10 Red Flags That A Restaurant Is Not Following Proper Food Safety

The last thing you want to do is unknowingly put yourself in harm’s way with food that never should’ve been served in the first place. Anyone who has been through the ringer with undercooked food will likely tell you that they can’t eat that food ever again.

1. The menus that go too hard one one item.

“If your restaurant is big into one thing, let’s say pizza. That’s what they are known for. It’s why people go.  Suddenly a couple years later you notice the menu becomes 5 pages long instead of a single page of fresh pizza. Then you start to see things like 50 different sauces for wings, nachos, wings, spaghetti, pasta, this is when it’s time to leave.” – u/meowsmeows

2. Just ask your local HVAC technician.

“If you know a commercial HVAC tech you can ask them which restaurants to avoid. I had to tell the ones I know to stop telling me, because I couldn’t eat anywhere.” – u/superstitiouspigeon5

3. The writing’s literally on the wall.

“The inspection report which is required to be prominently posted says B or lower.” – u/ssnoyes

4. When the restaurant smells like the bathroom.

“When the not-quite-clean smell from the restrooms somehow permeates the entire place.” – u/sparklingdeew

5. The dirty counters.

“In person, dirty counters.” – u/ithinkithinkiknowwhothisis

6. A messy bathroom with no business in session.

“Messy bathroom when it’s not busy.” – u/doctorrumack

7. Don’t forget what mold smells like.

“Learn what mold smells like. it becomes quite obvious walking into a place that is neglecting their mold checks.” – u/okbluejay7346

8. The restaurant hygiene standards.

“In the UK, most restaurants or takeaway have a label on their door/windows that rate their hygiene standards, if anything scores below 4, I will not eat there.” – u/steelcity91

9. The cleanliness of the water glasses.

“Small details. How clean the water glasses look. If the place is understaffed.” – u/extremedude100

10. When the restaurant’s out of soap.

“May not actually matter, but I won’t eat at a restaurant where the bathroom is out of soap.” – u/deleted