The following question was posed on Reddit: “Fast food workers of Reddit, what should we NOT order at your restaurant? Why not?” While it’s important to know that none of these claims have been verified, we do recommend bookmarking this thread. Just in case.
(Originally written by Charisma Madarang)
1. Anything McCafé at McDonald’s
“I work for Mcdonald’s and make sure everyone that matters to me never orders anything that comes out of the ‘McCafe’ machine as these are routinely neglected, in practically all the McDonalds. Not only are staff not properly trained in its cleaning and maintenance, at almost every McDonalds I’ve had experience with, the managers in charge of training them don’t know fuck all either…All McCafe beverages run through a horrifically dirty machine – we’re talking 5+ inches of uncleaned, liquid bullshit making up its inside parts” – Envirometh
2. Do. Not. Order. Hot Dogs. At. Baseball. Games. Period.
“I used to work in a baseball park concession stand. The short answer is not to order anything, but if you absolutely have to buy something, don’t buy the hotdogs. Do not. Buy. The Hot Dogs. They made it out of the package okay, and might even have been edible after we finished grilling them – and then they went into the water. We kept three pans of water at the back of the grill that held the hot dogs. Any hot dogs left at the end of the day went back into the fridge, and came out again the next day. Me and the other cook put our feet down on throwing out the water and old hotdogs after two full days, but the management didn’t want to let us.” – FreakyCheeseMan
3. On steak and beans at Taco Bell
“I worked at taco bell a little bit ago and I warn everyone to stay away from both the beans, and the steak. The beans start out looking like cat food, and the directions are, ‘Add water and stir until you can’t see white anymore.’ The steak was just the worst on dish duty. If it would sit too long it would become like hair gel. It was the worst.” – Beefcake21
4. On Wendy’s chili
“I used to work at Wendy’s. The meat used in the chili, yeah that comes from the meat on the grill top that expires and dries up that’s put in to a warming drawer until you have enough for a batch of chili, which we first freeze and then thaw the next day. Also if the chili sitting in the warmer doesn’t sell fast enough we just added hot water to it to mix it up.” – PhilKesselsCookies
5. For the love of God, don’t order anything off the Starbucks “Secret Menu”
“Former starbucks worker here. Please don’t order anything off the ‘Secret Menu’. It doesn’t exist. If you want a snickerdoodle, nuttella, or captain crunch frappuchino (or whatever other overly sugery thing someone has since come out with), know the base drink and the modifications, and order that. If you just say the name, it’s up to the barista to come up with what’s in the drink, and it may not be what the last barista you ordered from put in there.” – Stac52
6. On movie theatre popcorn
“I worked at a theater, don’t get popcorn for the first showing- that’s all just last night’s popcorn put into giant garbage bags and then reheated in the warmers in the morning. Oh yeah and remember that sticky floor in the aisle of the theater? Well what do you think would happen if you had that at your house. YES THAT’S HOW YOU GET ANTS… and cockroaches, and everything else. Plus it’s in the dark most of the time. It’s like a bug buffet once the lights go out and the movie starts.” – YouAteYourParents
7. Skip the pasta at Panera, stick to the sandwiches
“Panera- pasta; it’s all microwaved, this includes Mac and cheese. Smoothies/frozen drinks- nasty base crap that smells and it’s sticky. Cupcakes/coffee cakes- all come frozen. Best items are the real sandwhich/ salads. Real ingredients and usually fresh.” – PresidentPancake