Secrets behind restaurants and fast food

pundas · July 2012

One of my Facebook friends posted this article today and I found it very interesting (and disturbing). It has former employees and customers share their experiences from working in and ordering from the restaurant and fast food business.

http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/fast-food-employees-dish-things-never-order-183300185.html

It made me remember my time of working at Dunkin' Donuts throughout high school and college. At the time, my co-workers were either lazy high school students, stoners, college students just trying to make extra money or high school drop outs that couldn't find a job else where. No one wanted to work there. We were all under paid and miserable and hated coming to work. After the dates on anything (meats, syrups, coffee) expired, a new sticker was placed on the product and a new date was re-written. Coffee was never dumped after after its hour expiration time has come. I remember the days of coming in at 2pm and using the same container of ice coffee until we closed at 10pm. As awful as this sounds, I took part in this. If you didn't say your order completely perfect to the cashier or got angry at drive-thru, most likely your coffee was made with spit (I never did this, but just about EVERY worker I was with has done it). If your sandwich was served on the wrong bagel, a new one wasn't made for you. The meat/egg/cheese was taken out and put on a new bagel. Most of the time, the wrong/unused bagel was used for a different order. The ice machine was never cleaned unless there was an inspection the next day, and most of the time it wasn't cleaned properly and a new sticker would be placed on it with a new date so it wouldn't look expired. I use to find quarter-sized chunks of debris in the ice. It was disgusting. Oh and after 8pm, if you ordered a regular coffee, you most likely got decaf. Fresh coffee was almost never made past 8pm. If coffee cups accidently fell on the floor, they were always used for someone's order. Looking back at this, I can't believe all of the *kitten* people got away with. Even the managers did this and didn't care.

What are some of your experiences working in the food industry??

stepharega · July 2012

bump! I know this all too well! I work at dunkin donuts. I;m the only one who DOESN'T make the sandwiches because i won't touch the stuff! its so gross. have you seen those angus steak and egg bagel sandwiches? those angus patties aren't even meat.....the manager tells us to be careful cuz they'll break apart easily..........MEAT DOESNT BREAK APART LIKE THAT!

just...dont eat/drink anything from there.

i've learned how to make iced coffee/iced tea recently...i gotta use water from this dirty sink. and use a bucket of dirty ice. and the coffee filter container? probably has never been washed but hey, cooperate pigs just want your moneys.
the regular hot coffees are made with water that sometimes has limestone build up. my manager is always too lazy to clean that stuff..

i can't even imagine how much worse mcdonalds is.

i put my two weeks notice in! almost done there :drinker:

pundas · July 2012

Hahahah yes totally!!!

I also want to add a few years ago, our owners got rid of our baker and made him a regular cashier because they didn't want to pay to have a baker there. So instead, the night crew made all of the baked goods (muffins, bagels ect) around 4pm and they were placed in a case to serve THE NEXT DAY! Nothing is fresh there, except if you get a coffee in the morning or early afternoon lol. I am not speaking for all fast food places, I am just stating information that happened at mine :sick: Although I am sure it happens at most places.

dinosnopro · July 2012

Sounds like bad management at store level, I have a friend that in high school worked at our local McDonalds., The Last two hours of his shift when he closed was cleaning, when the last customer left they took apart virtually the whole store and hosed it out. I know because I helped many times so he would be done faster. As far as expired food He brought home loads, his manager had a 15 minute rule. If the food didn't sell in that 15 minuets they pulled it and threw it away.

dvnjustina · July 2012

I used to work in a bakery that apparently only cleaned once a year. And they would get flies so bad in the summer that we had to swat 'em away from the baked goods.

cramernh · July 2012

One of the things I absolutely love about the State of New Hampshire is that any and all food-establishments' health inspection reports/scores are considered public information.

I have my Serv-Safe certification for Employee, Management and Trainer - and when I have to call out on a Server that just violated either a Health-Dept related offense or a Serv-Safe standard not upheld, I refuse to dine there anymore and will ask to talk with a Manager.

We had gone to an Olive Garden in our area. Unfortunately they cooked my daughter's flatbread pizza too early and they let it sit on the server's counter until the rest of the order was up. Reason I know why is that when cheeses cools down too much, it becomes rubber...

By the time it got to the table, my daughter took a bite - it wasnt even hot... she let me know that it was rather gummy. When I touched it, it was freaking cool... almost cold.

I looked up at the Server and asked her "how long has this pizza been sitting?" She stared at me at first glance and said "I dont really know I was asked to help serve your food"...

I asked her "Does this pizza look like its hot and up to temp?" She answered 'yes'....

I asked her to send this back to the Kitchen Manager and to have the cooks prepare another pizza as this one was clearly not cooked enough nor was it up to temp.

The same girl came back 10 minutes later.. SHE RE-SERVED THE SAME PIZZA! BITE MARK IN IT AND ALL!!!!

I looked at her rippin' mad.... I told her "Please get the manager for me, I would like to speak with him". She asked if there was a problem with the pizza... I told her "what do you think is wrong with this pizza?" She just gave me a dumb look and said "we reheated it for you"... I asked her "Would you eat a reheated pizza that was never cooked to temperature properly to begin with or are you hoping my daughter will?".... IM FUMING!!!!!!!!

I looked at her and said "if you dont get me the manager, Im walking over and getting the manager myself".... The girl didnt even bother to get the manager, she walked away and headed to the kitchen.

I grabbed the manager, held a discussion with him. Explained to him the entire situation. I told him that I will not be dining with their establishment and will definitely request the Health Dept to consider another inspection. This place did NOT have anyone Serv-Safe certified as a Manager and you are required to have at least one manager with that certification.

