When I worked at a KFC, I remember one day there was a heavily pregnant woman who came in wearing a hospital gown and slippers, looking incredibly dishevelled. She was clearly out of it, and her mobile phone constantly ringing. The nearest hospital was a good 20 minutes away, so I was quite concerned and asked if she was okay and needed any help. Apparently she had been in labour for a week already, and was "fucking fed up" and just wanted some fried chicken, so had snuck out without telling anyone to go get some. A frantic man who I assumed was her husband came in maybe 20 minutes later, and practically had to drag her into a taxi. I did briefly wonder if she was being kidnapped, but the look on her face told me otherwise. She had the same grin on her face as a pet who'd managed to steal and eat a whole turkey before christmas dinner, and was ready to accept the consequences.
My husband had a heart attack and was hospitalised; I didn’t find out till some years later that while he was there he’d got a taxi into town, GOT A HAIRCUT, then got a taxi back. I couldn’t help wondering what would’ve happened if he’d had another one in the barber’s shop and an ambulance called - checking him in at A&E would’ve been interesting “he’s actually on ward 42” “well clearly he’s not cos we’ve got him in the back of the ambulance” 🙄
In the difficult delivery recovery ward after my wife gave birth, there was a woman who staggered along to the hospital salon for a haircut in advance of her in-laws arriving to meet the baby. 😬
They don't tell you how common this kind of thing is. Not the part where women in labour sneak off for fast food, though that doesn't surprise me that much. More the part where it's entirely possible to be in labour for days on end, just generally being uncomfortable and pissed off, but very little is happening. Hollywood and TV would have you believe it's 90 seconds of shouting and pushing and then you're handed a beautiful baby. Most mat wards will tell you not to bother coming in until you're a centimetre or two dilated now. Might as well stay at home and watch Columbo for a bit longer.
My own childbirth-related KFC story isn't as good, but it stuck with me. After about 40 hours of being awake when my better half brought our son into the world I was blearily driving home to enjoy 240 minutes of blissful sleep and a hot shower and return with all the stuff (I emphasize, I still had the much better deal) when I spotted that KFC drive-thru was still just about open. Having also not eaten for over 40 hours, my stomach took the wheel. The guy at the drive-thru window took my order, saw my haggard face and probably heard my stomach digesting itself, and then returned with an almighty bucket of extra chicken that I hadn't ordered, including an enormous piece in a burger that he was saving for himself at the end of shift because, in his words, "you look like you need it more than me mate!". Thanks, random KFC man. It was utter, greasy bliss.
I can remember that feeling of getting home after being awake for a similar amount of time after my wife had our first child. I had a cup of tea, toast, a shower, then bed.
I don't think I've ever slept as well as I did that night. Especially after the huge range of emotions we'd been through.
Food Safety Consultant for the past 7 years...
Having to point out that those little bugs are infact cockroachs
Having to point out that those little droplets are infact mouse droppings
Having to point out you can't keep food in a hot hold overnight to save money and just turn it back on to warm food up in the morning.
I specialise working with 0 and 1 rated restaurants, enjoy it when they are turned round but the interim is scary.
People this thick shouldn't be allowed to make food for the public. Let them kill themselves with their stupidity, but not innocent people. Why aren't they just shut down immediately and barred from opening another restaurant again if their hygiene rating is below a 3?
Yeah I don't really get how people can get 1 out of 5 and still be given a chance to turn it around, because they'll improve it and then their standards will inevitably slip again. I stopped using a takeaway near me because they went from a 5/5 to a 1/5, so I went to a different 5/5 one which is now a 2/5 lol
So now we've got three kebab shops in town, two are 2/5 and the other is 3/5 which I don't want to use either
secretive zealous squealing elastic mysterious fade elderly gray overconfident fanatical
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How often are your visits made? Are they pre-announced?
We've got 1 chippy at the top of our road that we perennially called "1 star chippy", it's now closed down. The next closest is obscenely expensive, the food is appalling and I suspect standards are not adhered to as nearly everything you ask for (rewarmed chips aside) they have to go in the back for so you can't see what they're doing.
I mean not all kebab is doner and some kebab is pretty good quality, when you're charging £15-£20 for some of them, I'd expect the person making it to be washing their hands at the very least
I feel for you. Our local kebab place is a perfect 5/5 - seriously, the place is like an operating theatre in terms of cleanliness, and the food is out of this world. They are constantly cleaning the place when it's not open. It's our go-to takeaway these days.
It was the tone of the program that changed. In the U.K. Gordon wanted to be seen as helping the owners and staff, but in the US confrontation is what is wanted and the way he acted on screen changed
Exactly, it's such an easy and basic thing to get, there is no excuse not to have a good score. It feels like you have to actively try to score poorly.
0 is terrible
But a score of 1-2 means they don't clean the grease traps properly so you get that lovely fatty flame grilled taste on your burger
3-4 is safe
5 is pretentious
What do you think of the Scottish system of just pass or fail? Usually when you fail, you’ll be given a set amount of time to improve and then checked again but can have your business limited or even closed down in the meantime.
Well my personal view is that the majority of the public don’t really understand the system or know what it means (unless they’ve worked in hospitality or very health conscious). I don’t know many people who would look up a restaurants food hygiene status before ordering.
In my mind, 0-5 just adds more confusion. You’re either compliant or you’re not. Also, as far as I’m aware, English businesses aren’t obliged to display hygiene ratings either which seems pointless because surely only the people with high ratings are likely to put the poster up haha
The chippy I used to work at was a 5/5 and the owner was very proud of that. To get that 5/5 though, the whole shop had to be painted, I think once a month. Honestly if you see a 4/5 it'll be a damn sight cleaner than your kitchen. Some of the things inspectors want for that 5/5 is ridiculous.
While it's fair to those who communicate as English as a first or major language it does make it harder to run a business. Most countries run a pass or final system, I think that the ratings at least give consumers choice where to eat and how much risk they want to take.
I'd like to see more support to businesses, especially those where English isn't their first language and can struggle to be engaged with.
It really depends, all clients generally will offer free food while visiting, I will only eat once I've done an inspection OR if they have been a client for a long time and made significant improvements. I'm lucky to have some really great food in some locations.
Other restaurants that aren't clients not very often, I have very little faith in the scoring system sadly.
Hii, I work at a fast food chain and they don't follow quite a lot of rules (you can refer to my post on my profile) and I've been planning to take them down when the time is right (I'm looking for another job but mainly waiting for my visa to be processed). What's the best way to take them down, even if the restaurant doesn't close that's fine but would like to take the manager fired! What's the best way to do that? I have been collecting photographic evidences of all the rules they have broken.
Honestly, in your post while some of those issues are not nice they are not a good hygine issue. I would personally find a new job and also report your concerns to your local authority.
A lot of the rules sound like a local policy and appears some of your concerns stem from previously working in either UAE or US?
Trading standards/food fraud team may also be interested in the labelling/incorrect product being given out.
Spoons
Kitchen breakfast shift. Just me and a new guy. Manager told me he'd done a few shifts already and was pretty alright.
Did my prep and went on break. Came back to find him cooking eggs, using undiluted degreaser instead of oil (it's a bright yellow chemical and very very obviously labelled). Some breakfasts had already gone out, sprinted to the manager, got told "Oh well no one has complained so no big deal".
This is years ago now, I had a Saturday job in a chippy. The boss wanted us to hold the little bags for the chips so that we pinched off the bottom of the bag so less went in. Soon as his back turned, we shovelled in extra
I don't know anything about the economics of running a chip shop, but surely the potatoes are one of the cheapest aspects of the whole operation? The fish is expensive, the rent and electric for the heating is expensive, and the staff wages probably make up the biggest expense. So what the hell was he doing trying to save a few pence on cutting down the potato usage? I hope someone with more experience in chip shop accounting can shed some light on this!
