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When we go out to eat, we expect a good time—delicious food, welcoming staff, and a cozy spot to enjoy for an hour or two. It’s a simple exchange: great service for our hard-earned money.
But not every dining experience goes as planned, and most of us probably have at least one nightmare restaurant story to tell.
Luckily, there are often telltale signs that can warn you a place might not be worth your time. Redditors recently shared their thoughts on these red flags, offering advice to help you know when it’s better to turn around and walk right out the door. Check out their tips below—they could save you a lot of trouble!
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#2
Having to look up a menu on your phone, music loud enough that you can't have a conversation, general lack of hygiene standards. I've walked out of restaurants for all three of those before.
Petra Schaap 1 day ago
if they dont have a real menu ill ask for one. They'll have some behind the counter.
#3
Someone handling the food while wearing gloves but then using their gloved hands to handle money, open doors, touch their face, etc.
Or worse, someone handling food with bare hands while there are open wounds or bandaids. I've seen it. Immediate nope for me.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago (edited)
I'll tell you what. Gloves tend to be more dirty, than your bare hands. You wash or rinse your hands, when you feel them "dirty", like there are spices or any other food item sticking to them. But with gloves, nope. Maximum a spritz of sanitazer. Yummy!
When it comes to spotting red flags in restaurants, the best insights often come from those who work in the industry. That’s why Bored Panda reached out to u/BakedMitten, a seasoned professional with years of experience in kitchens and hospitality, whose reply in the thread caught our attention. He shared what it’s like to work behind the scenes and the red flags diners should be aware of.
Starting his kitchen career at just 15, u/BakedMitten worked his way through various roles, from dishwasher to sous and executive chef. “I naturally like working with my hands and being able to see the results of my labor immediately,” he shared, adding that the camaraderie in kitchens—what Anthony Bourdain famously called the “submarine mentality”—was a big part of what he loved.
However, the industry took its toll over time. By age 30, arthritis and the relentless grind of 60+ hour weeks had left him burned out. “Standards fall to hell when the people doing the work feel like they aren’t working towards anything,” he explained, referencing how poor compensation, bad management, and burnout impact restaurant quality.
#4
No Prices on the menu.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 2 days ago
Waiter, "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford to eat here ...". Me, bye bye
#5
It's mostly empty and the staff act surprised and confused about your presence. It's a hint that selling food isn't their main business.
The Scout 2 days ago
There is a tale (maybe just an urban legend) of a small pizza joint that was owned by a local d**g mobster for money laundering purposes. To everyone's surprise (especially the owner's) it became so popular that they stopped selling d***s and went to pizza full time, as it was simply more profitable.
#6
Besides being filthy or having rude service, one thing that will basically make me immediately turn around and leave is blaringly loud music and strange lighting. I just want to eat my meal in peace or be able to have a nice conversation with someone.
One of the clearest indicators of a poorly run establishment, according to u/BakedMitten, is a dirty bathroom. “If an establishment lets a public space like the bathroom go to hell, they’re not going to have standards any higher for the food-handling area,” he warned.
Another major red flag is what he calls the “large menu problem.” Restaurants with menus that span multiple cuisines or offer an overwhelming number of options are unlikely to excel at any of them. “The only way to pull off a menu that extensive is to rely on crappy premade products that aren’t any better than the frozen section of a supermarket,” he said.
Interestingly, u/BakedMitten noted that adhering to safety protocols isn’t as difficult as people might assume. “I’ve never worked somewhere with a regulatory structure that was difficult to comply with,” he shared. Instead, he attributes the decline in standards to management issues and staff burnout. When employees feel undervalued—due to low pay, poor leadership, or lack of respect—quality inevitably slips.
#7
Political shows playing on various TV’s in the joint.
Kallen Kneeland 2 days ago
Just "TVs in the joint" does it for me, but getting to be near impossible to find a quiet dining experience these days.
#8
Compulsory service charge.
R.A. Haley 2 days ago
There's a fancy asian place near me that puts a mandatory 18% tip on the bill. It's always deserted, I have no idea why it's still open.
