20 Foods You Should Never Order At A Restaurant
Ever wonder what restaurant insiders know that you don’t?
Some menu items hide secrets that could ruin your meal or worse.
Sneaky spoilage tricks and dishes that never taste as good as they should can cost you money, disappointment, and even a stomachache.
Here are the items chefs and servers would never touch with a ten-foot fork.
1. Seafood on Mondays
Most restaurants get their seafood shipments on Thursday or Friday, meaning that fish sitting in the case on Monday has been chilling for days.
Freshness matters big time when it comes to fish and shellfish.
Older seafood not only loses flavor but also increases your chances of getting sick.
Save your salmon craving for midweek when deliveries are fresh.
Your taste buds and your stomach will thank you for waiting.
2. Well-Done Steak
Cooking a steak until it’s gray all the way through is basically a crime against beef.
Chefs cringe when someone orders well-done because it turns a juicy cut into shoe leather.
All that beautiful marbling and flavor gets cooked right out.
Medium-rare or medium lets you taste what you’re actually paying for.
Plus, some restaurants save their worst cuts for well-done orders since you won’t taste the difference anyway.
3. Ice in Your Drink
Ice machines can be the dirtiest secret in a restaurant.
When was the last time you thought about what’s growing inside that ice maker?
Mold, bacteria, and all kinds of nasty stuff thrive in those dark, wet environments if they’re not cleaned regularly.
Many places don’t scrub them nearly as often as they should.
Ordering your drink without ice might seem weird, but it’s way safer than risking whatever’s lurking in those cubes.
4. Raw Oysters from Sketchy Places
Oysters are filter feeders, which means they suck up everything floating in the water around them.
That includes bacteria that can make you seriously ill.
Unless you’re at a top-notch seafood spot with a stellar reputation, raw oysters are a gamble you might lose.
Food poisoning from bad oysters is no joke and can land you in the hospital.
Stick to cooked shellfish unless you absolutely trust the source.
5. Daily Specials That Seem Too Good
That amazing deal on the specials board might not be as special as you think.
Restaurants sometimes use specials to get rid of ingredients that are about to expire.
If the price seems unbelievably low, there’s probably a reason.
They’re trying to move inventory before it goes bad.
Ask your server when the special was prepared or how fresh the ingredients are before you take the bait on that bargain dish.
6. Pre-Dressed Salads
Salad dressing turns crispy greens into a sad, soggy mess if it sits too long.
Pre-dressed salads often sit in the fridge for who knows how long before they hit your table.
The lettuce gets limp, the tomatoes get mushy, and the whole thing loses its appeal.
Always ask for dressing on the side so you control how much goes on.
Fresh, crunchy salad beats sad, wilted leaves every single time.
7. Hollandaise Sauce
Hollandaise is basically a science experiment that can go wrong in so many ways.
It needs to stay at just the right temperature or it separates and spoils.
Restaurants often make it in big batches and let it sit, which is a recipe for bacteria growth.
Unless you’re at a fancy brunch spot that makes it fresh to order, skip it.
Nobody wants to spend their afternoon regretting that eggs Benedict.
8. Buffet Items
Buffets are basically bacteria playgrounds where food sits under heat lamps for hours.
People touch the serving spoons, sneeze near the food, and who knows what else.
The longer food sits out, the more it dries out and loses flavor.
Plus, you never know how long that mac and cheese has been sitting there getting crusty.
All-you-can-eat might sound great, but the health risks often aren’t worth the bargain price.
9. Store-Bought Desserts
Paying restaurant prices for a dessert they bought at the grocery store feels like getting ripped off.
Many places don’t make their own sweets and just serve factory-made cakes and pies.
You can tell by the overly perfect appearance and that artificial taste.
Ask your server if desserts are made in-house before ordering.
If they hesitate or say no, skip it and grab something better on your way home instead.
10. Chicken Caesar Salad
This menu staple often features the driest, most overcooked chicken you’ll ever encounter.
Restaurants prep chicken in bulk and reheat it, turning it into rubbery sadness.