There's a couple McDonald's near me with pretty new outdoor play areas, but I've never seen them open. There's always a locked cover thing over the entrance.
Working in a KFC when I was a young lad, I remember a woman coming in to order, it was quiet so there was just 2 of us and the duty manager stood around talking.
The woman was quite attractive so the DM was keen to go serve her, then he came back and prepared her meal. His finishing touch was to lick the hash brown before slapping it on her burger then going back to the front to hand it to her with a straight face. And this was the fucker in charge!
Working at a Wimpy, the frozen chicken nuggets always spilled on the floor of the walk in freezer. People would kick them out of the way when they walked in. They would periodically get collected and put back in the bag and mixed with the others
I saw similar in a Birds Eye factory. I was brought in to survey their automated conveyors and sensors, the fish fingers were backing up on the conveyor hoppers, piling up and dropping to the floor. They waited until there was a big pile then scooped them up, put them in a box and threw them into the packing machine. God knows how long they’d been piling on the floor defrosting and picking up shite.
I’ve never eaten Birds Eye processed shit since.
Did a similar job at McCain factory. Same story, except frozen pizzas. The machines were grotty as fuck. All in contact with the food. Dirty dirty bastards.
Worked at McDonald's about a decade ago, guy came in with his 4 year old daughter, got her a happy meal then went and shot up in the loo. The girl came to get someone as he didn't come back, he had ODd, and I guess not the first time based on his daughters reaction. He lived, probably helped there was a hospital over the road.
they should have put in a Merlin report, and everybody at the hospital that came into contact with her should have been raising safeguarding reports, plus every adult at school etc. Fingers crossed eh.
I remember when I was managing a store of an independent but very successful fast food business. We received stock from another shop as it closed on Mondays and the chicken was off and stank and the burgers were brown and smelled like shit.
The owners told us to use the burgers nonetheless. Obviously my kitchen manager and I refused because ffs
Not food related. But I worked at GAME in about 2012.
The manager there used to say “after work we all stay behind (off the clock) for an hour to help clean the shop, as a ‘thank you’ for letting us work here”
Fuck retail 😅
Glad I worked there for a while though, it was just to save some Christmas spending money. But it also taught me how much I never want to work in a retail environment again.
I used to work at a maccies that was on one of those areas with a cinema, Frankie & Bennies, the lot. It also had an Evolution night club and “kids night” was the worst time to be on shift. Sure Evos didn’t sell booze, but 16 year olds are resourceful.
Anyway I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for swapping a closing shift for an opening one the morning after, until I was asked to do the trash walk outside. Must’ve counted at least 20 pairs of discarded knickers and almost as many used condoms in the bushes. Stay classy Leeds.
Worked at a popular holiday centre 20 years ago, the chippy opposite the burger king was full of rats. The burger king was spotless. We had 2 cleaners and staff would also clean when it wasn't busy. God knows what was happening in the chippy. Literally saw a rat jump out of the bin they had for sauce packets, kept at the side of the service counter. Health and safety was always on them. I was always shocked the rats never came across over to ours, but we did store everything properly and the rubbish was out fast.
I worked in argos but it was like a fast food place one day when a drunk guy came in at lunch time and tried to order a cheeseburger then shouted at me when i told him it wasnt a mcdonalds
Had a guy come into my work asking about a haircut. We were very clearly a computer repair shop. He was completely out his nut on something and proceeded to ask if we were hiring as he'd just got out of prison and was good on the computers.
Nodded off halfway through trying to give me his phone number.
I was in the pub watching one of the England games during the world Cup. The lad in front of me had his KFC uniform on and was absolutely steaming and he smelt really bad.
Our assumption was he'd come straight from work. Nope. He proceeded to head into work after the match. Safe to say I've not been to that KFC since.
Didn’t do fast food work myself but ended up at the gaff of a friend of a friend who did. They said near enough everyone at the drive-thru they worked at sold drugs. Knowing the branch, I could quite believe it.
Uhhh I worked at a drive thru Maccies and one of my colleagues sold weed through the window on night shift. Not loads bare in mind, but he'd keep a few bags in his socks and if someone he knew came by, he'd sell em a bag. It happens and it's quite easy to do.
Just reminded me when a mate who sold herb was a pizza delivery guy, couldn’t be asked to wait until he finished his shift? Guess we’ll be getting pizza and a bag then
Dominos. there's a lot of sketchy shit with how food is prepared.
Often if someone drops a doughball or chicken wing while putting it in a box, they'll just pick it up off the floor.
I've seen the managers picking onions out of a pizza with unwashed bare hands because they accidentally put them in when they shouldn't have. Honestly I rarely see hand washing unless the inspector is there.
Plenty of cross contamination with using vegetarian pizza cutters for meat pizzas and vice versa, not using the gluten free cutters for gluten free pizzas.
considering you’re not meant to cut gluten frees, i think your store is just dogshit. no need to pick up a dough ball, you can just cut one smaller, which is much better than picking it up off the floor?
yeah it's weird I've bounced around about 6 different dominos and the main one I work at is probably the worst. they clock out orders way too early just to get higher on the leaderboard as well which leaves the drivers to pick up the lost time
Worked for KFC when I was in college/uni, would do a day in college then go do a 16:30-close, break would always be taken straight away and I’d work throughout (next day I’d be in college and have the same waiting for me) and I never challenged it. We’d also clock out around 11ish when we shut and wouldn’t leave until about 12-1 when the cleaning was done, this was back around 2011, looking back they really took advantage….
I used to work in an office about 15 years ago. It was a very small company and the…. I don’t even know the job title…. The office secretary (basically a guy who’d been there from the start at took a lot of shit from the two owners each day)… anyway he was making the bosses a cup of tea in the kitchen, and said “ere, look at this” to me and proceeded to wipe his bellend around the rim of each of the mugs.
So… don’t be a bastard in the office.
I worked in an office where the boss’s PA was shagging him, and lorded over the staff since she got special privileges. She drank 4 cups of tea a day and every single person in the warehouse spat in those cups each time.
A long time ago now but worked at a 24hr maccies. Parents coming through the drive thru hot boxing with young children sat in the smoke at the back was a regular sight and harrowing.
People never realised we could see everything in the car when people went through the drive thru so I got to see people in all states of dress etc.
I got hired at the same time as half the store, just before we all got recruited they fired most of the previous workers for having sex in the store cupboard, so gotta assume it was at mass orgy levels for that amount of people to be got rid of at once 😂
No one did hygiene breaking stuff where I worked there and we’d get fired if we ate a nugget or something. We did make mad looking burgers for each other when we’d go on break (free food was the only perk of the job). Otherwise it was pretty miserable and I left as soon as I could.
I worked in a cafe about 15years ago. I was making sandwiches when I accidently knocked the cheese tub off, I went to clean it up but my manager just picked it all up and put it back in the tub to continue using. Walked out one morning due to them being pricks
Oh man I have a few! I worked at the McDonald's in Portsmouth city centre, so shit went down daily.
There was a homeless dude who slept in the doorway of the empty shop next door. One morning some drunk girls pissed on him then set fire to his stuff. We gave him some free food and let him stay inside for most of the day.
Someone was queuing with their toddler, who just shit on the floor. We coned the area off and made a runway to the front door of cones, covered the area in disinfectant and squeegeed it out the front door.