#9
My wife is Arabic and one time we are at a kebab shop and her demeanor changed and when I asked why she explained that she heard one kitchen staff ask the other;
A: "What are you doing?"
B: "I'm throwing this old meat away?"
A: "No no no mix it with the fresh. These stupid westerners can't tell anyway.
sweetrottenpeaches 2 days ago
Well as a stupid Westerner, I can tell if the meat is old or rotten. I have nose yk...
Reflecting on his career, u/BakedMitten shared how the hospitality industry’s relentless demands can lead to declining enthusiasm and slipping standards. “By the time I hit 30, the grind of long hours for low pay had ground me down,” he admitted. His story is a reminder of how tough the industry can be and why recognizing red flags in restaurants isn’t just about being a picky diner—it’s also about understanding the challenges behind the scenes.
Whether it’s a dirty bathroom, an over-ambitious menu, or signs of burnout among staff, these insights can help diners make better choices and appreciate the hidden struggles in the restaurant world.
#10
No soap in the bathroom- and no hint that it just ran out. Like there is no dispenser on the wall and no empty container on the sink.
#11
Lots of flies buzzing around the tables and the kitchen.
#12
Cook walks out of the bathroom with an apron on.
R Dennis 2 days ago
I was doing a consult at a fast food restaurant and as I was finishing writing up my assessment, an employee came out of the bathroom with his apron on... I tried to warn the manager, but he didn't understand. The employing started handing bags to customers. They immediately failed. The manager thought me rubbing my hands together meant hurry up...
#13
Multiple babies/toddlers roaring loud enough to wake the dead.
sweetrottenpeaches 2 days ago
Thank God for childfree restaurants. Here where I live it more and more common since parents nowadays have no clue about how to be a parent. So yeah.. Kids are vile.
#14
Flags or posters supporting a geopolitical stance that I radically disagree with or supports killing people like me.
#15
If I go into a restaurant and sit for more than15 minutes before someone comes to my table, I leave. If a roach scurries across the table, I am out. I go to the restroom immediately if no haven’t been there before. The cleanliness of the restroom reflects the restaurant’s cleanliness standards. Gross bathrooms? I am out….
#16
It's a bit specific but if I'm looking to eat at a bbq joint and I don't smell it well before I walk in I know it's not gonna be good. Ideally I should be able to smell it from like a block away. Anytime I've ignored that instinct and gone in anyway the food ended up being bland and dry as hell.
Rowan Godet 1 day ago
100% percent true. My favorite ribs guy could be smelled a long ways away and was a mobile vendor favorite in that area.
#17
The smell of a dirty grease trap. After you've worked in a kitchen for a while you recognize it instantly. It's an awful smell and if a place isn't getting it regularly serviced the rest of the operation is probably terrible too.
I was going to pub trivia at a place I had worked at years earlier. As soon as I walked in I smelled *the smell* and it was strong. I ended up calling the trap cleaning service and setting up an appointment for them without telling the manager.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
As soon as the oil it starting to make "espuma" ... you need to change it. And at this stage, it doesn't really stinks ... that comes after a few days.
#18
Blasting loud music will send me back out the door before I can sit down. Doesn’t matter how good the food is, I’m not sitting through that nonsense.
BrownEyedPanda 1 day ago
At the end of the day, people need an environment completely opposite to what they've been exposed the entire day.
#19
When the workers look at you like you ruined their good time and now they gotta work.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
Good that you can't see the cooks' reaction, when you place your order 5 minutes before kitchen's closing time. And to tell you why. A relatively fast dish like salads, soups, a chicken-wings in a Masterchef-device or a pasta dish is still okay. It takes like 10 minutes to make But when you order a 2-3 course menü, you are cursed till the your first ancestor, who decided to leave the african continent. Because that means a minimum 1-1,5 hour overtime. Even in lucky countries, where OT is paid, is a pain in the a.ss, after a 8 hour shift.
#20
If the restaurant smells bad or has dirty tables, I’m out.
Nicole Weymann 1 day ago
Dirty tables are inevitable if you actually have customers. Of course they should be cleaned between guests, but if there's a rush and/or people seat themselves (a common practice where I live) it's not a drama if the tables are cleaned after you sit down.
