We’ve all had a less than wonderful experience when eating out at a restaurant. Sometimes, a restaurant may just be having an off day. However, some restaurants are just consistently bad, both in food quality and in service. Here are 10 telltale signs you’re dining at a bad restaurant to hopefully assist you in avoiding the bad ones in the future!
1. Empty Parking Lot Or Building
Though new restaurants can take some time to attract a crowd, a very empty parking lot or restaurant interior is a sign that the establishment isn’t particularly popular.
2. Inattentive Hosts And Servers
If you walk into a restaurant and it takes a long time for a host or server to greet or seat you (especially if the restaurant isn’t very busy), chances are the serving staff aren’t overly interested in making your dining experience a great one.
3. Unclean Interior Or Washrooms
If you notice the interior or washrooms of a restaurant appear dirty, don’t bother sitting down! A clean restaurant typically indicates top-notch health and safety standards, while a dirty one… doesn’t.
Beyond the washrooms, you might be surprised to learn what the dirtiest things in restaurants actually are.
4. A Massive Menu
An incredible restaurant usually has a small to moderate number of menu items, and they do those menu items extremely well. A restaurant with a massive menu is less likely to be producing that many high-quality dishes.
5. Unhappy Diners
You can usually sense the vibe of a restaurant the moment you step inside. If the diners appear relaxed, happy, and eating, those are good signs. If no one has food in front of them and diners seem inpatient or unhappy, those generally aren’t good signs.
6. Poor Reviews
This one might seem overly simplistic, but the best way to get a sense of a restaurant before you dine there is to check out the recent reviews. It’s normal for even the best restaurants to have a few bad reviews, but if the reviews are overwhelmingly poor, it might be best to avoid that one.
7. Funky Smells
If you enter a restaurant and immediately notice a funky smell (and one that’s clearly not tied to some good cooking), you might as well walk back out the door.
8. Packed With Tourists
Though this isn’t always a bad sign, a restaurant that is clearly packed with tourists may not be the best spot. Typically, the best restaurants are the ones that the locals frequent!
9. Poor Food Presentation
Food presentation doesn’t need to be overly fancy to be high-quality. However, there should be some sense of pride in how your dishes are served, which would include your meal not looking like it was just tossed onto the plate.
10. Chaotic Kitchen
Lastly, a telltale sign of a restaurant that might be experiencing some issues is a messy, chaotic kitchen. Many restaurants have partially open kitchens. Glance over, and if you see a huge mess or lots of screaming among kitchen staff, things may not be going very well!
While these signs (especially a combination of them) will typically signify a less than ideal dining experience, it’s important to remember that even the best, most reputable restaurant may have an off day. If you get the sense a restaurant may not be up to your expectations, try another one instead. And remember, no matter the dining experience, it’s always important to treat restaurant staff with understanding and respect. Happy restaurant hunting!