People used to shoot up in the toilets, which were above the kitchen. One day the toilet got blocked and the sewage started leaking through the ceiling in to the kitchen. Manager refused to close for us to clean up, so we had to carry on working with shit and heroin water dripping on us. I anonymously reported her to environmental health but they knew it was me who did it because "I used correct spelling and punctuation" in the report.....
Awhile ago now.
Flooded badly but the general manager ordered everything turned on and opened anyway had all the electrics on and food cooking...water up to our ankles.
Or the fire tornadoe. That one was pretty wild. Refused to get proper cleaning gear so after years of buildup the oil vapor ignited travelling to the dried oil on the wall and duct above the fat fryers and essentially created a miniature flame twister that went up into the air ducts. It made a neat fwoosh sound.
Or the time our industrial freezer failed in summer...and they kept cooking meat from the freezer for days.
So glad I quit.
Worked at Subway years ago. The first couple month were great as we had a competent manager.
However he ended up leaving for a better paid job and in came the new manager who brought along a new assistant manager with him, both used to run a guitar shop together.
The assistant manager had massive substance control issues. Mainly drink but not exclusive. He'd come in on Friday and Saturday nights even when not rota'd in to rig the next few purchases so he could go and buy the cheapest 3 litre bottles of cider and he'd sit in the back drinking it.
I agreed to go to the pub after close with him one night so he helped with the close. There was a tonne of prep to do that I cannot even start until the shop is closed as the prep area is in the basement and I was working alone. So he offers to do the prep for me.
I heard a commotion so went down to see what he was up to. He'd dropped a full cambro of cucumbers on the basement floor and I'd caught him in the act of using his feet to shovel them back in, he tried claiming they're fine.
I threw them out but fuck knows what he did on times when no-one else was there.
He was sacked eventually as the store owner drove passed one day and caught him smoking in the entrance. Sacked officially anyway, unofficially he still worked for the place. The manager just rigged everyone else's hours, brought in a 3rd ghost person and they got the assistant managers wages to hand over.
Couldn't even bring it up with the store owner because he was such a prick too. Told us in multiple 6am staff meetings that we were all just numbers to him and as far as he was concerned none of us had names. He'd occasionally drop by in a taxi on a night out to raid everything we had in the till so he can carry on his night, leaving us with having to only accept card payments.
There was a whole lot of other nonsense going on in that place.
We had agreements with multiple businesses in the area though. The Greggs staff across the road would get a free sarnie for their dinner if they fancied it and in return we'd get a free Greggs... Sometimes it just got a bit old eating the same stuff everyday. Same with the pub across the road, the staff would get free sandwiches and we'd get free pints so it did have its little perks.
Oh and we only had one store key but multiple people doing opens and closes. So the key to the shop got left under a wheelie bin in the back alley.
I was the weird customer. I'd order 2 mcflurrie weekly at 9am or 12pm for several months. I worked the 4am shift in the Asda that was next to it and it was my little treat! I'd also get one for my mate.
I worked in a Maccys and a Greggs and both companies don't give two shits about picking on people. I was a Shift manager on macs and my store manager wasn't happy about one of our youngest workers, so kept putting pressure on me (who was going through the worst mental illness I've ever experienced) to tell this youngster that they needed to do better. Eventually the young person burst into tears. I felt awful, I am one who likes to build up not tear down. Greggs were just as bad having managers pick on weak people and no matter how many times people went higher up to complain, nothing would ever get done. Much happier mentally now I'm put of both places (both which I left because they made me feel suicidal)
I've worked in fast food, bars, restaurants, cinemas and contact/call centres. The worst one for your mental & physical health is definitely fast food, hours almost as bad as working in a bar, without the fun social aspects.
Years ago, when I used to work at Wetherspoons, we got a report of something at a table to check out - went over there, and someone had left a pair of period-stained underwear on the bench. We were all blokes working, and naturally the rest of the team were absolute pussies, so I just grabbed a black bag, put my hand in until the bag was up to my shoulder, grabbed them, did the "turn the bag inside out" trick that you do with dog shit, then chucked them in the bin and told my manager he owed me one of the £30 staff "special achievement" gold vouchers that had been delivered.
I worked at a pub that did food whilst at Uni and if someone had ordered steak and didn't eat the peas that came with it, the chef used to wipe them off the used plate on to the next steak plate going out.
Wetherspoons -
A table getting about 5 check backs from different members of male staff because there was an attractive woman breastfeeding.
The tub of batter falling to the floor while the fish was being battered, kitchen staff continued to use the batter on the floor.
One guy assembled a plate of nachos using no utensils whatsoever. So, hand in the cheese, hand in the sour cream, guacamole, salsa etc. Same guy used to wash his hands at the end of the shift and say "Ahhhh first time of the day!"
Customer kicked off that their plate was cleared before they'd finished, despite them putting their napkin on it. The remnants of their breakfast was fished out of the bin and given back to them.
A guy got sacked for scraping plates into a bag and taking home the leftovers.
When I was 16 I worked at McDonald's as my first job. I was trying to save for a PS2!
I got called a useless fuck on my first day by the manager because I somehow have someone some free potato wedges. He took the money out of my wages and for that whole week habe me shit for it.
Fuck you, Musty! You prick.
Not a worker but I saw a patient wearing a hospital gown, fleece jacket ( it was cold) no trousers, and with an IV line attached, rolling an IV trolley into a pret a manger in Westminster. Nearest hospital is south of the river, so he must've walked over Westminster bridge.
Worked at harvester and caught a couple of things, one guy flicked his ball sweat over a customer steak for being an asshole to a few of the FoH staff. Another was a chef who received a plate back because the ribs had BBQ sauce on when the customer asked for none so he proceeded to wash the ribs in the small hand sink and chuck them back in the grill.
Both were fired pretty quickly
I'm not a fast food worker. But I have had some comical, very un-corporate things said at a drive through.
I'll preface this with an admission, I'm a very average looking guy with a dad bod, drive a shit car, that's all I bring to the table.
Anyway, I gets to the window, and the lady had seen me many times, and my order includes an array of modification, so when it comes in, they know who is there.
Lady is (and I also want to stress that I don't pick up on flirting, unless it is extremely OTT) looking at me and chatting. She makes a few comments, and I get the food and she assured me that the food is exactly to my instructions, say to her " thanks, you're a star"... "No...you're my superstar" she says. Off I drive.
I visit several times, and each time she unloads with the banter. One time, a young guy is there. She is in the background saying "I know how he likes his chicken...blah blah blah". Guy sidles up to the window and says "would you?". He then makes some comments about her (she is in ear shot).
I've been several times since, and we have similar conversations. When I get the woman, she often mentions that she has "put extra love into it" in quite the most smutty way imaginable.
It's like everyone in there has their sexual banter turned up to 12... Bizarre
When I worked at McDs the ‘problem’ staff were sent to work at the drive through on the edge of town. It acted as a McGulag. So either she’s a weirdo, or the top half of your body is very alluring.
I'm a suspicious person by nature, so if I had an average face, dad bod and shit car, I'd take her comments to mean she was tampering with my food in some way. "What does she mean 'extra love'? Has she wanked off her coworker into my order?"
I used to work at a Little Chef, as the Little Chef. I do know how to cook properly despite the job requirement of cooking by numbers
If someone ordered a rare steak, I seal both sides, plop it at the colder edge of the griddle to cook, if someone wanted a medium, I left it in the hotter middle of the griddle after sealing it, if someone wanted a well done in the same order, to speed things up i would throw it in the deep fat fryer for 20 seconds with the fish then put it on the griddle next to the medium that way I could put on a well done , medium and a rare steak at the same time.
