Fast Food and Restaurant Employees Confess the One Item You Should Never Order

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Is anyone really surprised? We had an Olive Garden shut down in a nearby area due to four different traces of semen found in a woman's chicken alfredo dish. Now she has herpes, I was told. Who knows...

I used to stop at Wendy's and grab some chili now and then until I bought a "Most Precious Blood" CD. It came with a PETA DVD and a secret track at the end describing how workers at Wendy's would sweep the floor, pick up the dirt and poor the dustpan directly into the chili pot. I NEVER ordered chili again.

As for the PETA DVD? It was one of the most brutal, disgusting and powerful videos I ever had the pleasure of watching at a young age. While I don't support their methodology, I would be lying if I said it didn't have an impact on me. I tailored my life to a pound of organic grass fed beef a week and switched to cage free eggs. Make sure you do your research, cage free isn't all its cracked up to be.

Just remind yourself of all the torture and cruelty it took to put that steaming pile of crap they call a Big Mac in front of your face.

Anyways, read it and weep. It just confirms what most of us already knew.

Anything McCafé at McDonald's

"I work for Mcdonald's and make sure everyone that matters to me never orders anything that comes out of the 'McCafe' machine as these are routinely neglected, in practically all the McDonalds. Not only are staff not properly trained in its cleaning and maintenance, at almost every McDonalds I've had experience with, the managers in charge of training them don't know # all either...All McCafe beverages run through a horrifically dirty machine - we're talking 5+ inches of uncleaned, liquid bull# making up its inside parts"

Do. Not. Order. Hot Dogs. At. Baseball. Games. Period.

"I used to work in a baseball park concession stand. The short answer is not to order anything, but if you absolutely have to buy something, don’t buy the hotdogs.

Do not. Buy. The Hot Dogs.

They made it out of the package okay, and might even have been edible after we finished grilling them – and then they went into the water. We kept three pans of water at the back of the grill that held the hot dogs. Any hot dogs left at the end of the day went back into the fridge, and came out again the next day. Me and the other cook put our feet down on throwing out the water and old hotdogs after two full days, but the management didn’t want to let us."

On steak and beans at Taco Bell

"I worked at taco bell a little bit ago and I warn everyone to stay away from both the beans, and the steak. The beans start out looking like cat food, and the directions are, 'Add water and stir until you can’t see white anymore.' The steak was just the worst on dish duty. If it would sit too long it would become like hair gel. It was the worst."

This does not happen at all restaurants or major food chains, so use your judgment. Do yourself a favor and keep driving next time you get that craving.

a reply to: eisegesis

I think some of these are exaggerated not to make myself feel at ease but people like to talk when spoken to.

More often than not people have the inherent need to stretch the truth...those who attend meetings only to hear a few employees blow everything out of proportion afterwards know what I mean....I'm sure some ATS members will have their own stories...but that's just it some are stories.

I've been pretty high up in my former local union and you want to talk about stretching the truth...

While I hate all fast food, I have to point out a few things.

1. 90% of these reports are from "Past" employees. Disgruntled perhaps?

2. The McD's coffee machine is not cleaned by staff during the Day but rather a shift at night whose sole responsibility is to tear apart the machines like the milk shake machine, friers etc and to clean the pieces from the inside out. That was a job I had many years ago.

3. The frozen doughnuts? If people actually think they are made from scratch at every location...WOW! They are actually par-baked usually to 70% and finished off at the locations. But even that's going out.

4. The eggs? Powdered or liquid but real.

While I won't Deny there are many unsavory practices at fast food crap holes, the past employee list doesn't help. In fact these places are actually held to higher standards than mom n' pop operations because they are in the public eye on a regular basis.

Peace

As a general reply to all, I can't speak for these employees nor can I validate their claims. I tend to take a pessimistic attitude when it comes to people serving me food.

What I've noticed is that most of the experiences they have shared are standard operating procedures dictated by the company and not the musings of a disgruntled past employee. Then again, it could just be a manager trying to look good by reducing costs and waste. Anything else listed generally came down to cleanliness.

A guy got arrested at the Burger King in my town. He got caught rubbing one off into the "secret sauce."

Wendy's employees at corporate locations are very thorough in cleaning frosty machines daily and expiration dates are strictly adhered. I worked in the sector once and if I'd witnessed something as repugnant as dust being poured into anything I'd tell and quit.

I know I'm probably subjecting myself to eating sub-par food once in a while but fear won't feed me. I take the punches and keep rolling.c

Well, the Domino's Pizza I worked at when a kid was spotless and the only problem eating there was the crappy pizza sauce... bland as heck. I guess they changed it, but gimme a mom and pop over a chain nearly any day.