#21
I got 2 from the same Dunkin Donuts! A worker sneezed into his gloved hands and gave them a half-hearted wipe on his pant legs. Immediately after, a customer came in to get donuts and I saw the man fill the order without changing his gloves. I went off and left. Later on, I went to leave a review explaining this and saw that I'm not the only one to point out their disgusting ways. Someone else posted a picture of a worker with his shoes off and dirty socked feet up on a table. Sitting right next to a window for the public to see.
R.A. Haley 2 days ago
Saw a guy with long, untied hair working the wok at a chain chinese place once. He'd scratch his head and toss his hair back, then go right on cooking. My wife told the manager and he got chewed out. Made us feel vindicated, but also curious why the manager hadn't spotted it first.
#22
TL;DR: When cooks don't wash their hands.
Went to a restaurant the other day and then to the bathroom shortly after being seated. While standing at the urinal I saw a cook come out of the stall after dropping a deuce and head straight out the door without washing his hands.
That's how people get trichinosis and I don't want to end up like RFKjr with worms in my brain.
pep Ito 2 days ago
No. People get sick with trichinosis from eating pork with trichinosis, something that should not happen if the pig has been slaughtered in a slaughterhouse and its meat has been tested as the law, at least in Spain, requires. The only cases I have read in Spain are of hunters who have eaten wild boar meat without passing sanitary controls.
#23
My brother told me this story.
He saw a black cord like thing sticking out of a wall. Thought it was a wire or something…. Then it started to move.
Apparently it was a mouse tail. That’s not the worst part.
He tells a waiter. Waiter grabs a spoon, one that is obviously something guests would be given to eat with, and attacks the tail with it.
Him and his entire group just left.
Karl der Große 2 days ago
I worked at a place where bugs got into our onions, so we cut out the buggy parts and chopped up the rest.
#24
Ants in the salt shaker.
#25
Honestly a sushi place that reeks of fish. Made that mistake once, it was not comfortable afterwards.
Robert Beveridge 2 days ago
"not comfortable" is an interesting euphemism for "explosive diarrhea"
#26
There’s a sign that says “Applebee’s” outside.
John Nelson 2 days ago
I stopped going to Applebee's when they refused a simple accommodation for my physically disabled wife. It was just to let us sit at the table we were standing next to that met her needs, instead of the table that the seater was insisting that we use, on the other side of the restaurant, that had low back chairs that she couldn't use without pain.
#27
I went to a diner near me recently I had never heard of. There was no one eating at the tables inside. The woman who was at the front entrance walked away into the kitchen when I walked in the door. Then a dude came out of the kitchen and stood in her place and refused to acknowledge me. Then a girl came up and said something to him and he said I know I know just calm down it’s ok. Then she scurried off into the kitchen. I asked the guy if I could see a menu and he said “she’ll be right back”. I left. I don’t know what was going in there but I will never eat anything from there.
#28
Wife and I walked into a diner once and were seated. Waitress came over and handed us our menus. Her make up was so caked on that bits of it were falling on our table. 🤮 She then showed us the salad bar which was a card table set up next to the front door, not iced or anything with bowls of potato salad and macaroni salad with saran wrap over them. We got up and left.
#29
Walked into a restaurant and i smelled sewage. They said a sewage back-up had occurred and was being fixed by a plumber. I left anyways because the place was running like it was normal. No windows open or fans running to try and flush the smell. Ya it was warm outside but seriously I'd rather sweat than smell s**t while eating.
BrownEyedPanda 1 day ago (edited)
We had that problem with a McDonald's in our area. Someone called the Health Department because the sewage had backed up into the kitchen, and food was still being prepared there. The inspector told them to shut down immediately (11:35 am). When he returned at 12 noon, the kitchen was still open and preparing food. At that point, the inspector immediately shut down the kitchen himself and called the police. Every customer that was served during that time period was refunded $100, the owner was fined.
Would you walk out of a restaurant if you noticed a red flag?
Justin Tyme 2 days ago
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this list every week. It's easier than finding new content."
Traveling Lady Railfan 2 days ago
QR code menus and No prices on menus (most commonly found on drink menus) are two instant turnoffs for me. There's tons of other red flags potentially, but those two you can usually find within seconds of sitting down.
