If you’ve ever wondered why you hear stories of restaurant staff doing nasty things to your food before they serve it to you, this might be enlightening. [More]
Diners Ask Restaurant For 47 Separate Checks… And That's Before They Pulled Out Their Groupons
By December 20, 2010
Is "I'm From Europe" A Good Excuse For Being A Crappy Tipper?
By December 1, 2010
About a month ago, we brought you the story of overpriced NYC hotel bars that were adding automatic 18-20% gratuities to tabs, claiming that they had to do so because so many of their patrons were from Europe and other parts of the world where tipping isn’t part of the culture. Now we hear from a waiter who proves they might have a point. [More]
Restaurant Employees: Google Says We're Closed Because We Wouldn't Pay For Ads (Updated)
By November 22, 2010
While Ian was visiting Hawaii, he wanted to check out a restaurant a friend had told him about. He looked the place up on Google Maps and was dismayed to find it had closed. When he actually got there, he found the joint was very much open, and talked to employees who alleged Google affixed it with the false label as a way to blacklist the restaurant for refusing to advertise. [More]
Chef Doesn't Quite Appreciate Reviews From Inbred, Jobless, Bored Yelp Users
By November 10, 2010
Some people don’t like to be criticized, especially when the criticism comes from amateurs and when said criticism can have an impact on their income. Just ask the chef at a restaurant in Denver who has kicked up a crap storm after unleashing his true feelings about Yelp.com reviewers. [More]
Customer Forgets Doggie Bag, Demands Gift Certificate
By November 5, 2010
If you left a busy restaurant without your doggie bag, what would you do? (A) Shrug and think about the delicious lunch of leftovers that will never be? (B) Go back to the restaurant to see if it was still there? Or would it be (C) Call the restaurant and demand a gift certificate in compensation? A customer of a Boston restaurant attempted option (C) recently, and the restaurant took to social media to share their… surprise? confusion? [More]
Slime Slops Into Sodas, Manager Too Busy To Clean Ice Machine
By November 5, 2010
Reader Nora works at a restaurant where the new manager is too busy to mitigate the black slime growing in the ice machine, even though sometimes it plops into people’s drinks. At left is a picture she took with her cellphone of the mold colony. [More]
Should The Guy Always Pay On The First Date?
By October 29, 2010
It’s nearly the weekend, which means at least some of you will be going out on dates, a handful of which will be first date. And in spite of all talk of gender equality, many people still think it’s the man’s job to foot the bill. [More]
63% Of Restaurant Workers Admit To Serving While Sick
By October 15, 2010
Waiter! There’s a phlegm in my soup! And it’s yours! 63% of restaurant workers in a new survey said they had cooked and served food while sick, putting consumers at risk, and also being just gross. [More]
Celeb Chef Mario Batali Sued Over Tips By Staff At Yet Another Restaurant
By October 13, 2010
Back in July, pony-tailed celeb chef Mario Batali found himself the subject of a lawsuit filed by workers at five of his NYC area restaurants for allegedly withholding credit card tips from the staff. Absent from that litigation were employees at Batali’s flagship eatery Del Posto… until yesterday when 27 members of that restaurant’s staff sued, claiming they weren’t paid a legal wage. [More]
Chicago Restaurant Owes $118K In Overdraft Fees, May Have To Close
By October 8, 2010
If you’ve felt the burn of a $35 overdraft charge, just be thankful you’re not Chicago’s Heartland Cafe, which has had to shell out $118,000 in cascading overdraft charges. [More]
Would Your Home Kitchen Pass A Health Department Inspection?
By September 30, 2010
You might be reticent to eat in a restaurant that has done poorly on a recent health inspection, but be honest with yourself: would your kitchen pass the same kind of inspection? A writer for the New York Times wondered this, and invited a real live city inspector to examine his own home kitchen. He did not do well. [More]
Restaurant Makes The Best Out Of Health Department Ding
By September 20, 2010
A Midtown Manhattan sandwich shop got less than stellar marks from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene decided to integrate its ‘B’ grade into some inaccurate, possibly ironic advertising. [More]
Tips On Getting Less Fat & Less Poor When You Dine Out
By September 13, 2010
We’ll admit that we tend to focus on the more outrageous end of the restaurant menu, both because it’s fun and it’s what we (well, at least I) eat. But leave it to our more sensible cousins at Consumer Reports Health to come up with a list of ways to eat out at a restaurant while saving money and watching your waist. [More]
Things Chefs Will Never Tell You
By September 10, 2010
An anonymous survey of chefs across the country revealed insider tips about how to get the best value when eating out, as well as some other things that might curdle your appetite: [More]
Restaurant Owner Admits To Hiring Undocumented Workers, Pleads 'Not Guilty' To Doing So
By September 8, 2010
Along with hotels, the food preparation industry may be the sector that relies the most on undocumented workers. A White House crackdown on employers of such workers has been in effect since April of last year is putting increased pressure and heightened consequences — including tighter scrutiny increased fines — for business owners who take the risk of hiring such workers. A San Diego restaurant owner is going all in to fight the regulation. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury for hiring illegal immigrants, but has entered a not guilty plea and kept the workers in question on the staff. [More]
Yelp Reviewer Gives 1 Star For Restaurant That Hasn't Opened Yet
By September 1, 2010
As with any community-sourced online content, Yelp’s reviews can vary widely in quality. Still, this may be one of the most ridiculously self-entitled and clueless reviews anyone has ever posted about a restaurant: [More]
Chef Fined For Licking Toads In The Kitchen
By August 17, 2010
The chef at a Japanese restaurant in Iowa was fined $335 after health department officials watched a video of him licking and kissing toads, then putting them in his mouth and then back on the prep table, in the restaurant’s kitchen. His brother taped the stunt and posted it on Facebook. [More]