But it all depends on the managers and employees... but don't EVER p.o. your fast food staff OR restaurant staff... Ev-er! Bored, entitled kids with little oversight and feeding hundreds of the frequently equally entitled public with attitude... what could possibly go wrong?

a reply to: eisegesis

Is anyone really surprised? We had an Olive Garden shut down in a nearby area due to four different traces of semen found in a woman's chicken alfredo dish. Now she has herpes.

Wow that is absolutely sickening and disgusting, how can someone do that to another person!! YUCK! or 4 people? ugh that's so disgusting! how did she find out ? I know the obvious reason from the taste *shudders* but did she go get it tested or something?

I try not to eat much take out I mainly visit one Asian noodle/rice place and they cook everything infront of you which is why I mainly go there because you can see everything they use aswell and its all fresh..

The thought of their gloves touching every surface and the fact half of them don't even change their gloves after a bathroom visit is enough to put me off but this info ugh wow! eww!

thanks for sharing! FYI that Ronald McDonald picture is hilarious.

a reply to: jude11

Many,many moons ago when I worked at Carl's Jr. I would tear apart the milk shake machine every night and clean it by hand.I also set it up in the morning,and we would cycle through sanitized water before using it to make milkshakes.

a reply to: Baddogma

so true! I wont take food off them if they look like they have attitudes or some kind of problem with me I have done it more than once asked for my money back, id rather do that and risk looking like a tool than eat food that has been tainted in vile and disgusting ways..

My Mum once got hungry jacks (or known as burger king in the states) too deliver her a whopper because they messed up her order and she called up and complained they don't deliver at all here so it was surprising when the manager agreed to bringing one out to her house 15 minutes away, then they couldn't find the house and it got cold so they had to go back and get another one, and she ate it ! ew I would not have eaten it god knows what he did to the burger after him wasting like an hour all up getting a burger to her haha, if her fries aren't steaming hot she gives them back and makes them cook her new ones even if she is in the drive thru she will wait, she goes off on people so I wouldn't be surprised if she has had her food violated.. I remember one time I was at the movies with her and there's 2 main movie theatre companies in my area anyway she was shocked by the price of a few things and was like "so and so place isn't this expensive" anyway turns out we were at that place that she was saying wasn't that expensive haha.. It was really embarrassing growing up with my mum.. lol.

If you're going to eat murdered cows, calves, pigs (smarter than dogs) and chickens raised in conditions so crowded they have to be fed antibiotics to survive it, then eating food prepared by bored teenagers shouldn't really bother you.

Oh, and sushi eaters are famous for being riddled with parasites. Thought you'd like to know.

I worked in two restaurants, and I saw some bad practices being used. I can't say it was one special food though. Well, in the one restaurant, the owner wanted to recycle the mashed squash, not many people ate it so I would get the dishes and have to scrape in into a bowl to reuse. A cigarette butt in it did not mean anything, it could be spooned out according to the owner. This was a highly recommended supper club, not a dumpy joint. Most people did not eat the mashed squash anyway.

Now the other place I worked was Big Boy, that was also back in the early seventies and there was some bad stuff going on there occasionally. Don't fool yourself, nothing has changed, this stuff goes on all over the place yet. You might find a rare place that is perfect, but I doubt if there are more than a hundred in this country. Some things always get overlooked for cleaning. People make mistakes too.

I had seen quite a few nasty food issues before I had ever read about them when older: I recall one time at McDonald's when I was young a lady tending to the chocolate ice cream machine used her teeth to open the mix that's poored into the machine. Seriously right in front of customers. What else is handled like that by employees. Taco Bell employees not wearing gloves! But a more hidden fact at fast food places for example- that people noted to have diarrhea after eating there. An inside tip was that's because the pans the pizzas are cooked in are never cleaner or cleaned properly. Careful with chain pizza places. Never mind that they use silica in the cheese! That's a whole other thread about the quality of food products in FF.

Such as;

If you're going to eat murdered cows, calves, pigs (smarter than dogs) and chickens raised in conditions so crowded they have to be fed antibiotics to survive it, then eating food prepared by bored teenagers shouldn't really bother you.

Exactly!

Oh, and sushi eaters are famous for being riddled with parasites. Thought you'd like to know.