Dangerous Dave 2 days ago
Went into an upscale Mexican restaurant (Mi C*cina) in the trendy town square section Southlake Texas, to place a large take away order and sat to wait for it to be readied. Looked up behind bar, where they had a couple large ( > 5 gallon) clear containers from which they poured margarita mix or similar. Watched an employee climb up on a stool, and stick his hand & arm, up past his elbow, into one the containers to stir the liquid he’d just poured in. Spoke to the manager, who spoke with the worker. Up to the point I left with my take away, never saw them empty the container to clean it. Never went back - figured that didn’t bode well for their food safety practices. :(
Traveling Lady Railfan 2 days ago
Boy, you've got that right!!! It's one thing when they're pulling careless food safety practices out of sight when the restaurant is closed or in the kitchen, but when they do it right in front of the customer, they're either extremely ignorant, or they're doing much worse in the back and they figure that's no big deal.
Load More Replies...
Hassel Davidhoff 2 days ago (edited)
My wife and I rarely go to restaurants as we have extremely strict dietary preferences. We pretty much only go to restaurants when we're out of town. It is nice as I used to spend heaps of money and time at restaurants, in my younger days. Now it is a rarity for us and it feels more special because of that.
Kurtz Frausun 2 days ago
Took a food safety course years ago for my job at the time that was taught by a former health inspector. Never forgot her advice: "In 20 years as an inspector, there are two rules that I've never seen broken. If the front door is filthy and the bathrooms are a mess, the kitchen is dangerous."
Simon Chen 2 days ago
Most of there are just obvious things you see in bad restaurants. This is not a red flag of you see the place is dirty, it is not really subtle. Bad light because they want to save money on electricity is a red flag but a dirty cook and the place is dirty as hell? Come on, most people would just leave
Richard Graham 2 days ago
Sometimes bad lighting is to hide such things as dirt or worn-out furniture.
Load More Replies...
Justin Tyme 2 days ago
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this list every week. It's easier than finding new content."
Traveling Lady Railfan 2 days ago
QR code menus and No prices on menus (most commonly found on drink menus) are two instant turnoffs for me. There's tons of other red flags potentially, but those two you can usually find within seconds of sitting down.
Dangerous Dave 2 days ago
Went into an upscale Mexican restaurant (Mi C*cina) in the trendy town square section Southlake Texas, to place a large take away order and sat to wait for it to be readied. Looked up behind bar, where they had a couple large ( > 5 gallon) clear containers from which they poured margarita mix or similar. Watched an employee climb up on a stool, and stick his hand & arm, up past his elbow, into one the containers to stir the liquid he’d just poured in. Spoke to the manager, who spoke with the worker. Up to the point I left with my take away, never saw them empty the container to clean it. Never went back - figured that didn’t bode well for their food safety practices. :(
Traveling Lady Railfan 2 days ago
Boy, you've got that right!!! It's one thing when they're pulling careless food safety practices out of sight when the restaurant is closed or in the kitchen, but when they do it right in front of the customer, they're either extremely ignorant, or they're doing much worse in the back and they figure that's no big deal.
Load More Replies... Hassel Davidhoff 2 days ago (edited)
My wife and I rarely go to restaurants as we have extremely strict dietary preferences. We pretty much only go to restaurants when we're out of town. It is nice as I used to spend heaps of money and time at restaurants, in my younger days. Now it is a rarity for us and it feels more special because of that.
Kurtz Frausun 2 days ago
Took a food safety course years ago for my job at the time that was taught by a former health inspector. Never forgot her advice: "In 20 years as an inspector, there are two rules that I've never seen broken. If the front door is filthy and the bathrooms are a mess, the kitchen is dangerous."
Simon Chen 2 days ago
Most of there are just obvious things you see in bad restaurants. This is not a red flag of you see the place is dirty, it is not really subtle. Bad light because they want to save money on electricity is a red flag but a dirty cook and the place is dirty as hell? Come on, most people would just leave
Richard Graham 2 days ago
Sometimes bad lighting is to hide such things as dirt or worn-out furniture.
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