Restaurant Cleanliness

The way I see it is we are better off not knowing. We are all still alive and
healthy. Sometimes, like this, ignorance is bliss.

I'm fine as long as they are regularly wiped down, and I often see bussing staff wipe the outside when they wash the table. The contents (salt, pepper, ketchup) are not items that promote the growth of bacteria, so I am not too worried about them getting completely cleaned out and washed.

it depends on the restaurant. there are some, usually higher-end ones, where the condiment holders are emptied and sanitized every week. but for most, just a wipe when they're funky.
NOT okay to let a toddler suck on a salt shaker. even if it had been thoroughly cleaned the night before (unlikely) it had certainly been well-handled throughout the day.
i don't get the heebie-jeebies over that sort of thing. but yeah, parents ought to use an iota of common sense.
khairete
S.

A little dirt never killed anyone.

I work in a restaurant. In the back office, but still, I know what goes on everywhere there. Our caddies are cleaned every night. The wait staff empties them, cleans the shakers and containers with a clean towel and sanitizer and re-stocks the sugar packet holder. Then they are inspected by the manager on duty. I would say the shakers are cleaned in the dishwasher about once or twice a month. If anybody sees a kid messing with them like you witnessed, they're cleaned right away. But you can't watch everybody all the time. Good thing our bodies handle a good amount of germs!

I was eating in a local pizza place once and watched as a little girl licked over and over the parmesan cheese shaker. She was really enjoying that cheese! I told the waitress about it, but didn't stick around long enough to see if it was actually taken away and cleaned.

Maybe my kids have desensitized me... But this doesn't sound like a big deal to me.

Restaurants wipe tables, bottles, shakers, seats, etc with santized water. It has the same effect as bleach water.

Long John Silver's cleans out their vinegar bottles, though. But it's only once a week.

Its sooo gross. But I used to work at a restaurant--a very nice one and I NEVER saw the salt shakers or ketchup bottles get cleaned. They were always wiped down and refilled. Gross. I can't imagine seeing that toddler!!!

I can honestly say I have never cared about whether or not there are germs on the outside of a condiments container. I should also mention that as soon as we sat down at a table, I would move all condiments to a spot on the table my kids couldn't reach. Not because I was afraid of my kids getting germs, but because I didn't want them to poor out all the salt or drop the ketchup on the floor.

I thought most parents immediately moved all condiments and utensils out of reach of their kids? Honestly, what do they need them for, anyway?

When my kids were at a stage of no longer eating baby food but not yet using utensils - finger food - I would use a baby wipe to clean the table in front of them. We put their food directly on the table. Why? Because I would not trust them not to throw the plates (or bump) on the floor, thus breaking them.

So, at a place like Steak-n-Shake, the chicken fingers and fries would be placed on the table in front of them. I never gave them a plate full of food. I would place one chicken finger and a few fries in front of them and refill as necessary.

Sorry, but I think spending any energy concerning yourself with germs on the outside of a condiment container is a waste of time.

when i worked in a restaurant (pre-kids) they were washed once a week and filled nightly. The salt, however, was put in a bin and re-filled into the clean shakers. If I knew then what I know now...Yuck. My kids are offenders of grabbing the shakers and licking them. If I am not quick enough to remove these off the table before we sit I always hand them to the server or a manager and apologize so they are well aware that shaker is a goner. Needless to say we are not at an age where going out is enjoyable so it does not happen often because it is not fun for anyone. If I am at a restaurant that caters to a younger crowd if I were you I would assume they have all be licked and are full of germs and kid gunk!

I am not sure about how often they are actually cleaned, but we once saw a child do this exact thing.. We were so grossed out. The child was also putting their food on the table and licking the table!!!

The parents did not say a word, even though it seemed like they were seeing this happen.

Once they left, we informed the waitress that the salt shaker needed to be removed from the dining room, dumped and then washed ASAP..

Ugh... I've seen kids get into buffet food and touch it with their hands. I've gone to the staff and pointed it out and asked them to remove the food and talk to the parents about letting their child wander...

Good thing most of us can handle the germs...!

Dawn

Ugh, the nasty condiment containers at the table in the local food joint...never washed. My husband was a server for years before we met. He said they were never, ever washed. 2 out of the 4 restaurants he worked at were major franchises.

When my kids were little, I would carry those wet wipes (antibacterial) with me everywhere. When we'd sit at a table in a restaurant, I would wash every possible area that my children might be able to reach/touch. Some may say that I am over the top and I'd agree with them! But, the thought of my kids eating at a table that some dude who just ate at who maybe didn't wash his hands before sitting down to eat made me sick to my stomach.

My husband now works in the medical profession. He worked with an elderly man recently who was having issues with hemroids and wanted to know what else he should be doing to treat the roids because the more he washed the roid with the toliet paper dipped in the toliet water the more irritated the roid was getting. My husband explained why that was unsanitary and the elderly man said that we were too worried about sanitation, and that he has been doing it for years and never got sick from it. He also explained to my husband that regular handwashing was "over-rated, and a little dirt in the system is good for a body." No kidding!

So, when I think of a man, such as the older man mentioned above, eating at the table before me and my children...panic sets in and I clean all surfaces including the ketchup bottle and the salt and pepper shakers. Especially since my kids were eating mostly finger foods at the younger stages of life.

Now that they are older, I still make them wash their hands before eating or use a wet wipe but I won't let them touch the condiments with bare hands, hold it with a napkin!

We think the bigger deal are the booster seats and baby high chairs. I saw a news report on them that they are the filthiest places in the restaurant, because they aren't cleaned. Just put your child on the seat next to you.

Hmmm...salt shaker mouthing and eating off of a tabletop wiped by a rag kept in a bucket of water all day--YUM!

Maybe the salt shaker eater's parents were "free range"? Thanks!

I, like many, am lulled into a false sense of security by the appearance of the table I guess.

We're also a little pick about where we go to eat.

I use the disposable salt/pepper grinders right now, but I can't remember the last time I "cleaned" a salt shaker in my house--or the pepper flake shaker........sugar bowl? Yes. Shakers? No!

I think more about the germs all over the menus, which are handled and handed around and pick up stuff from both customers and servers (who are also handling money and food and who knows what else). Someone did a study a few years back and found that menus were one of the filthiest things customers encountered in any restaurant.

I do agree that parents (or other customers who see it happen) need to grab items that someone has handled or mouthed and turn it in to the restaurant staff. Heck, I would go so far as to dump it out myself so they can't just stick it back onto the table after I turn away.

What grosses me out far more, though, are parents who let children eat directly off the table top. Seriously. Have you seen it? The mom or dad who cuts up some nuggets and plunks them down directly on the table, from which junior scarfs them up? Or the parent who does the same but puts the food directly onto the restaurant high chair tray? Beyond gross. And I bet those parents later scratch their head and wonder why junior is sick so often. Even if the parents were to wipe things down with an antibacterial wipe -- I still would never trust putting food directly on a common surface like that.

All good restaurants have a weekly schedule. One thing each day. Dump it all the night before, wash containers, and the day shift refills it.

I pray that parents do what I do and turn in any of that. A few months ago my 4 year old mouth-handled a parm shaker at Cici's. I took it right to the manager and told him that it needed to be cleaned b/c of... then, I prayed that she didn't get sick.

weekly. Salt is emptied on Sundays and the containers washed that night and they are refilled the next day. Pepper is on Mondays. Same thing.

PS I also saw some comments about high chairs and boosters. At my store those get wiped off by the bussers after every guest on the seat and on the arms and the whole thing gets wiped down every night or when something has spilled on it. They clean it with the same sanitizer they clean the tables with.