With the raw fish, in that case fatty tuna and Sashimi. Sushi, I find most often at least in quantity sale in markets has rather safe imitation crab due to the processing.

a reply to: dreamingawake

I had seen quite a few nasty food issues before I had ever read about them when older: I recall one time at McDonald's when I was young a lady tending to the chocolate ice cream machine used her teeth to open the mix that's poored into the machine. Seriously right in front of customers. What else is handled like that by employees. Taco Bell employees not wearing gloves! But a more hidden fact at fast food places for example- that people noted to have diarrhea after eating there. An inside tip was that's because the pans the pizzas are cooked in are never cleaner or cleaned properly. Careful with chain pizza places. Never mind that they use silica in the cheese! That's a whole other thread about the quality of food products in FF.

interesting that you mentioned silica in the cheese, our domino's here in Australia is now using cheese from the US they even boast about it, I don't eat from there because their pizza isn't even like real pizza but anyway I have seen it and the cheese doesn't even melt its white and it looks like plastic! yuck that would clog your intestines up big time.
I always got sick after eating take away mainly the big food chains, I have a hernia and 2 pieces of mesh in so I think that may contribute a little bit but no other food makes me as sick as take out food another reason why I just avoid it all together and try stick to family owned companies like my Asian place where you can see the food prep and know its all fresh not pre packaged and processed and no nasty stuff going in too it! I used to get take away a fair bit for convenience when my youngest was a baby and I had been run off my feet and couldn't get dinner organised in time and it would always give me a bad stomach ache, like pains that would make me nauseous.

a reply to: eisegesis

Looks like I'll be asking for no sauce on my fast food dish. Loved the Wendy's chilli...maybe not so much now.

Another thing to avoid are the milkshakes. Those machines are fly magnets. My brother used to tell me about the flys he would fish out of the top of the machines.

"Currently employed at Dunkin doughnuts and it’s sad but true all the doughnuts and baked goods there come to us frozen."

I actually work at Dunkin Donuts now and this is true for the most part. The rings and the shells are frozen raw and are baked. Afterwards the frosting and fillings and stuff are put on by hand. We don't have pre-made little frozen boston kremes that we just nuke, like some seem to think. We have anywhere from 1-4 bakers working 8pm-5am baking, frosting, filling and powdering as much as a 1000+ doughnuts a night.
Given the volume of customers that come in in the morning, it would be PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE and would be extremely costly to be able to make every little doughnut from scratch. Also Krispy Kreme does the same thing except they just glaze the doughnuts in front of you.
Not to come off as a doughnut shill, but our doughnuts are really delicious if you're lucky enough to get them straight from the oven. after 15 minutes or so they're pretty inedible I feel. Provided the store isn't too busy and the staff isn't lazy garbage, you can askk them to heat them up for you and they're almost good as new.

Some other things:
*Our frozen coffee's dont have real coffee, ask for an espresso shot if you want caffeine. If they comeback with a soupy mess as them to remake it with more ice. (the espresso melts it, and the staff should know so they're just being lazy)
*Don't order any sandwiches with an egg. (not only are they ridiculously overpriced in general) but the egg patties are literally frozen bricks of instant egg whites and not worth your money.
*The Arnold Palmer half and half coolatta is hands down the worst beverage we sell.

I worked in Dominoes Pizza for a few years and it was spotless but if you're a very strict veterinarian maybe for religious reasons etc there is a high chance your veg pizza will have traces of meat as if you don't have enough staff people are making meat and veggie pizzas one after the other without washing hands in between.

originally posted by: signalfire
If you're going to eat murdered cows, calves, pigs (smarter than dogs) and chickens raised in conditions so crowded they have to be fed antibiotics to survive it, then eating food prepared by bored teenagers shouldn't really bother you.

Oh, and sushi eaters are famous for being riddled with parasites. Thought you'd like to know.

Spot on!

Great stories everybody. I hope more members chime in. Remember, you are anonymous on the internet, lol!

Angry past employees? Maybe...

Managers instilling bad practices on their employees sound more like it. Combine that with lazy, self entitled workers who look to cut corners and neglect their duties because they were busy answering text messages.

It reminds me of politics, the more corruption, waste and fraud you report, the more likely you will find yourself out the door. You have to be willing to deceive the public or you can't join the club.

When I worked at a Sonic back in the day, we were bored stiff when we weren't at rush times, so we cleaned everything top to bottom and took stuff apart to clean it, like the drink machines. If we ran out of stuff to clean, we were doomed to hours of weighing out portions of frozen tater tots, fries and onion rings that could be easily popped into the fryer. And that was completely miserable work.

As far as this goes, the last thing I would do is trust a PETA video. They are so zealous in their views that they are not above getting creative to push their agenda.