People Reveal Their Dining-Out Dealbreakers

Going out to eat at a restaurant can be a delightful experience and a welcome change from cooking at home. But this simple pleasure can be easily ruined by any number of things. A Reddit thread digs into the topic by asking, “What’s a dealbreaker for you at restaurants?”

It seems people have a lot to say on the subject, as more than 5-thousand responses have come in and these are some of the most relatable:

• “Any place that doesn't put prices on the menu. If I’m going to spend money, I want to know how much I’m going to spend. Just tell me the steak is $40. Don't make it a surprise.”
• “Outrageously loud music.”
• “If I notice there's no hand soap in the restroom. Unless the staff has their own restroom, that means no one’s really washing hands after doing their business before returning to work.”
• “Any place where the tables are packed so tightly together to the extent that you might as well just sit with the strangers next to you.”
• “An overabundance of televisions. TVs in sports bars are fine, but if I'm going to a restaurant, I don't want to be surrounded by them.”
• “When the kitchen doesn’t pace out the meal … I can’t stand when all the dishes suddenly pour out of the kitchen one after the next.”
• “If I witness the restaurant owners being rude to staff in front of guests. That’s a big turn-off.”
• “Anywhere there's a bad smell when you walk in. If I can smell sewage, mold, or excessive bleach or ammonia that overpowers the smell of the food when I first walk in, I'm turning around.”
• “When they keep the lights dimmed so low that you literally can’t see the menu.”
• “If the host/hostess ignores me for 10 minutes. Even if you are busy, at least acknowledge you've seen me waiting and will get to me.”
• “If the table is sticky and it gets stickier after they wipe it.”
• “Having no seats with backs. Nobody wants to sit on a bench.”
• “QR code menus”
• “If you go to a mexican/tex-mex spot and the chips and salsa are terrible just pack it up and leave, nothing will get better.”
• “Dirty menus. If the staff at a restaurant can’t be bothered to wipe the menu down, then I can’t help wondering what else they’re not cleaning.”