Most every plate I clear looks pretty much the same: There's a typically a stain of sauce where the protein sat, a few unwanted onions shoved to the side and a spoonful or two of uneaten vegetables.

But over the course of an average evening, I'll usually encounter at least a half-dozen diners who have a very different sense of what it means to be done. These eaters -- and I'm using the term loosely here -- push back from the table after taking a few dainty bites. While every restaurant-goer is entitled to enjoy a meal in his or her own way, the under-attacked plate puts the server in a rather awkward spot.

Hard as it is for vocal diners to imagine, there are plenty of customers who are shy about saying their steak's overcooked or potato was served cold. Their untouched plates are very tactful cries for help, which is why I never whisk a still-full plate away without asking whether everything was OK.

The problem is, sometimes everything is OK, except that the diner has an eating disorder. Or was just dumped by the guy sitting across from her. Or sensed a case of swine flu coming on. Not only are guests understandably reluctant to talk about such things, they often seem to resent my posing the question.

In September, Slashfood wrote about 10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets, those ways that restaurants cut corners to save a few dimes. Boy did you readers weigh in. We've culled 10 of the best reader-submitted restaurant tricks from the 468 comments left on the post.

Read on for Slashfood readers' horror stories -- from nibbled-upon entrees to doctored veal cutlets.

Beware! Allergens abound at most eateries. Photo: Dan4th/ Flickr

Hanna Raskin's first waitressing job was at a small Greek diner in Michigan. In the 15 years since, she's worked at a chop suey joint in Mississippi, an exclusive Arizonan country club, a vegetarian eatery and an Irish pub. She currently picks up odd shifts at a seafood eatery in the North Carolina mountains, where she cracks crab legs for helpless tourists. This is the second in a series of posts.

My mother, who has a severe shellfish allergy, hasn't tasted seafood since the Eisenhower administration. Since she hasn't a clue whether crustaceans are salty, sweet or sour, she suspects they're lurking everywhere on the menu: "Now, does this cheesecake have any shellfish?" she'll ask her very patient server.

As a kid, I cringed at my mom's fastidiousness. Because really, who would put shrimp in granola? But with chefs now fusing ingredients at a breakneck pace and food allergies multiplying at an unprecedented rate, my mother isn't the only one asking. Twelve million Americans suffer from food allergies, and they're demanding that restaurants accommodate them.

Those of you who read our TV Squad blog know that I have an obsessive, unhealthy need to keep track of everything that Amy Sedaris is up to completely normal respect for Amy Sedaris' work. Not only is she independent, only taking the roles and working on stuff that she wants to work on, how many fairly well known celebrities do you know that still wait tables? (I also happen to find her very cute, but that's a different post for another day.)

And there's another reason to love her: she runs a small business out of her apartment, making cheeseballs and cupcakes for New York City bakeries and shops! Here's the recipe for her cupcakes, from the new issue of Venus magazine:

Amy Sedaris' Vanilla Cupcakes

In a large bowl, cream together:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups of sugar
Add in:
 2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Alternate:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups of milk
Stir until batter is smooth. Fill cups, bake in a preheated, 375F oven for 18-20 minutes.

For the frosting, whip together 1 box of confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup half and half, and 1 tsp pure vanilla until smooth and fluffy.