Americans eat out as a way to treat ourselves and enjoy dishes we might not have the skills to make at home. However, these nine industry secrets will make you rethink everything you know about restaurants. From dirty kitchens to misleading menu descriptions, these hidden truths might make you reconsider eating out. Let’s dive in.
1. Huge Markup
Restaurants have a ton of overhead, including food costs, labor, building rent, and more. In order to turn a modest profit, most restaurants have to mark up their food by 200% or more. So if you order a $15 entree, you could make a comparable meal at home for just $5, a fraction of the cost. That’s without factoring in the tip you’ll have to leave for your server, which makes eating out even more costly.
2. Potentially Dirty Kitchens
Restaurants are all given a cleanliness grade by county health inspectors to ensure proper food safety practices. However, the scoring system allows restaurants to have a few health violations and still receive an A or B grade. Additionally, months go by between inspections, meaning that conditions could potentially deteriorate in the meantime. Unfortunately, you never really know if a restaurant kitchen is clean unless you can see into it. However, it’s a good sign if the dining room and bathrooms are clean and the cleanliness grade is high.
3. Workers May Come In Sick
According to Reader’s Digest, studies have shown that 53% of food chain workers have gone to work sick. Restaurant workers aren’t always paid well, so they may not be able to afford to miss a shift over a cold. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want someone with the flu making me lunch. That’s why I brown bag it instead.
3. The Definition of House-Made Can Be Loose
Some restaurants play fast-and-loose with the definition of “in-house.” For example, food critic Laura Reiley says that restaurants sometimes misrepresent how much of the food is homemade to impress customers. At one farm-to-table restaurant, she was told everything was made in-house, even though the cheese curds were clearly commercially produced. There are plenty of restaurants that are still doing it right and making most things from scratch. However, you might not be able to tell which establishments are the real deal unless you can tour the kitchen.
4. A Lot of Things Are Pre-Made
In a similar vein as #3, many things at restaurants come out of a bag, bottle, or can. Especially at lower-end joints, cooks do a lot of assembling and heating rather than actual scratch cooking. Many restaurants buy pre-made items from suppliers to save time, such as ready-made sauces, fried foods, dough balls, baking mixes, deli salads, desserts, and more. You can even get prepared meals from restaurant suppliers that are ready to throw in the oven. To sum things up, if it tastes like it came out of a microwave, it probably did.
5. Fish Is Not What It Seems
Did you know that the vast majority of fish available at grocery stores, fish markets, and restaurants was previously frozen? Many boats flash-freeze fish in order to preserve it, so even fresh filets you buy at the fish counter may have been frozen at some point. The same goes for the “fresh catch of the day” you pay out the nose for at restaurants.
Some restaurants also tell white lies about the species of fish that they serve. Zander, a European whitefish, is commonly substituted for perch and walleye on menus without necessarily being disclosed. So even if you think you’re getting fresh, locally sourced fish, that might not be what ends up on your plate.
6. Shop At Restaurant Supply Stores Instead of Eating Out
If you love the jalapeno poppers at the bar down the street, you may be able to buy them at your local restaurant supply store. Many consumers don’t know that these stores are often open to the public, allowing you to buy the same food as restaurants. If there’s a sauce, dessert, or type of bread at a neighborhood restaurant that you can’t get enough of, see if you can find a similar product on restaurant supply store shelves. You’ll save money by shopping there instead of eating out.
8. Not All Ingredients Are Created Equal
Restaurant suppliers have different “tiers” of products with varying levels of quality. For example, there may be three different grades of mayonnaise that have different percentages of eggs, which affects the flavor and consistency. Some restaurants choose the cheapest products they can get to increase their profits.
To find establishments that are committed to quality, look closely at item descriptions on the menu. Restaurants that are paying up for premium ingredients will mention that they use certified angus beef or organic, locally-sourced produce. If a restaurant is noticeably silent about the origin of their ingredients on the menu, you can safely assume they aren’t using the best of the best. However, some restaurants may misrepresent the ingredients they’re using, so this isn’t a guarantee.
9. Declining Food Quality Isn’t In Your Head
Have you ever revisited an old favorite restaurant after a few months and noticed that the food quality has dropped off drastically? That’s probably not in your head. Restaurants that are starting to fail often switch to lower-cost suppliers or cheaper ingredients to make up for lost profits. This band-aid solution often worsens the problem, as patrons like you notice that the food isn’t up to its usual quality and stop coming.
Why I Stay Home Instead of Eating Out
After learning more about the inner workings of the restaurant industry, I decided to stay home and cook my own meals more often than not. With the help of my local restaurant supply store, I can usually create dishes that taste just as good (if not better) at a far lower price-point. Plus, I don’t have to worry about getting sick, not getting the type of fish I paid for, or tipping. When I don’t want to deal with cooking or doing dishes, I usually just heat up a frozen meal. That’s what some restaurants do anyway, especially if they’re a big chain place.