ketchup that's a fixture on most restaurant kitchen walls. Instead, a server will slowly pour the vestigial ketchup into another under-filled ketchup bottle, creating one full bottle (and one bottle bound for the dish room).
Marrying ketchup is standard practice at every restaurant where ketchup is consumed, which – at least in this country – means every restaurant, period. With the almost imperceptible exception of hoity-toity places that make their own ketchup and serve it in ramekins, American restaurants rely on 10-ounce Heinz ketchup bottles – and expect their servers to keep said bottles looking fresh.
While the Internet is lousy with urban legends about the dangers of married ketchup, transferring ketchup from one bottle to another doesn't seem to actually pose any health hazards. But, much like cutting lemon wedges, the routine represents a colossal waste of server time that could be better spent learning more about new items on the menu or actually waiting on guests.
Collecting, marrying and cleaning ketchup bottles can take upwards of 20 minutes, depending on a restaurant's size. If that doesn't sound like much of a time commitment, imagine waiting an extra 20 minutes for your entrée. In restaurant time, 20 minutes is an eternity.
I have no quarrel with server side work. I strongly believe front-of-the-house staff should take responsibility for a restaurant's cleanliness and appearance. I'll happily roll silverware all night long. But I'm not sure who benefits when a server is dedicating five percent of her shift to an activity many customers find suspect.
What do you think? Have you ever had a meal ruined by a half-filled bottle of ketchup? Is marrying ketchup a worthwhile task?
11-03-2009 @2:44PM Grace said... The part that grosses me out is the thought that somebody, someone disgusting, used his or her finger(s) to get the ketchup that dripped onto the outer lip. We've all seen people do it. With like dressings, sauces, etc...so for this reason I find it disgusting. If after the server marrys ketchup, granted everything's normal, if she does anything gross to it, you won't ever know. Even if she wipes the lip off (as well as the bottle I hope), is the rag she used clean? Has it effectively removed the germs around the lip and bottle cap. Those are the reasons why I don't love the idea of marrying ketchup.
Thanks!
g-
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11-03-2009 @2:54PM Gary said... Wow, for once the author isnt ranting about low tipping customers. Now she's got something else to rant about... Ketchup bottles of all things!
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11-03-2009 @3:00PM Adam S said... Any germs are likely killed by the acid in the ketchup, but I agree, I'd rather the dried chunks forming towards the top of the bottle not be continuously re-merged with other ketchup. Yuck.
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11-03-2009 @3:02PM jesse said... This is so illogical it makes my head heart. The time spent doing ketchup work isn't directly affecting the customers, so why the complaining? Why compare the time it takes to do this to time waiting for an entree? It's not like you're going to suddenly stop waiting on customers at 7:30 on a busy Friday night to transfer ketchup, just like a cook isn't going to stop firing new orders because he wants to chop onions for tomorrow's lunch service.
Having said that, I hate glass ketchup bottles--they're unwieldy and I don't like the idea of having so many other people having access to the ketchup.
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11-03-2009 @3:04PM Bill said... So what your solution Grace?Leaving an half empty bottle on the table,or putting a new bottle on the table which will raise the prices on the menu.Marrying bottles is standard practice if done right,any ketchup under 1/4 left you toss and fill with bagged ketchup not bottle to bottle.
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11-03-2009 @3:10PM Doughboy said... Its a techincal solution, don't use the glass see through bottles. Use the plastic solid red hienz containers that you can refill from the bladder/can. One thing not mentioned is that eventually the ketchup will ferment and explode since the ketchup at the bottom is never getting used.
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11-03-2009 @3:41PM Jesse said... Question: This is unrelated to this post, but will probably happen as there are more comments.
Is there a way to disable the graying-out of comments that people vote down? It's extremely annoying to have to hurt my eyes to read a comment that is, more often than not, totally legitimate but is voted down because it's either controversial or against the majority opinion. I'd like to be able to read what everyone says, not just what the majority thinks I should! Thanks!
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11-03-2009 @3:47PM LinC said... What I hate are restaurants who deliver a tiny little cup of ketchup for your huge hamburger + fries. I end up having to pester my waiter for more ketchup, inconveniencing both of us. Asking for additional ketchup when ordering doesn't usually work (nobody looks at the ticket at that point in the cycle). Just bring me the bottle! Tomato ketchup has an acid enough PH that I don't worry overly much about the refilling business.
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11-06-2009 @11:24AM Mike-O said... Heinz is already eliminating this task for you. The new plastic Heinz bottles for use in resturants are designed not to open. Not for sanitary reasons, but to prevent non-Heinz ketchup from being passed off as Heinz. A big problem that they take very seriously.
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11-03-2009 @8:06PM Megan said... Oh, for pete's sake, Hanna. Just change industries.
My peeve is when people use their knives and then dip them into the bottle get the ketchup out : X
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11-04-2009 @2:43AM Paul said... This is a minor pet peeve of mine, too. Likely, the reason I rarely use ketchup as a dip. A place I'd frequent in High School would constantly refill old ketchup containers...all of them had changed colors (from being in the sun) and reeked of vinegar.
I usually have to explain to people why I prefer the solid plastic bottles (they find them disingenuous) because it means they don't have to constantly keep them full (and hopefully clean them or recycle the bottles when they're empty).
Thankfully, it's not just the high end restaurants that use ramekins for condiments. I've noticed Outback Steakhouse uses them.
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11-04-2009 @9:22AM Annoachi said... I've seen katusp explode onto the person at the table next to me at a resturant. It wasn't pretty. Why not just use the bottles until they are nearly empty and then either clean and refill them or replace them? I'm honestly not sure most custormers will object to, or notice half empty katsup bottles.
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11-04-2009 @9:45AM Adam said... This might be interesting or solicit a "yeah! That blows!" from other servers but I just can't empathize with this.
Us non-food servers want the dirt! Give us the good stuff!
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11-04-2009 @11:35AM libwitch said... I don't think its always unsanitary (unless you have some idiot who is purposly containmating the ketchup in the bottle), but I don't think an half emtpy bottle ruins the ambiance, either. Leave it be!
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12-08-2009 @5:39PM Jordan said... This happened to my mom once at a restaurant in Holden Beach, North Carolina.
It was hilarious, for my brother and I.
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12-08-2009 @5:43PM Jordan said... by "this" I meant a ketchup bottle exploded
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