Is It Safe To Eat At Restaurants?

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This will cover whether or not it is safe for individuals to eat at restaurants. This will also go over some signs that clue that a restaurant is probably not safe to eat at.

Restaurants in general could or could not be safe to eat at, which is displayed on their inspection grade report card that is posted visibly for the public to see in their establishment. Anything less than an A grade could mean that the restaurant has some things that most people would consider to be viable reasons to not eat at the restaraunt.

An inspection card is really one of the only things that individuals have to go on to determine if they are eating at a restaurant that is safe to eat at. Usually this information can be found online further for local restaurants and specific restaurants. The information gives more details about their past inspections. These things can be found by simply using the search engine.

Signs That Restaurants Are/Aren’t Safe To Eat At

Here we will list some good signs to look for to show if a restaurant is safe to eat at or not.

Cleanliness

The cleanliness of a restaurant as a whole is always a good sign to look at to determine if a restaurant is safe to eat at or not. A restaurant that has dirty areas that can be spotted by the customer by just looking around, are sometimes signs that the restaurant is not safe to eat at.

Some people claim that looking at the bathroom is a good sign, but bathrooms are frequently used by the guests in the restaurant all the time. This means that they can be less reliable to use as a sign than other clues to tell if a restaurant is safe to eat at. People can do anything in a bathroom in a such a short period of time, that can make a restroom that was clean a few minutes ago look like it hasn’t been cleaned at all.

Looking for areas that are dirty around the restaurant other than just the bathroom are more reliable ways. These areas can be the places where the trash is dumped, the area where customers can get drinks, condiments, and silverware, and the table where the guest is seated at.

All of these areas are places where, if the restaurant cares about cleanliness towards their guests, they will keep cleaned frequently. Finding build up in these areas (including the bathroom) could be a sign that the restaurant could be cooking their food on surfaces that also have old build up food residue on them too, like grills, stoves, deep fryers, ovens, microwaves, pans, and/or pots.

Restaurants do daily cleans everyday after they close. Build up in these areas means that the restaurant has been neglecting those areas on a daily basis. It could be a sign that they are doing the same with their cooking equipment, dispensers, plates, bowls, and other utensils. Their dispensers for example could be filled with bacteria or mold. Their cutting boards could be stained with old food residue.

Dirty dishes are also a good sign to look for when determining if a restaurant is safe to eat at. If the glasses, the cups, bowls, or plates have spots, blemishes, or food residue, then it could mean that the food or drinks placed in them aren’t safe to eat either. Whoever is washing the dishes could be skipping the steps needed to clean and sanitize the dishes properly. Spots on these dishes that look like they could be easily rubbed off should not be overlooked either. It means that the dishes were washed too fast and not done properly.

Looking at the cleanliness of the restaurant employees’ apparel is another good way to determine if a restaurant is safe to eat at. An employee that is making the food at a restaurant with a dirty apron that has old food all over it isn’t safe place to eat. Clean restaurants have their employees change their aprons if they become too dirty. They never let their employees use unwashed aprons from yesterday.

Dirty hats or employees not wearing hats is also a good sign that the restaurant isn’t safe to eat at. Their is a high chance that the food could contain hair in it. Even the employees that are delivering the food that are not in the kitchen should be wearing hats. Their hair can also fall into the food or touch the food during delivery.

Cold Or Cool Food

Receiving cold food or food that is barely warm is a sign that the food may not be safe to eat. It means that the food could have been undercooked, even if it doesn’t look undercooked. Foods that are not cooked enough to get to hot enough temperatures have the potential to cause food poisoning.

All restaurants know that hot foods need to be cooked enough to certain temperatures. If they don’t know this, then that is even more trouble, as they could have foods that are getting people sick that are being kept “cold” in cool or warm temperatures.

They are also aware that foods and drinks that are served cold should always be kept at cold enough temperatures too.

Pests

Pests (multiple roaches, rats, mice, and flies) are also signs that the restaurant isn’t safe to eat at. If there is more than one of them seen, then it could mean that they are permanent guests of the restaurant that are eating the same food that is being served to guests after hours.

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