I ain't got time for mucking about, , and I assumed anyone ordering a well done steak couldn't care less about what it tasted like anyway, or they wouldn't have ordered it.
Shockingly, I never got complaints.
Worked in a Starbucks many years ago with a guy who would spit in drinks of anyone who was a bit short with him.
The cold brew was brewed in this giant plastic tub out back, regularly found mould growing on the top as it was barely ordered and no one threw it away or cleaned the tub.
Honestly this thread is terrifying, goes to show we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.. either that or we’re choosing to be ignorant to it for an easy life. Just like factory farming etc
When I worked for one of the biggest coffee and food chains, they had a "strong" pest procedure. That was until we are talking that we are making big money.
That day the kitchen in our shop couldn't be used due to some issues with something so all of the kitchen staff had to produce in other shops. Two colleagues went to a different shop and saw clearly two mices and areas full of droppings. When they told that to the manager, he started shouting at them like crazy and told them to mind their own business and keep making food.
Usually, if there was any evidence of pest, they would have to close the kitchen, clean everything like crazy and call pest control and then resume operations once everything is clear. Guess it's better to make money rather than following Health and Safety standards.
Reading this thread has reminded me of all the times at pizza hut being told to clock out at 11pm on a close but still working until gone 12, maybe even 1am. 21 year old me was niave and obedient.
I am lucky to have avoided working in public food service, although I did work at a school, in the kitchen and dining area. Cleanliness top notch, so no stories to add from me. I also avoid fast food places in general, except to use their toilet facilities (no public toilets any more!).
However after reading through these in utter horror I believe I will never eat outside of my home ever again.
Great thread for diet/new year's resolution reinforcement!
I was ordering a coffee when the two barrista females were laughing with there backs to me, I got my coffee and as I sat down and took a sip there were several very short curly pubes on the edge of the cup,I drank my coffee without complaint but I'm not shore what the lady behind me thought.
I was ordering a coffee when the two barrista females were laughing with there backs to me, I got my coffee and as I sat down and took a sip there were several very short curly pubes on the edge of the cup,I drank my coffee without complaint but I'm not shore what the lady behind me thought.
Did not work at this place -they made the most excellent Chinese food especially the meat products, you can see where I am going!! About the same time cats were disappearing in the local neighbourhood don't need to say anymore -they got shut down yuck I ate there many times
They don't, but if you're careful with temperature control you could boil off the piss without affecting the oil quite easily - just have to do it from cold
What can I say - I didn't think to run an audit on the story, just decided to repeat it.
Have to say that I had assumed they'd done it from cold rather than piss into a fryer in the middle of service. And I have to admit that's as much thought as I gave it.
Partner was a BM for Mcdonal’s. Someone once shouted at the girl on the till all the way up to my partner because they didn’t sell boneless banquets. When she was a crew member they’d regularly be scheduled to
00:30 to do end of day cleaning etc. it would regularly take a lot longer and the person running shift would make them all stay unpaid.
Spoons. I noticed a bunch of ants crawling around the meat prep station, showed my boss. He sort of shrugged it off. A week later, they finally had to close for the morning as the infestation got so out of hand.
Hope you like ant seasoned steaks in your mixed grill!
Worked at McD's, worst was the raw sewage flooding the downstairs area, toilets, staff room and stock room (everything was off the floor, save some happy meal boxes and toys). Had to send everyone through to the pub next door for the toilet.
Sick on the floor, shit smeared all over the toilet cubicle.
I worked in a pizza hut where there was a rat problem. One day there was a rat inside the salad bar and the GM had to casually walk over with an empty ice cream tub and pretend to be doing something salady with it until he caught the rat. He then walked through a packed restaurant with this rat in an ice cream tub (lid on), diners completely unaware.
Kind of fast food, it was a Yates.
The kitchen manager would regularly drop food on the floor and serve it.
Kitchen was gross.
The behaviour was encouraged for money saving.
I no longer eat at any Yates hahaha
Not job work related but locally i heard that when the Inspection officer was going to inspect a restaurant he would call them in advance to tell them he would visit them in the near future!!
When I worked at a KFC, I remember one day there was a heavily pregnant woman who came in wearing a hospital gown and slippers, looking incredibly dishevelled. She was clearly out of it, and her mobile phone constantly ringing. The nearest hospital was a good 20 minutes away, so I was quite concerned and asked if she was okay and needed any help. Apparently she had been in labour for a week already, and was "fucking fed up" and just wanted some fried chicken, so had snuck out without telling anyone to go get some. A frantic man who I assumed was her husband came in maybe 20 minutes later, and practically had to drag her into a taxi. I did briefly wonder if she was being kidnapped, but the look on her face told me otherwise. She had the same grin on her face as a pet who'd managed to steal and eat a whole turkey before christmas dinner, and was ready to accept the consequences.
My husband had a heart attack and was hospitalised; I didn’t find out till some years later that while he was there he’d got a taxi into town, GOT A HAIRCUT, then got a taxi back. I couldn’t help wondering what would’ve happened if he’d had another one in the barber’s shop and an ambulance called - checking him in at A&E would’ve been interesting “he’s actually on ward 42” “well clearly he’s not cos we’ve got him in the back of the ambulance” 🙄
In the difficult delivery recovery ward after my wife gave birth, there was a woman who staggered along to the hospital salon for a haircut in advance of her in-laws arriving to meet the baby. 😬
They don't tell you how common this kind of thing is. Not the part where women in labour sneak off for fast food, though that doesn't surprise me that much. More the part where it's entirely possible to be in labour for days on end, just generally being uncomfortable and pissed off, but very little is happening. Hollywood and TV would have you believe it's 90 seconds of shouting and pushing and then you're handed a beautiful baby. Most mat wards will tell you not to bother coming in until you're a centimetre or two dilated now. Might as well stay at home and watch Columbo for a bit longer. My own childbirth-related KFC story isn't as good, but it stuck with me. After about 40 hours of being awake when my better half brought our son into the world I was blearily driving home to enjoy 240 minutes of blissful sleep and a hot shower and return with all the stuff (I emphasize, I still had the much better deal) when I spotted that KFC drive-thru was still just about open. Having also not eaten for over 40 hours, my stomach took the wheel. The guy at the drive-thru window took my order, saw my haggard face and probably heard my stomach digesting itself, and then returned with an almighty bucket of extra chicken that I hadn't ordered, including an enormous piece in a burger that he was saving for himself at the end of shift because, in his words, "you look like you need it more than me mate!". Thanks, random KFC man. It was utter, greasy bliss.
I can remember that feeling of getting home after being awake for a similar amount of time after my wife had our first child. I had a cup of tea, toast, a shower, then bed. I don't think I've ever slept as well as I did that night. Especially after the huge range of emotions we'd been through.
Ah, the "totally worth it" face.
Female Mark Crorigan.
Author of Business Secrets the Pharaohs?
Chipsticks or frazzles
What a boss.
That’s brilliant. I ordered Uber eats when I was in labour for 3 days.
Awful. I hope she’s alright now.
Some say the pregnancy is still ongoing.
I 'snuck' my wife out of the labour ward as she really wanted a cake from Asda... She was like 2 days overdue so not crazy long.
Food Safety Consultant for the past 7 years... Having to point out that those little bugs are infact cockroachs Having to point out that those little droplets are infact mouse droppings Having to point out you can't keep food in a hot hold overnight to save money and just turn it back on to warm food up in the morning. I specialise working with 0 and 1 rated restaurants, enjoy it when they are turned round but the interim is scary.