The romaine might be days old, and that Caesar dressing probably came from a giant jug.
You’re basically paying premium prices for glorified leftovers.
Order something the kitchen actually puts effort into instead of this tired default option.
11. Pasta with Red Sauce
Unless you’re at an authentic Italian spot, that marinara probably came straight from a jar.
The pasta gets boiled in huge batches and reheated when you order.
It’s one of the cheapest things to make but they charge you like it’s gourmet.
The markup on pasta dishes is insane compared to what it costs to prepare.
Save your money and make better pasta at home for a fraction of the price.
12. Fountain Soda
Those soda fountain nozzles are seriously gross if you think about it too hard.
They rarely get cleaned properly and can harbor mold and bacteria.
The syrup-to-carbonation ratio is often off, making your drink taste weird.
Plus, you’re paying three bucks for something that costs the restaurant about fifteen cents.
Stick to bottled or canned drinks if you want to avoid mystery gunk in your beverage.
13. Soup of the Day
That mystery soup is often where yesterday’s leftovers go to die.
Vegetables that are getting soft, meat scraps, and random ingredients get tossed into a pot and called special.
Some restaurants keep adding to the same pot for days, which is pretty questionable.
You never really know how old the ingredients are or how long it’s been sitting.
If you can’t identify what’s floating in there, maybe order something else entirely.
14. Anything Flambéed Tableside
Sure, it looks impressive when they light your food on fire, but it’s mostly just theater.
The alcohol burns off too quickly to add much flavor.
You’re paying extra for the show rather than better-tasting food.
Plus, there’s always that slight risk of singed eyebrows if something goes wrong.
The kitchen could make the same dish better without the dangerous pyrotechnics and inflated price tag attached to it.
15. Tap Water in Questionable Areas
Not all tap water is created equal, and some restaurants have seriously sketchy plumbing.
Old pipes can leach metals and other nasties into the water.
If the restaurant looks run-down, their water system probably matches.
You might taste chlorine, rust, or something even worse.
When in doubt, order bottled water or skip water altogether and go for something sealed and safe instead of risking it.
16. Mussels
Mussels go bad incredibly fast and can make you violently ill if they’re not super fresh.
One bad mussel in the batch can ruin your entire week.
They should smell like the ocean, not like low tide at a garbage dump.
Many restaurants don’t check each one carefully before cooking them.
Unless you’re at a place that specializes in shellfish and has constant turnover, mussels are a risky gamble you might lose.
17. Eggs at Dinner Spots
Ordering breakfast food at a place that focuses on dinner is asking for disappointment.
Their eggs have probably been sitting in the walk-in cooler forever.
The cook who specializes in steaks doesn’t care about making your omelet perfect.
You’ll get rubbery, overcooked eggs that taste like cardboard.
Save breakfast orders for actual breakfast places where they know what they’re doing with eggs and care about the results.
18. Anything with Raw Sprouts
Sprouts are basically bacteria magnets that have caused tons of food poisoning outbreaks.
They grow in warm, humid conditions that bacteria absolutely love.
Even washing them doesn’t always get rid of the contamination.
The CDC has warned about them multiple times over the years.
That crunchy texture isn’t worth the risk of spending days hugging your toilet, so ask the kitchen to leave them off entirely.
19. Swordfish or Large Predatory Fish
Big fish like swordfish accumulate mercury throughout their long lives.
Eating too much can lead to mercury poisoning, which messes with your nervous system.
Pregnant women and kids should definitely avoid these entirely.
Even if you’re not in those groups, why risk it when there are safer seafood options?
Smaller fish like salmon or sardines give you the same omega-3s without the toxic metal buildup that comes with apex predators.
20. Complimentary Bread Basket
That bread basket gets passed around to multiple tables if people don’t finish it.
Someone else’s hands were probably all over those rolls before they landed at your table.
It fills you up with cheap carbs before your real meal arrives, which is exactly what restaurants want.
You’ll eat less of the pricey entrée you actually ordered.
Skip the free bread and save room for the food you’re paying good money to enjoy instead.
