An online Harris Interactive poll found that 86% of those who visit restaurants consider restaurant hygiene very important.

According to the poll, the top 10 dirty restroom factors that would prevent restaurant customers from returning are:

-- Overflowing toilets: 58 percent
-- Unpleasant odors: 57 percent
-- Slippery/dirty floors with buildup, gum or other residue: 49 percent
-- Dirty partitions, doors, doorknobs, walls or fixtures: 38 percent
-- Dirty and wet sinks and countertops: 38 percent
-- Insufficient toilet paper: 33 percent
-- Overflowing trash cans: 31 percent
-- Insufficient liquid soap: 28 percent
-- Non-working toilet paper dispenser: 22 percent
-- Management/employees unavailable for reporting problems: 19 percent


Complete story here.

I just recently had a very vivid experience with this and, trust me, the conditions were so bad I left before I even finished my meal.

And this was at an upscale ethnic restaurant where I had dined many times in the past. Just hadn't checked out the facilities before.

I can overlook the soap dispenser being empty, the counter tops being wet or the towels missing once in awhile. But I draw the line real fast after that.

What, no crusted dried Cholula sauce when you open the lid that barely opens, and dried flakes come off? That didn't make the top 10?

What's an ethnic restaurant?

There are some things that make me not want to eat in places. Nose picking is one of them. While in Thailand a few years back, my waiter while waiting for new customers was going for the gold medal in snot mining. I complained to the manager, and he shrugged, like it was no big deal. Maybe Thai's don't care, but when you're serving foreigners, you should be aware what they find offensive. I didn't go back, of course.

Wait, you're talking about the lid on the sauce, right? Not the lid on the toilet?

I don't return due to more esoteric reasons - bad service, poor food quality. I guess that I don't request the table in the bathroom. Seat is way too uncomfortable for sitting long periods. Although, it would save time when purging my previous meal!

I consider an ethnic restaurant as one that specializes in one specific country's or region's cuisine.

YMMV.

I have failed to return to some restaurants for hygiene reasons:

1. Bugs.
2. Waiter using a toothpick to clean his teeth in the dining rrom.
3. Kitchen staff returning to work without washing hands.
4. Low health dept. rating posted on the wall.
5. Crud on a burger resulting from grill not being scraped/cleaned properly
6. Undercooked food.

There are some places in the NYC, Boston, and SFO Chinatown's that would be better off with a pit latrine. I still eat there, though . . .

Cheers,

-Andrew

The worst bathrooms I've ever seen were in strip clubs. I make it a rule not to eat in one.

I will be nice and not post the first comment that came to mind.

I really don't care about how the facilities look, I just make sure the food is good, I realize that I'm in the minority here.

Good for you.

JBa

How about strolling into the Men's Room, finding the only toilet stuffed and clogged with 30lbs. of unflushed feces now flowing freely around the room.

And to find that the only other inhabitant of the Men's Room, a waiter standing in the stuff up to his ankles, going about his business like it was just business as usual.

A complaint to the mananger of the restaurant drew an equally blank stare so off I went.

Pronto.

After that experience, I wasn't anxious to try the food as I couldn't be sure as to the source of that "subtle seasoning".

+1

Despite the wishes of the PC movement, "ethnic" is still an acceptable word.

For me, the bathrooms are where it's at. If the bathrooms don't get it done, it doesn't speak well for the kitchen IMO.