With the average cost of dining out in America continuing to rise, getting value for the experience is more important than ever.
Currently, a typical person will spend around $166 a month at restaurants, according to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.
Between 2019 and 2024, that amount soared by 14 percent, however standards have not always risen in keeping with the trend.
At its best, restaurant dining entails thoughtful service, top-notch food, and a welcoming environment.
But at its worst, going out to eat means being insulted by staff, forgotten about in a noisy restaurant, and or even finding a hair in your undercooked chicken.
Often trying out new restaurants can feel like a shot in the dark. It’s hard to tell if your experience will be serene and fulfilling or off-putting and difficult.
Fortunately, chefs, restaurant experts, and critics have offered their two cents when it comes to restaurant red flags.
Whether you’re reading reviews online or simply stumble in the door, these eight signs could help you identify a five-star experience from a total dumpster fire.
If you go to a restaurant and can’t find the manager, it may not be worth your time
No visible management
Salar Sheik told Fox News Digital, that if a restaurant has no visible management team, it may be a good indicator to turn around.
‘Great managers are visible,’ said the LA-based restaurant consultant.
‘They touch tables, support staff and keep the energy up.’
A manager isn’t just employed to make sure a restaurant runs smoothly behind the scenes.
Part of their job is to ensure guest satisfaction. Often, they greet customers, check on tables, and even assist servers.
‘If you can’t tell who’s in charge, it might be because no one is,’ said Sheik. The manager should be visible and accessible.
The staff argues with you
Another indicator that a restaurant may not be worth your time is rude or argumentative staff. That could be a mean that service standards in the restaurant are too low.
Candy Hom, an Atlanta based Food-critic and chef, told All Recipes ‘If they mess something up, they should try to make it up to you.’
Argumentative staff could be a warning sign for a sub-par experience
For example, Hom attended a restaurant with a group of friends and the waiter split the check five ways, instead of six as they requested.
She said the server ‘blamed the fact that he usually has tables of five and not six’.
‘Even if the food was good, the experience was ruined,’ she explained.
It’s empty
A restaurant that’s empty during lunch or dinner rushes should raise some alarms. In some cases new businesses may have trouble bringing in clientele during meal time, but Sheik said that most of the time there should be at least a few other patrons
‘Consistently empty restaurants often point to a loss of community trust – whether from poor service, declining quality or mismanagement,’ according to Sheik.
Slow service can also mean that ingredients sit for longer, making the food less fresh.
It’s full of influencers
On the flip side, a crowded restaurant isn’t always a good thing either.
Sheik said, ‘If it feels more like a photo shoot than a place to break bread, odds are the experience is built more for the ‘gram than the guest.’
Nowadays many restaurants in major cities host internet personalities in exchange for having their food featured online. Attending a restaurant where that’s frequently the case can result in an inauthentic experience.
Often, restaurants will pay content creators to post about their business
Hom added, ‘When every post or review is from a hosted experience, I can’t trust that.’
Staff are treated poorly
If you notice poorly treated staff or low team morale, it may be best to take your business elsewhere.
Nadia Chaudhury, the regional editor of Eater for the northeast, told All Recipes:
‘If I hear and read about staffers alleging not-great work environments and management issues over and over again from trusted sources … I take those to heart.’
Scoping out your restaurant online beforehand could key you in to some of these problems.
It’s dirty
Restaurant cleanliness is an important aspect of the overall experience. If tables, chairs, menus or even the bathroom aren’t clean, that could indicate abysmal sanitary standards.
‘If those aren’t clean, I guarantee you the kitchen’s not being held to a higher standard,’ said Sheik.
‘If the team can’t manage that, they’re likely failing at much more complex things, too.’
Cleanliness is key. If bathrooms and tables are dirty, that could mean bad things for the kitchen
Servers don’t know the menu
Poor training is a great indicator for service value. Sheik said that servers should always be certain of what the restaurant offers.
‘If your server has to guess ingredients or check on every question, it signals poor training and a lack of pride in the product,’ said Sheik.
Menu knowledge can even be life or death. Accurate allergen information is crucial, not only in enhancing the restaurant experience, but also in ensuring the safety of patrons.
You’re being aggressively upsold
Of course, restaurants are supposed to sell you on their offerings. Whether that be the happy hour special or menu item of the day.
However, Sheik said if it feels inauthentic or incessant, it may be best to take your business elsewhere
‘Suggestive selling is part of the job,’ he said Sheik.
A waiter that is unfamiliar with menu items and allergens could be a bad sign
‘But when it feels like a script or desperation, it often means the restaurant is struggling to hit numbers and pushing sales at the cost of genuine hospitality.’
Restaurant dining is supposed to be a fun experience. But lack of knowledge of the restaurant industry and naivete can ruin a perfectly good dinner.
Thanks to industry experts, customers are well equipped at avoiding the red flags and finding the perfect place for dinner.