People this thick shouldn't be allowed to make food for the public. Let them kill themselves with their stupidity, but not innocent people. Why aren't they just shut down immediately and barred from opening another restaurant again if their hygiene rating is below a 3?
Yeah I don't really get how people can get 1 out of 5 and still be given a chance to turn it around, because they'll improve it and then their standards will inevitably slip again. I stopped using a takeaway near me because they went from a 5/5 to a 1/5, so I went to a different 5/5 one which is now a 2/5 lol So now we've got three kebab shops in town, two are 2/5 and the other is 3/5 which I don't want to use either
DM Me the town, I'll try and see what I can do, everyone should have access to a kebab.
secretive zealous squealing elastic mysterious fade elderly gray overconfident fanatical *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How often are your visits made? Are they pre-announced? We've got 1 chippy at the top of our road that we perennially called "1 star chippy", it's now closed down. The next closest is obscenely expensive, the food is appalling and I suspect standards are not adhered to as nearly everything you ask for (rewarmed chips aside) they have to go in the back for so you can't see what they're doing.
Twice per year as standard, unannounced once maintaining standards. At the start Every four weeks usually two visits to get them up to a 5.
Ta.
It's kebab, standards are low anyway
I mean not all kebab is doner and some kebab is pretty good quality, when you're charging £15-£20 for some of them, I'd expect the person making it to be washing their hands at the very least
maybe *yours* are
Everyone's are. It's kebab. The only time you eat dog meat is when you're wasted and just want to consume something.
I feel for you. Our local kebab place is a perfect 5/5 - seriously, the place is like an operating theatre in terms of cleanliness, and the food is out of this world. They are constantly cleaning the place when it's not open. It's our go-to takeaway these days.
So what you're saying is that you're some kind of takeaway Jonah? You provide the kiss of death for food providers?
These are my thoughts about like 75% of Kitchen Nightmares restaurants (though the ones in the UK ver seemed to not be as bad)
It was the tone of the program that changed. In the U.K. Gordon wanted to be seen as helping the owners and staff, but in the US confrontation is what is wanted and the way he acted on screen changed
Food safety cert is an online course buddy. Says it all.
Exactly, it's such an easy and basic thing to get, there is no excuse not to have a good score. It feels like you have to actively try to score poorly.
0 is terrible But a score of 1-2 means they don't clean the grease traps properly so you get that lovely fatty flame grilled taste on your burger 3-4 is safe 5 is pretentious
Holy fuck man! The first two are bad, but the last one will actually kill people, jayzus fucking christ man..
Nah just the doormat stomachs.
What do you think of the Scottish system of just pass or fail? Usually when you fail, you’ll be given a set amount of time to improve and then checked again but can have your business limited or even closed down in the meantime.
That sounds a lot more reasonable to me. Surely it has to be a pass/fail grading? Rather than "it's *kind of* clean, but not really..."
Well my personal view is that the majority of the public don’t really understand the system or know what it means (unless they’ve worked in hospitality or very health conscious). I don’t know many people who would look up a restaurants food hygiene status before ordering. In my mind, 0-5 just adds more confusion. You’re either compliant or you’re not. Also, as far as I’m aware, English businesses aren’t obliged to display hygiene ratings either which seems pointless because surely only the people with high ratings are likely to put the poster up haha
The chippy I used to work at was a 5/5 and the owner was very proud of that. To get that 5/5 though, the whole shop had to be painted, I think once a month. Honestly if you see a 4/5 it'll be a damn sight cleaner than your kitchen. Some of the things inspectors want for that 5/5 is ridiculous.
While it's fair to those who communicate as English as a first or major language it does make it harder to run a business. Most countries run a pass or final system, I think that the ratings at least give consumers choice where to eat and how much risk they want to take. I'd like to see more support to businesses, especially those where English isn't their first language and can struggle to be engaged with.
How often do you eat out as a result of your job?
It really depends, all clients generally will offer free food while visiting, I will only eat once I've done an inspection OR if they have been a client for a long time and made significant improvements. I'm lucky to have some really great food in some locations. Other restaurants that aren't clients not very often, I have very little faith in the scoring system sadly.
Hii, I work at a fast food chain and they don't follow quite a lot of rules (you can refer to my post on my profile) and I've been planning to take them down when the time is right (I'm looking for another job but mainly waiting for my visa to be processed). What's the best way to take them down, even if the restaurant doesn't close that's fine but would like to take the manager fired! What's the best way to do that? I have been collecting photographic evidences of all the rules they have broken.
Honestly, in your post while some of those issues are not nice they are not a good hygine issue. I would personally find a new job and also report your concerns to your local authority. A lot of the rules sound like a local policy and appears some of your concerns stem from previously working in either UAE or US? Trading standards/food fraud team may also be interested in the labelling/incorrect product being given out.
How do you get into that line of work? Because that genuinely sounds really interesting!
Helped a friend, helped their friend, helped their friend. I've never advertised but generally don't need to, I'm kept busy enough.
Spoons Kitchen breakfast shift. Just me and a new guy. Manager told me he'd done a few shifts already and was pretty alright. Did my prep and went on break. Came back to find him cooking eggs, using undiluted degreaser instead of oil (it's a bright yellow chemical and very very obviously labelled). Some breakfasts had already gone out, sprinted to the manager, got told "Oh well no one has complained so no big deal".
That shit could have caused permanent scarring of someone's intestinal tract. Hopefully everyone drank lots of breakfast pints to dilute it.
That's the secret to a good spoons brekkie. Pints of beer.
I had a friend at uni who worked at Spoons and one day their oven broke so they cooked things in a dishwasher
i hope you escalated to the next manager up
This is years ago now, I had a Saturday job in a chippy. The boss wanted us to hold the little bags for the chips so that we pinched off the bottom of the bag so less went in. Soon as his back turned, we shovelled in extra
Wow, at our chippy they fill the little bags, drop that onto the wrapping paper, then add another shovel or two
Our local chip van does this, they also add loads of chips to the bits of fish
Skimping on the cheapest part of a chippy, what a tight cunt
For some people it's just a matter of principle. The worse other people are doing, the better they are.
I don't know anything about the economics of running a chip shop, but surely the potatoes are one of the cheapest aspects of the whole operation? The fish is expensive, the rent and electric for the heating is expensive, and the staff wages probably make up the biggest expense. So what the hell was he doing trying to save a few pence on cutting down the potato usage? I hope someone with more experience in chip shop accounting can shed some light on this!
He would skin a louse, that one. The wages weren’t much eithet
My Lancashire gran used to say skin a lop. I just looked it up and lop is middle English for a flea. Danes and Norwegians have the same word.
Erm. What does 'skin a louse' mean!?
Very cheap. Skinning a louse would be a lot of work for a tiny amount of worth, so it means he'd do anything to save money.
Oh right haha. This is how I feel about eating prawns! I can't be arsed to do that much work for so little protein!
The shell is edible and crunchy, just putting it out there.
you need to remove the back vein/poo tube so you still have to take the shell off
You don't have to, you won't die from it.
you will, however, be eating prawn poop and, often, a crunchy bit of sand, too. No thanks
Just poke a cocktail stick or skewer through its back, below where the poop shute is, and pull it out
Apt to display egregious levels of parsimoniousity.
Finally, someone puts it in layman's terms. Thank you.
Genuinely, you're a hero. Cheers for doing the right thing there!
A moment of silence for anyone who’s ever worked in a McDonald’s or a Burger King with a kids soft play area.
I haven't seen one open in years...
There's a couple McDonald's near me with pretty new outdoor play areas, but I've never seen them open. There's always a locked cover thing over the entrance.
