The Phantomvessel
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The Phantomvessel • upvoted 39 items 10 months ago
good-restaurant-signs-green-flags
I like it when I ask their opinion and they give a thoughtful, sincere answer that shows they really know the food.
DavidCantReddit reply
Clean bathrooms. Tells you a lot about the cleanliness behind the kitchen doors.
BatMacumbaHeyHey reply
Owners' kids doing their homework at one of the tables or even operating the register.
Misterstaberinde reply
I like seeing a broad distribution of demographics eating somewhere. If you go to a taco truck in the hood and there are a few old timers, a couple cops, a few office workers, and a few construction types all eating there you know it is going to be great.
Global_Fail_1943 reply
A huge lineup of locals willing to wait for food is our number one way to find the best places to eat. We live in Mexico 6 months a year and look for restaurants full of happy Mexican families, not full of tourists!
JBOYCE35239 reply
If they've had the same linoleum counter top and booth sets since the 80s, the breakfast is gonna slap.
monkeysatemybarf reply
My bestie went to culinary school and worked in some great places. She looks to see if the people eating there are smiling.
reedspacer38 reply
I completely disagree about the customer service / good mood wait staff comments here. Maybe it’s a Northeast US thing, but some of the restaurants with the saltiest salt of the earth employees and dogsh*t / nonexistent customer service have the tastiest food. Conversely, sometimes when a place has really good or “happy” customer service it’s because they’re compensating.
Esme-Weatherwaxes reply
A place that smells good when you walk in. The best restaurants I’ve ever been to have all smelled fantastic as soon a you open the door.
purpleRN reply
If it's Vietnamese or Chinese and the bathroom doubles as a cleaning product stockroom, and there's a grandma in the hallway snapping green beans (or other minor prep). Food is going to be bomb.
Aldous_Hoaxley reply
The same people are still working there 20+ years later, that means they treat their employees right.
llcucf80 reply
They're busy during times you'd expect them to be. A restaurant that's dead during dinner hour is a huge red flag but then being packed is good.
HuckleberryUnited613 reply
I'm in the south. If the cooks are over 50,over 300 lbs and barefoot or wearing flip flops it's going to be good.
reallynotmeforsure reply
Servers that get excited when talking about the menu, and recommend an item that is not the most expensive.
ThePaddedCashier reply
One time I was at the Hawthorne Hotel with my family. Our orders were taking a while because they started a bunch of new staff members that day so obviously mistakes will be made. My mother did have to send one thing back because it wasn't cooked all the way but otherwise it wasn't a big deal. The manager of the dining area kept communicating with customers and she offered us a free slice of cheesecake each for desert to compensate for the delay. The free cheese cake was nice but moreso was the communication and the fact that the manager wasn't belittling the kitchen staff but just letting us know that some of them were inexperienced.
PhabioRants reply
Seeing staff eating the food. Especially bits of leftovers during service. Seriously, I'm a career chef. We see and make the same food day in and day out, and if the staff are still excited to eat it, that's always a great sign. Also, a healthy work/social dynamic. If the staff clearly dislike eachother, chances are they're too preoccupied to give you their best.
onlytoask reply
I don't think most people know the meaning of "prodigal." They know the parable of The Prodigal Son and think it refers to someone that leaves and then has to come crawling back, but that's incorrect. "Prodigal" means to spend money lavishly or wastefully. The prodigal son was prodigal whether or not he ever went back to his father.
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