How Slim are Restaurant Margins?

People are lazy. Most find cooking too much work. There is meal planning, shopping cooking and cleaning. A full time job for housewives in the old days.
Restaurants are convenient even if the food is bad. The number of food born diseases from restaurants is staggering. I wonder how many die from filthy restaurant food. I have never been sick from my own food. I have been violently ill from restaurant food many times.

My favorite Thai restaurant in Tahoe is the dirtiest restaurant in town according to the building inspector.

Where’s the new news? Who doesn’t know restaurant is hard work and low margins? Really who didn’t know? Let me slap some sense into them.

At most mom and pop places, the owners are there 6-7 days a week hustling.

If you want to eat out go to Utah. Not sure how you can eat with a mask?

I can understand why immigrants fresh off the boat get into the restaurant business. I don’t understand why people who are supposedly with better options do. I don’t think many outsiders know how bad a business restaurant really is.

Every time I check out at the Safeway in Payson the clerk says “do you need ice?” and I say “no.”
Everywhere I’ve lived since 2007 I’ve done all my shopping on one day and my groceries are typically close to room temp and sometimes warm by the time I get home. The meat, the fish, everything. Defrosted or close to it. Have I ever gotten sick from my own food? No. What about resteraunts? Twice. You’re right, elt - some foul, disgusting, truly heinous things go on in restaurant kitchens.

Still no barber shops open here. Guess I can drive to Utah for a trim if I get desperate. Or just put a flower pot over my head and cut whatever sticks out.

One time at Karlitas Tacos place in Redwood City the woman seated next us opened her burrito. There was a perfectly cooked cockroach in it. I knew then why I got sick there periodically. IHOP in South lake Tahoe gave me the Norovirus. Basically food poisoning

Used to be a Chinese place in Mountain View called “Royal Palace.” I knew two people who found live maggots in their food there. Another brought back “something weird” he found in his lunch there; knew my degree had been in zoology. It turned out to be a maggot which has pupated. I called the health department and they were actually very courteous and thankful. The guy actually told me that Chinese restaurants were their worst offenders. I was surprised he offered that up.

More protein! You usually have to pay extra for that.

As a Chinese person, I can say yes Chinese restaurants are the worst offenders. You need to visit popular Chinese places and get the popular items. Volume helps.

If you worried about cleanliness and/or have compromised health, don’t go out to eat. If you do, goto open kitchen places or higher end places . Definitely don’t goto the “authentic ethnic” spot …

The worst part about restaurants is not the their filthy hygiene. It is the fact they don’t care about healthy ingredients. They use sugar fat salt msg … whatever it takes to make food taste better. It isn’t going into their body, so why care?

Locally the Chinese food is pretty bad but very cheap. Thai food for two $40. Chinese takeout $10 for two. Can’t expect the same quality.

Seattle has a rating system and restaurants are required to post their rating at the entrance. They only post the smiley face and rating not the description. You can have red critical issues and still be excellent.

We Chinese already have herd immunity. What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. :rofl:

For sure, we’re good.

I’m just warning our white friends.

Speaking of food, I am still super confused about food allergy like peanuts. Before I came to the US I have never heard of allergy to peanuts. That still sounds fairly made up to me TBH, and it seems it’s a pretty common condition? Common enough for schools and teachers to always make sure this and that doesn’t contain any nuts. Who would have thought people will die from eating a teeny tiny peanut?

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Don’t worry sir. We have have many scientists on this forum. Your answer is forthcoming!

Personally think it’s environmental… it’s too clean here.
:laughing:

I think a number of studies have shown some correlation with western households and a marked increase in asthma and allergies. Basically too clean, not enough animal dander, etc ends up giving you a either a weakened or overactive immune system.

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That’d have been my guess as well. So it turns out babies picking up random things on the floor and sticking them into their mouths is nature’s way of strengthening their immune system.

Whaaa vals burgers are great

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Hmm. What do you recommend? I usually get the burgers and sometimes breakfast items.

I went a few months ago and had a Baby Burger with American cheese, side of onion rings, and a coffee. Everything was okay, nothing bad, but just not that memorable either. Coffee was pretty bad but okay for diner type place. The waitress (server) was sweet like a loving auntie.

I’ll go again AD since now I’m nostalgic about them.

Gotta get their shakes…mmmmm

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