Clean bathroom = clean kitchen?
My husband's late grandfather owned his own restaurant supply business before he retired. He learned over the years that you could pretty much tell what a restaurant's kitchen would look like based on how the bathrooms were kept. If the bathrooms were immaculate, you could count on a kitchen with the same level of hygeine. If the bathrooms were dirty, however, you could expect to find the same conditions in the kitchen.
Has anyone else noticed this? Or any other rules of thumb about restaurants?
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9 Comments:
I've heard this before -- and it makes sense. Actually, I'm pretty sure Bourdain puts forth the same idea in one of his books (I have Kitchen Confidential here with me and I can't find it, so I'm assuming it's probably The Nasty Bits). It makes sense -- the restaurant knows that you can see their bathroom; if they can't be bothered keeping that clean, what does it say about their kitchen?
kfarrel3 at 5:29PM on 10/18/08
Yes. so very yes. Having worked in restaurants on both coasts, I can tell you it is definitely so. I have a mental list of places in town where I won't eat for that very reason.
beth1 at 5:32PM on 10/18/08
Absolutely. I've worked in many kitchens and this theory always holds true. Fortunately for all, we have immaculate bahrooms where I work now.
sailordave at 6:04PM on 10/18/08
Yes. Worked at a restaurant at the tender age of 15 (before the age 16 laws) and the bathroom was a MAJOR consideration. It held forth with the kitchen, always clean. The owner always said " We aren't inviting dinners into our kitchen, but they visit the bathrooms and they will be spotless!" And they were. It was a "community" effort. Whomever went in there and found something amiss was responsible for making it right.
finsbigfan at 6:32PM on 10/18/08
i've walked out of resteraunts before even seeing a menu based on the condition of the restroom, that practice has never steered me wrong and i'll always follow it.
huneybumper at 7:05PM on 10/18/08
I once went to pick up some take out from a Restaurant I loved. I walked in and saw a line at the desk so I headed to the bathroom which was squalid. I turned around and walked passed the kitchen which was more squalid and walked right back out the door. I never went there again.
JerzeeTomato at 10:42PM on 10/18/08
Yes. Even though the kitchen may even be immaculate & the bathrooms dirty (because the kitchen crew may be responsible for the kitchen but not usually the bathroom) I would still pass on the restaurant because it means there are not enough people hired to pay attention to the bathroom cleanliness and/or the person who is doing it just doesn't care. In either case this is usually one of the same people handing you your food or transferring it from the expedite line...no way.
But usually no one from the kitchen is appointed to clean the bathroom unless its another multi-task for the dishwasher.
BuildMyBistro at 6:31AM on 10/19/08
I know that noone who actually prepares my food is actually in there scrubbing the john, however, if the owner/manage/whoever cares so little for the cleanliness of a "public room" I shudder to imagine how little they care about the safe handling practices of the kitchen staff. I know how hard it can be to keep clean a room where some people show how truly nasty they are, but to me anyway, they should be making a deffinate effort.
huneybumper at 10:11AM on 10/19/08
So, "myth confirmed" as Adam and Jamie would say. We had a new restaurant open up in my town a couple years ago, and based on one of my co-workers' review of how nasty the bathrooms were, I've never set foot in the place.
buffy at 1:06PM on 10/20/08