8 restaurant workers spill the beans: little feet were sticking out of the soup
Working in hospitality is hard work. The disgusting behavior of some guests is therefore the last thing you want to deal with during the rush. From spitting in milk jugs to clipping toenails at the table: these are downright disgusting practices. But guests aren’t the only ones who can behave bizarrely; colleagues sometimes have a knack for it too.
That is clear from these stories by former employees who share their experiences anonymously. And believe us: it’s grosser than you think.
A cup of ‘fresh’ coffee?
“The owner of the restaurant was cleaning the coffee machine. It had a filter that we scooped freshly ground coffee into. When he walked to the kitchen with the filter full of used coffee, it broke. He asked me to sweep it up, then snatched the dustpan and brush from my hands and put the grounds straight back into the clean filter in the machine.”
Umami fruit flies
“During my second shift, I was asked if I could strain the soy sauce. Pretty weird, and even more so when I realized that thousands of fruit flies were left in the strainer. I finished my shift and never came back.”
Toilet occupied
“Not too long ago, I worked for a pizza chain where the ‘clean’ aprons and dish towels were piled up in the staff bathroom.”
Mouse soup
“At the restaurant where I worked, we served the most delicious onion soup from the day before, because: extra flavor. The next morning, I opened the restaurant, walked into the kitchen, and saw two little feet and a tail sticking out of the pot of soup. Throw it away immediately, I thought, but my boss asked me to remove the mouse and boil the soup again. The heat would kill the bacteria anyway. I left the pot of soup where it was and walked out.”
The children’s hands
“At our restaurant, we often served a small bowl of Parmesan cheese with the Italian dishes. When the guests had left the table, the bowls were emptied into a large container, even though plenty of children’s hands had been in them. Absolutely disgusting.”
Waste not, want not
“My first hospitality job was at a donut shop. At the end of the day, we threw the leftover donuts out back into the large dumpster. One day, a customer came in at the last minute and asked if we still had any donuts. My boss said he would check out back. I followed him and saw him grab the donuts from the dumpster, put them back in the box, and sell them to the customer.”
Sour ice cream
“During my shift at a large fast-food chain, my boss told me it was okay to pour expired milk into the ice cream machine. After all, no one would notice.”
Licked salt shaker
“One of my colleagues said that we didn’t have to refill the salt shakers every time, but that she had a trick to make them look full. She then licked her finger, rubbed it along the side of the shaker, and shook it so the salt would stick, making it look as if the shaker was completely full.”
Read also:
- Is this the grossest food account in existence?
- 8 bizarre and disgusting things hospitality guests do
- A quarter of working Dutch people find their colleagues disgusting