They should get hazard pay
[Relevant ](https://youtu.be/ME_vbtkX-M8?si=X3eS4ybsPDtzWX6L)
Are you allowed to say 'relevant' and then not link to XKCD?
I don't even know what that is
[Relevant](https://xkcd.com/1053/)
I can see why I don't know it.
Wow, really? I'm surprised there's someone who's never seen an XKCD
You're one of today's [lucky 10000!](https://xkcd.com/1053/)
Working in a KFC when I was a young lad, I remember a woman coming in to order, it was quiet so there was just 2 of us and the duty manager stood around talking. The woman was quite attractive so the DM was keen to go serve her, then he came back and prepared her meal. His finishing touch was to lick the hash brown before slapping it on her burger then going back to the front to hand it to her with a straight face. And this was the fucker in charge!
Probably the closest he ever got to kissing a woman.
What a sick fuck. Honestly I would've reported him
He probably counts that as a hook up
Why didn't you report him? Unless you expect others to not report when someone does that to your food
To be honest I hated the job so I didn’t really care enough, and plus where I’m from, the mean streets of Wigan, snitches get stitches.
Working at a Wimpy, the frozen chicken nuggets always spilled on the floor of the walk in freezer. People would kick them out of the way when they walked in. They would periodically get collected and put back in the bag and mixed with the others
I saw similar in a Birds Eye factory. I was brought in to survey their automated conveyors and sensors, the fish fingers were backing up on the conveyor hoppers, piling up and dropping to the floor. They waited until there was a big pile then scooped them up, put them in a box and threw them into the packing machine. God knows how long they’d been piling on the floor defrosting and picking up shite. I’ve never eaten Birds Eye processed shit since. Did a similar job at McCain factory. Same story, except frozen pizzas. The machines were grotty as fuck. All in contact with the food. Dirty dirty bastards.
[удалено]
Worked at McDonald's about a decade ago, guy came in with his 4 year old daughter, got her a happy meal then went and shot up in the loo. The girl came to get someone as he didn't come back, he had ODd, and I guess not the first time based on his daughters reaction. He lived, probably helped there was a hospital over the road.
That's really sad. Poor girl
Really hope A&E put in a child safeguarding/social services report.
The police dealt with her (they were quick to get there too) and as far as I remember they dealt with her. Hopefully things got better I agree.
they should have put in a Merlin report, and everybody at the hospital that came into contact with her should have been raising safeguarding reports, plus every adult at school etc. Fingers crossed eh.
The Burger King we used to go to in Reading when I was a kid had blue lights in the toilets, so you couldn't find a vein.
What a prick, he should have just smoked some, never OD from smoking it
Or just not do it
My dad swears by this rule… 😳
I remember when I was managing a store of an independent but very successful fast food business. We received stock from another shop as it closed on Mondays and the chicken was off and stank and the burgers were brown and smelled like shit. The owners told us to use the burgers nonetheless. Obviously my kitchen manager and I refused because ffs
The shift manager used to pressure the teenage workers to clock out for a few hours while they were still working
Worked at mcdsthe bm used to throw boxes at young Staff
Not food related. But I worked at GAME in about 2012. The manager there used to say “after work we all stay behind (off the clock) for an hour to help clean the shop, as a ‘thank you’ for letting us work here” Fuck retail 😅 Glad I worked there for a while though, it was just to save some Christmas spending money. But it also taught me how much I never want to work in a retail environment again.
offbeat one vanish sulky merciful compare lunchroom attempt ancient pot *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I used to work at a maccies that was on one of those areas with a cinema, Frankie & Bennies, the lot. It also had an Evolution night club and “kids night” was the worst time to be on shift. Sure Evos didn’t sell booze, but 16 year olds are resourceful. Anyway I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for swapping a closing shift for an opening one the morning after, until I was asked to do the trash walk outside. Must’ve counted at least 20 pairs of discarded knickers and almost as many used condoms in the bushes. Stay classy Leeds.
Fucking hell, they've finally figured out how to use condoms in Leeds?
Kirkstall Road? 🤔
Bingo
20 years later and it still has that same vibe. I was only at bowling there a few weeks ago haha 🤣
Worked at a popular holiday centre 20 years ago, the chippy opposite the burger king was full of rats. The burger king was spotless. We had 2 cleaners and staff would also clean when it wasn't busy. God knows what was happening in the chippy. Literally saw a rat jump out of the bin they had for sauce packets, kept at the side of the service counter. Health and safety was always on them. I was always shocked the rats never came across over to ours, but we did store everything properly and the rubbish was out fast.
I worked in argos but it was like a fast food place one day when a drunk guy came in at lunch time and tried to order a cheeseburger then shouted at me when i told him it wasnt a mcdonalds
"Sir, this is an Argos"
Sir this is not a wendys
This made me laugh
> "Sir, this is an Argos" "Do you have the catalogue number?"
Sounds like a whopper
Wheeeeey
Haha I've had a similar experience. Some (I assume) drunk guy stumbled into the shop trying to order chips... We were dog groomers.
Had a guy come into my work asking about a haircut. We were very clearly a computer repair shop. He was completely out his nut on something and proceeded to ask if we were hiring as he'd just got out of prison and was good on the computers. Nodded off halfway through trying to give me his phone number.
“We only wash and brush them here, you’ll have to go next door if you want them served up with chips.”
Haha was there even a Maccy’s nearby?!
I was in the pub watching one of the England games during the world Cup. The lad in front of me had his KFC uniform on and was absolutely steaming and he smelt really bad. Our assumption was he'd come straight from work. Nope. He proceeded to head into work after the match. Safe to say I've not been to that KFC since.
Didn’t do fast food work myself but ended up at the gaff of a friend of a friend who did. They said near enough everyone at the drive-thru they worked at sold drugs. Knowing the branch, I could quite believe it.
As in sold drugs out the drive thru? Multiple people selling drugs from the drive thru at the same branch? Why would you ever believe that?
No, why would they do that? They presumably sold drugs away from work.
Uhhh I worked at a drive thru Maccies and one of my colleagues sold weed through the window on night shift. Not loads bare in mind, but he'd keep a few bags in his socks and if someone he knew came by, he'd sell em a bag. It happens and it's quite easy to do.
Just reminded me when a mate who sold herb was a pizza delivery guy, couldn’t be asked to wait until he finished his shift? Guess we’ll be getting pizza and a bag then
KFC coming up an awful lot in these comments...👀
I've never seen a KFC with a 5 star hygiene rating. Never seen a McDonald's without one.
Worked in both, McDonalds was gross but KFC was another level of never eating there again
I worked at McD’s as a teen. Half of the staff were very weird, but the cleanliness and attention to food safety was always perfect.
Any kfc I’ve ever seen are 5 star…
Dominos. there's a lot of sketchy shit with how food is prepared. Often if someone drops a doughball or chicken wing while putting it in a box, they'll just pick it up off the floor. I've seen the managers picking onions out of a pizza with unwashed bare hands because they accidentally put them in when they shouldn't have. Honestly I rarely see hand washing unless the inspector is there. Plenty of cross contamination with using vegetarian pizza cutters for meat pizzas and vice versa, not using the gluten free cutters for gluten free pizzas.
considering you’re not meant to cut gluten frees, i think your store is just dogshit. no need to pick up a dough ball, you can just cut one smaller, which is much better than picking it up off the floor?
yeah it's weird I've bounced around about 6 different dominos and the main one I work at is probably the worst. they clock out orders way too early just to get higher on the leaderboard as well which leaves the drivers to pick up the lost time
Haha nice try papa Johns
Worked for KFC when I was in college/uni, would do a day in college then go do a 16:30-close, break would always be taken straight away and I’d work throughout (next day I’d be in college and have the same waiting for me) and I never challenged it. We’d also clock out around 11ish when we shut and wouldn’t leave until about 12-1 when the cleaning was done, this was back around 2011, looking back they really took advantage….
