My wife and I went to eat at a Spanish restaurant in the Tampa, Florida area. It was nicely appointed with Spanish paintings on the wall; subdued lighting, good service and tasty food made for a pleasant dining experience.
While we were enjoying our meals I felt a drop of liquid that had fallen onto my hand. I looked up to see where it came from and saw that there was an air conditioner grate directly above our table that was around 2 feet by 2 feet in size. I also saw that the grate was completely covered with a green-black colored mold. I wondered if any drops had ended up in my glass of sangria which was positioned only inches from the hand that got dripped on. Looking around the rest of the dining room I noticed 4 other air conditioner grates; each of them was also covered with mold.
I pointed out the grate above us to my wife. Her eyes grew wide and her expression turned to one of horror. She told the waiter who was attending to the table next to us that she wanted to immediately speak to the manager about the mold. The manager came to our table and said that they were going to have the AC system checked out and cleaned. My wife asked him if he knew about the problem. He ignored her question. She then blurted out, “You knew about it!” The manager’s face became contorted in anger and he stormed away. My wife said she felt like standing up and announcing to the other diners that there was a mold contamination problem. I convinced her not to do so. I quickly paid the bill and we scrammed out of there.
Tagged as:
hygiene,
owner/manager
I was once at a fast food restaurant getting lunch. I noticed they dropped a whole bunch of fries on the floor, but I didn’t think twice about it. Well, when I got home, I noticed the fries had black specks on them and were dirty. To make a long story short, I ended up going to another restaurant to get some healthier and cleaner food.
- rerere
Tagged as:
fast food restaurant,
hygiene
A friend and I were having lunch together one day and decided to each order a sandwich/burger and split an order of fries. We got our sandwiches and put the plate of fries between us and began to eat. Everything tasted good as expected, but when we got down to the last few fries we saw a piece of chewing gum stuck to the plate. Yes… it had been chewed! We told our waitress about it and in a very unsurprised manner she said “I won’t charge you for the fries!”
Tagged as:
food & beverage issues,
hygiene
I was having lunch at a well known restaurant. You know the one which is known for their “famous bread bakers.” I was sitting at a table by the sample display – unprotected food sitting out for all to spread their germs on. Being in the health field, I was surprised that having unwrapped foods displayed without protection against contamination from customers was allowed.
While I was eating my lunch, I observed an elderly woman in her mid-seventies try a sample of the bread. She took one piece of bread, smelled it, and put it back on the tray. Then she took another piece of bread, tasted it, decided she didn’t like it, and put it back on the tray. To top it off, she took another piece of bread, bit it, put it into a dipping sauce, ate it, then walked away. This is a great way to spread disease. Next time you see one of these free sample displays, think twice and be aware that you might get more than free food – and end up spending the rest of the day on the toilet!
New York John
Tagged as:
hygiene,
senior citizen
