The top six red flags chefs reveal to watch out for at cafes

Life is too short to have a bad meal. So here's what you need to know! 

Thanks to social media, you'll likely know what meal you're going to order and where you'll sit before you've even booked the restaurant. 

However, if you're out and about or in a new city, you might not know the hottest places. But there are fed flags to watch out for that will help you avoid a bad experience. The ones who are waving said flags are chefs and others in the hospitality industry. 

A Reddit thread asked, "What are restaurant/cafe red flags?" - to avoid scrolling through thousands of comments. Kidspot has hand-picked the ones with the chef's kiss of approval. 

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What are the red flags to look out for at a cafe or restaurant. Source: supplied

A menu can tell a thousand words

Just don't go to a place whose menu has a thousand words! One chef wrote: "A huge menu is a sign that food is either frozen, pre-cooked, and reheated — or ingredients are not very fresh."

While another added, "In culinary school, every single chef instructor says the same thing: If it's misspelled on the menu, that's on purpose. It's so they don't have to sell you the real thing. A prime example is 'krab cakes'."

And while pictures work wonders for recipes, it's a no-no for this chef: "When there are pictures of food on the menu that clearly aren't from the restaurant."

One final tip about menus: "When the menus are super dirty and never cleaned, that means everything is super dirty and never cleaned."

Service with a smile

Even before you've ordered, the person who greets you as you walk in can often give you a vibe check of the place. Granted, not everyone will treat you like a celeb, but a smile doesn't cost anything.

"Watch the wait staff," one former host advises, "Things probably aren't great if most of them seem disgruntled or upset. They probably don't care about your food if they aren't being treated fairly."

While this chef urged patrons to watch out for this: "If the waiting staff grabs clean glasses at the top when handling them."

Another highlighted the importance of training for all staff members: "If you ask about your food allergy and the waitstaff can't answer, it's because they don't know what's in the food."

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Watch out for the accompaniments and condiments 

Who doesn't love a slice of lemon in sparkling water, a dollop of tomato sauce (or ketchup), or even mustard on their plate? But what if this is the key to a bad meal?

"Most often, lemons for water are really gross and dirty," one waiter writes. Noted, BYO lemons next time! 

"Cheap ketchup on the table, or if they even let you see the brand," warned a chef. 

This one was glaringly obvious but so often overlooked: "Salt shakers. If the holes are clogged and the top is dirty, that thing has been refilled 100 times without being washed."

Bread is the best part of the meal. Source: supplied

"No bread," said no one ever! 

Whether in a cafe or restaurant, bread is critical—it's often how you start your meal. So, if it's hard enough to use a support brick, run!

"The bread. I have never had good food at a place where the bread sucks or tastes a day old," one former head chef announces. 

"The bread. It has to be good bread. They don't know anything if they can't get the bread right. No chef in their right mind half-asses the bread," added another. 

Observe your surroundings:

If you haven't Insta-stalked a place, it's best to do some sleuthing as you walk in. You don't need to be like Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass; you need to know what to look for.

"Carpet is a red flag. Yeah, it's quieter and doesn't get slick, but it is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in restaurants. Vacuuming only goes so far in a restaurant, and I know they never shampooed the one at my place," admits one restaurant owner. 

"A very well-hidden kitchen is usually a bad sign," another restaurant chef with an open kitchen writes. 

A host writes, "My red flag is going into a busy restaurant and noticing none of the tables have food or not many customers are eating yet. This usually means the kitchen is going down in flames."

"Former restaurant manager here. I judge by the cleanliness of the windowsills and chair rails exclusively."

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One for the seafood lovers

"If you can smell the seafood when you walk in, then it's not fresh. Fresh seafood doesn't have that scent we usually associate with it — it doesn't get that until it's old," one chef shared. 

"Don’t order fish on Sundays. Most places get their fish deliveries on a Monday and a Thursday. Fish goes off fairly quickly, and on a Sunday, it’s really not great," one seafood restaurant owner wrote. 

Speaking of smells, "If you can smell the fryer from outside the building, get back in your car and drive on," one waiter wrote. "If they don’t maintain the fryer oil, they don't deep-clean at all."

As someone who often researches thoroughly before going anywhere, I have two tips for finding a winning cafe: a good logo and quirky chairs. 

Bon Appetite. 

Originally published as The top six red flags chefs reveal to watch out for at cafes