Needless to say, we didnt pay for anything at the table. The manager tried to give us a rather ***large*** gift certificate, and I refused to accept it. I advised him that I will also be letting the Health Dept know that he tried to bribe me with this GC in an attempt to get me to not report them.

gklangdon · July 2012

I was a worker and then a manager at a Taco Bell. I have to tell ya I worked with the stoners, high school drop outs, college students and some folks who just needed a 2nd job to help make ends meet. I worked mornings some, but I was usually the night shift crew/manager. There was only one time out of 5 years I worked there that I saw someone did something gross to the food. Of course I was just the crew then and the manager fired them on the spot!! I agree with Dinosnopro that good management and the way they work with their crew and customers is key. I had my Serv-Safe certification and so did most of the employees. The upper management took pride in educating their employees to be safe food handlers. We also had several outside people come by and critique the store and food without our knowledge. They would check the stores & employees for cleanliness, if the food was at the correct temperature, if the items ordered weighed correctly and other things like that. We all took a little pride in our job. My night shift crew was very competitive and we would always try to out serve, get more compliments and have the fastest service than our dayshift counterparts.

Now when I go to a Taco Bell I watch and critique their behaviors. If I get great service I let the management know. You'd be surprised how that little bit of outside praise can effect people and their performance.

Now I have had bad service at places and there are places I just will not go back to again. I guess I'll take my chances. Even thought I eat out a lot less often than I use to.

weevil66 · July 2012

I worked in a fast food joint and a pizza place donkey's years ago. The manager at the fast food place was meticulous and a hardcore stickler for food and safety regulations. Fries got tossed if they sat for more than ten minutes or whatever, the burgers were made to order, floors were mopped several times a day, oil changed, etc. However, the pizza place....blech. One time they sprayed the area where the dishes were washed and tons of roaches were dead and dying. They didn't even clean them up for days. Shudder........

niknokd · July 2012

I actually worked at a small Dunkin' Donuts for about 2 years (ages 14-16) and it was nothing like what was described above. The only thing we did do was leave the decaf coffee out for too long (because hardly anyone would buy it so we'd never have to rebrew). It really was fine though - I'm kind of a germaphobe and I feel fine still going back there and ordering food.

christine24t · July 2012

most likely your coffee was made with spit (I never did this, but just about EVERY worker I was with has done it).

Just have to clarify something - this is not a normal practice. Whoever does has mental issues. I have worked in food service for seven years and I have never met anyone who has done this, even if customers upset us. We will never mess with your food. That is just evil.

nwhitley · July 2012

I actually worked at a small Dunkin' Donuts for about 2 years (ages 14-16) and it was nothing like what was described above. The only thing we did do was leave the decaf coffee out for too long (because hardly anyone would buy it so we'd never have to rebrew). It really was fine though - I'm kind of a germaphobe and I feel fine still going back there and ordering food.

My brother worked at a Dunkin Donuts for about 2 years while he was in high school too. And, he never mentioned any of the things that are mentioned in the above posts. He only worked on Fri, Sat, and Sun and he would always bring home donuts and muffins at the end of the night otherwise they would throw them away (it wasn't 24hours when he worked there). We both still go there. I think it largely depends on the management and the community. The nicer the area, the more likely it is that the place will be kept clean, procedures followed, and customer service valued. Plus, with the Dunkin Donuts those are franchised so def depends on the owners and management.

However, I worked at a movie theater in high school and I'll just say I would NEVER eat anything out of there. Not even the popcorn b/c all types of rodents and bugs would get in the cups and popcorn bags. Droppings were always in the storage rooms and in the cabinets behind concessions. We sold hot dogs and if they weren't sold we took them off the heater, put in fridge and they were put back out again the next day. While I loved the actual job at the time, the theaters freaked me out b/c there were always rats and mice. Spilled drinks, candy, popcorn all over a place= sticky floors= roaches, mice, and rats. They would scamper when movie goers are in the theater. But, in the early mornings they would run all over the place. The management was good but b/c movies would let out late at night around 12 and 1am, they would leave the cleaning until the next day around 8am. Ugh!!

CassieReannan · July 2012

18 months working at McDonalds, I've seen it all.. Fries left for hours and used... Product like meat and fish stays in the holding for hours even when the timers go off. Coffee was made and left there for more than 30 minutes, it was more like an hour or two. The buns arent covered properly and get stale.. Yogurts are a month out of date. Burgers made wrong go back in the hot box and given to another order. I've found dirt in the ice maker from the crew storing whatever they want in there.. So mostly likely the ice you got in your drink was touched by a crew members dirty water bottle. The MOST disgusting thing I have ever had to do was to clean under where the fry vats were. There were mouldy burgers, fries and big balls of fat! It stunk.

The machines did get cleaned though, weekly. The ice cream and shake machine was filthy, especially in the tubes which carry the syrup through the shakes. I found chunks of old milk and nasty stuff. I worked at a pretty clean store than others, but we had a pretty bad cockroach/mice problem at on point. I would always find mouse crap on the shelves and in cupboards. We had three health inspections while I worked there as customers complained about finding mice crap on their food trays.

aproc · July 2012

My manager at Papa Johns would flip if we pulled any of those stunts. If something touches the floor, it gets thrown out. He checks expiration dates and our stock every day. Even our sodas have to be checked for expiration dates and I've never even given a thought to the expiration dates on coke.

Secrets behind restaurants and fast food

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