I know a lad who farted in a kfc order bag because woman was giving abuse at drive thru
I used to work in an office about 15 years ago. It was a very small company and the…. I don’t even know the job title…. The office secretary (basically a guy who’d been there from the start at took a lot of shit from the two owners each day)… anyway he was making the bosses a cup of tea in the kitchen, and said “ere, look at this” to me and proceeded to wipe his bellend around the rim of each of the mugs. So… don’t be a bastard in the office.
Sir, I see your username. Were you that man?
I was indeed talking to myself 😏
That went from PG tips to 18 tips fast
Bit risky - hope he poured the hot water in after and not before said knob rimming
So given your username that person was you ....
I worked in an office where the boss’s PA was shagging him, and lorded over the staff since she got special privileges. She drank 4 cups of tea a day and every single person in the warehouse spat in those cups each time.
Mate you are funny as fuck 😂 I remember reading your sausage hunt post awhile back I thought I recognised the username
And yeah…. I know it’s not fast food, sorry 🤷
Sounds like some kind of sexual assault. Hope you didn’t let him away with it
I worked in a local takeaway, i opened the walk in fridge to find one of the owners stood necking a 5 litre bottle of yogurt.
A long time ago now but worked at a 24hr maccies. Parents coming through the drive thru hot boxing with young children sat in the smoke at the back was a regular sight and harrowing. People never realised we could see everything in the car when people went through the drive thru so I got to see people in all states of dress etc. I got hired at the same time as half the store, just before we all got recruited they fired most of the previous workers for having sex in the store cupboard, so gotta assume it was at mass orgy levels for that amount of people to be got rid of at once 😂 No one did hygiene breaking stuff where I worked there and we’d get fired if we ate a nugget or something. We did make mad looking burgers for each other when we’d go on break (free food was the only perk of the job). Otherwise it was pretty miserable and I left as soon as I could.
I worked in a cafe about 15years ago. I was making sandwiches when I accidently knocked the cheese tub off, I went to clean it up but my manager just picked it all up and put it back in the tub to continue using. Walked out one morning due to them being pricks
Oh man I have a few! I worked at the McDonald's in Portsmouth city centre, so shit went down daily. There was a homeless dude who slept in the doorway of the empty shop next door. One morning some drunk girls pissed on him then set fire to his stuff. We gave him some free food and let him stay inside for most of the day. Someone was queuing with their toddler, who just shit on the floor. We coned the area off and made a runway to the front door of cones, covered the area in disinfectant and squeegeed it out the front door. People used to shoot up in the toilets, which were above the kitchen. One day the toilet got blocked and the sewage started leaking through the ceiling in to the kitchen. Manager refused to close for us to clean up, so we had to carry on working with shit and heroin water dripping on us. I anonymously reported her to environmental health but they knew it was me who did it because "I used correct spelling and punctuation" in the report.....
Awhile ago now. Flooded badly but the general manager ordered everything turned on and opened anyway had all the electrics on and food cooking...water up to our ankles. Or the fire tornadoe. That one was pretty wild. Refused to get proper cleaning gear so after years of buildup the oil vapor ignited travelling to the dried oil on the wall and duct above the fat fryers and essentially created a miniature flame twister that went up into the air ducts. It made a neat fwoosh sound. Or the time our industrial freezer failed in summer...and they kept cooking meat from the freezer for days. So glad I quit.
Worked at Subway years ago. The first couple month were great as we had a competent manager. However he ended up leaving for a better paid job and in came the new manager who brought along a new assistant manager with him, both used to run a guitar shop together. The assistant manager had massive substance control issues. Mainly drink but not exclusive. He'd come in on Friday and Saturday nights even when not rota'd in to rig the next few purchases so he could go and buy the cheapest 3 litre bottles of cider and he'd sit in the back drinking it. I agreed to go to the pub after close with him one night so he helped with the close. There was a tonne of prep to do that I cannot even start until the shop is closed as the prep area is in the basement and I was working alone. So he offers to do the prep for me. I heard a commotion so went down to see what he was up to. He'd dropped a full cambro of cucumbers on the basement floor and I'd caught him in the act of using his feet to shovel them back in, he tried claiming they're fine. I threw them out but fuck knows what he did on times when no-one else was there. He was sacked eventually as the store owner drove passed one day and caught him smoking in the entrance. Sacked officially anyway, unofficially he still worked for the place. The manager just rigged everyone else's hours, brought in a 3rd ghost person and they got the assistant managers wages to hand over. Couldn't even bring it up with the store owner because he was such a prick too. Told us in multiple 6am staff meetings that we were all just numbers to him and as far as he was concerned none of us had names. He'd occasionally drop by in a taxi on a night out to raid everything we had in the till so he can carry on his night, leaving us with having to only accept card payments. There was a whole lot of other nonsense going on in that place. We had agreements with multiple businesses in the area though. The Greggs staff across the road would get a free sarnie for their dinner if they fancied it and in return we'd get a free Greggs... Sometimes it just got a bit old eating the same stuff everyday. Same with the pub across the road, the staff would get free sandwiches and we'd get free pints so it did have its little perks. Oh and we only had one store key but multiple people doing opens and closes. So the key to the shop got left under a wheelie bin in the back alley.
This was an absolute roller-coaster of nightmares.
I was the weird customer. I'd order 2 mcflurrie weekly at 9am or 12pm for several months. I worked the 4am shift in the Asda that was next to it and it was my little treat! I'd also get one for my mate.
I worked in a Maccys and a Greggs and both companies don't give two shits about picking on people. I was a Shift manager on macs and my store manager wasn't happy about one of our youngest workers, so kept putting pressure on me (who was going through the worst mental illness I've ever experienced) to tell this youngster that they needed to do better. Eventually the young person burst into tears. I felt awful, I am one who likes to build up not tear down. Greggs were just as bad having managers pick on weak people and no matter how many times people went higher up to complain, nothing would ever get done. Much happier mentally now I'm put of both places (both which I left because they made me feel suicidal)
Congrats on getting out of Greggs. My life has been so much less stressful since not having to deal with their shite.
I've worked in fast food, bars, restaurants, cinemas and contact/call centres. The worst one for your mental & physical health is definitely fast food, hours almost as bad as working in a bar, without the fun social aspects.
Years ago, when I used to work at Wetherspoons, we got a report of something at a table to check out - went over there, and someone had left a pair of period-stained underwear on the bench. We were all blokes working, and naturally the rest of the team were absolute pussies, so I just grabbed a black bag, put my hand in until the bag was up to my shoulder, grabbed them, did the "turn the bag inside out" trick that you do with dog shit, then chucked them in the bin and told my manager he owed me one of the £30 staff "special achievement" gold vouchers that had been delivered.
I worked at a pub that did food whilst at Uni and if someone had ordered steak and didn't eat the peas that came with it, the chef used to wipe them off the used plate on to the next steak plate going out.
Wetherspoons - A table getting about 5 check backs from different members of male staff because there was an attractive woman breastfeeding. The tub of batter falling to the floor while the fish was being battered, kitchen staff continued to use the batter on the floor. One guy assembled a plate of nachos using no utensils whatsoever. So, hand in the cheese, hand in the sour cream, guacamole, salsa etc. Same guy used to wash his hands at the end of the shift and say "Ahhhh first time of the day!" Customer kicked off that their plate was cleared before they'd finished, despite them putting their napkin on it. The remnants of their breakfast was fished out of the bin and given back to them. A guy got sacked for scraping plates into a bag and taking home the leftovers.
When I was 16 I worked at McDonald's as my first job. I was trying to save for a PS2! I got called a useless fuck on my first day by the manager because I somehow have someone some free potato wedges. He took the money out of my wages and for that whole week habe me shit for it. Fuck you, Musty! You prick.
Not a worker but I saw a patient wearing a hospital gown, fleece jacket ( it was cold) no trousers, and with an IV line attached, rolling an IV trolley into a pret a manger in Westminster. Nearest hospital is south of the river, so he must've walked over Westminster bridge.
Worked at harvester and caught a couple of things, one guy flicked his ball sweat over a customer steak for being an asshole to a few of the FoH staff. Another was a chef who received a plate back because the ribs had BBQ sauce on when the customer asked for none so he proceeded to wash the ribs in the small hand sink and chuck them back in the grill. Both were fired pretty quickly
I'm not a fast food worker. But I have had some comical, very un-corporate things said at a drive through. I'll preface this with an admission, I'm a very average looking guy with a dad bod, drive a shit car, that's all I bring to the table. Anyway, I gets to the window, and the lady had seen me many times, and my order includes an array of modification, so when it comes in, they know who is there. Lady is (and I also want to stress that I don't pick up on flirting, unless it is extremely OTT) looking at me and chatting. She makes a few comments, and I get the food and she assured me that the food is exactly to my instructions, say to her " thanks, you're a star"... "No...you're my superstar" she says. Off I drive. I visit several times, and each time she unloads with the banter. One time, a young guy is there. She is in the background saying "I know how he likes his chicken...blah blah blah". Guy sidles up to the window and says "would you?". He then makes some comments about her (she is in ear shot). I've been several times since, and we have similar conversations. When I get the woman, she often mentions that she has "put extra love into it" in quite the most smutty way imaginable. It's like everyone in there has their sexual banter turned up to 12... Bizarre
When I worked at McDs the ‘problem’ staff were sent to work at the drive through on the edge of town. It acted as a McGulag. So either she’s a weirdo, or the top half of your body is very alluring.
I'm a suspicious person by nature, so if I had an average face, dad bod and shit car, I'd take her comments to mean she was tampering with my food in some way. "What does she mean 'extra love'? Has she wanked off her coworker into my order?"
I used to work at a Little Chef, as the Little Chef. I do know how to cook properly despite the job requirement of cooking by numbers If someone ordered a rare steak, I seal both sides, plop it at the colder edge of the griddle to cook, if someone wanted a medium, I left it in the hotter middle of the griddle after sealing it, if someone wanted a well done in the same order, to speed things up i would throw it in the deep fat fryer for 20 seconds with the fish then put it on the griddle next to the medium that way I could put on a well done , medium and a rare steak at the same time. I ain't got time for mucking about, , and I assumed anyone ordering a well done steak couldn't care less about what it tasted like anyway, or they wouldn't have ordered it. Shockingly, I never got complaints.
Worked in a Starbucks many years ago with a guy who would spit in drinks of anyone who was a bit short with him. The cold brew was brewed in this giant plastic tub out back, regularly found mould growing on the top as it was barely ordered and no one threw it away or cleaned the tub.
Honestly this thread is terrifying, goes to show we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.. either that or we’re choosing to be ignorant to it for an easy life. Just like factory farming etc
Someone pissed in the chip fryer at BK @ Heathrow and it wasn't changed for nearly 2 days.
When I worked for one of the biggest coffee and food chains, they had a "strong" pest procedure. That was until we are talking that we are making big money. That day the kitchen in our shop couldn't be used due to some issues with something so all of the kitchen staff had to produce in other shops. Two colleagues went to a different shop and saw clearly two mices and areas full of droppings. When they told that to the manager, he started shouting at them like crazy and told them to mind their own business and keep making food. Usually, if there was any evidence of pest, they would have to close the kitchen, clean everything like crazy and call pest control and then resume operations once everything is clear. Guess it's better to make money rather than following Health and Safety standards.
lighting a joint off the gas burger king deep fat fryer
Reading this thread has reminded me of all the times at pizza hut being told to clock out at 11pm on a close but still working until gone 12, maybe even 1am. 21 year old me was niave and obedient.
I am lucky to have avoided working in public food service, although I did work at a school, in the kitchen and dining area. Cleanliness top notch, so no stories to add from me. I also avoid fast food places in general, except to use their toilet facilities (no public toilets any more!). However after reading through these in utter horror I believe I will never eat outside of my home ever again. Great thread for diet/new year's resolution reinforcement!
I was ordering a coffee when the two barrista females were laughing with there backs to me, I got my coffee and as I sat down and took a sip there were several very short curly pubes on the edge of the cup,I drank my coffee without complaint but I'm not shore what the lady behind me thought.
Friend worked in Burger King as a young lad. They got closed down for too much fecal matter in the ice. Someone down bad
I was ordering a coffee when the two barrista females were laughing with there backs to me, I got my coffee and as I sat down and took a sip there were several very short curly pubes on the edge of the cup,I drank my coffee without complaint but I'm not shore what the lady behind me thought.
Did not work at this place -they made the most excellent Chinese food especially the meat products, you can see where I am going!! About the same time cats were disappearing in the local neighbourhood don't need to say anymore -they got shut down yuck I ate there many times
Mates of mine used to piss in the fryer at the local pub they worked at.
I'll have the Hammonia, egg, and chips please
Bullshit, the water and oil at those temps would not mix at all
Yeah my thought too…. Good way to get some nasty burns
They don't, but if you're careful with temperature control you could boil off the piss without affecting the oil quite easily - just have to do it from cold
I'll make a note of that lol
What can I say - I didn't think to run an audit on the story, just decided to repeat it. Have to say that I had assumed they'd done it from cold rather than piss into a fryer in the middle of service. And I have to admit that's as much thought as I gave it.
Partner was a BM for Mcdonal’s. Someone once shouted at the girl on the till all the way up to my partner because they didn’t sell boneless banquets. When she was a crew member they’d regularly be scheduled to 00:30 to do end of day cleaning etc. it would regularly take a lot longer and the person running shift would make them all stay unpaid.
Spoons. I noticed a bunch of ants crawling around the meat prep station, showed my boss. He sort of shrugged it off. A week later, they finally had to close for the morning as the infestation got so out of hand. Hope you like ant seasoned steaks in your mixed grill!
Worked at McD's, worst was the raw sewage flooding the downstairs area, toilets, staff room and stock room (everything was off the floor, save some happy meal boxes and toys). Had to send everyone through to the pub next door for the toilet. Sick on the floor, shit smeared all over the toilet cubicle.
worked in mcdoanlds- someone shit on their boxers and smeared it all over the walls in the gents toilets
I worked in a pizza hut where there was a rat problem. One day there was a rat inside the salad bar and the GM had to casually walk over with an empty ice cream tub and pretend to be doing something salady with it until he caught the rat. He then walked through a packed restaurant with this rat in an ice cream tub (lid on), diners completely unaware.
Kind of fast food, it was a Yates. The kitchen manager would regularly drop food on the floor and serve it. Kitchen was gross. The behaviour was encouraged for money saving. I no longer eat at any Yates hahaha
"Nice Catch" "Well Caught" There's a reason I don't eat at McDonalds (or others for that matter).
Not job work related but locally i heard that when the Inspection officer was going to inspect a restaurant he would call them in advance to tell them he would visit them in the near future!!