Former food and service industry employees frequently share their experiences online, often intending to warn viewers and diners about certain aspects of how restaurants are run.
Sometimes, it is a simple reveal from behind the curtain of mystery hiding how the proverbial sausage is made—from practices of throwing out food waste to reminding viewers that there is a solid chance their server has not washed their hands very often while at work.
Sometimes, these stories are meant to warn viewers of ordering certain items because the worker cannot stomach how they are made or because they have a concern about hygiene.
In a now-trending TikTok video, a former Cheddar’s server says that he has a warning regarding the hygiene of other servers, based on a short stint working for the restaurant. User Thomas Mundy (@fearfulhomer) says he witnessed fellow servers preparing side salads using their hands to handle the leafy greens as opposed to tongs.
“I was a server there for about a month and a half about 10 years ago,” Mundy says in the video. “I want to share something disgusting about their side salads.”
Mundy then explains that, at least at the time he worked there, the side salads were not prepared by the kitchen staff. They were put together by the servers.
“The side salads are made by the servers, not the people in the back, and the entire month that I was working there, I was the only server that used the tongs to get the side salad,” he claims. “Every other server used their hands. Have a good day.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mundy via comment on the video, as well as to Cheddar’s via email.
Tongs and other tools are the preferred method of handling food products, as bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food items can easily be contaminated, even if food service employees are practicing proper hand hygiene. Some states allow bare-hand food handling of items not classed as ready-to-eat as long as hands are washed twice up to the elbow every 30 minutes, and between touching different kinds of food.
Several viewers remarked that they were not worried about the salads at Cheddar’s, as they are comfortable with eating salads prepared at other restaurants they believe prepare them in a similar fashion.
@fearfulhomer #stitch with @Stephanie Jakubek I will tell you what i know about Cheddars! #fyp #foryoupage #food #resturant #serverlife #cheddarsscratchkitchen ♬ Life Will Be – Cleo Sol
“As someone who has always loved a starter salad… this must be where I got my immune system of steel,” one commenter wrote.
“That must be the reason why I love side salads,” another said.
“I get why. You can grab more lettuce at once,” a third reasoned. “Just hope ya hands were clean??”
Others shared similarly questionable things they have witnessed working in the restaurant industry.
“Lol as a server in general I’ve watched people eat fries etc off of plates before they go out,” one commented.
“As a server from my old job that had ocd…my coworkers would bare hand every crouton or anything from a customers plate…please eat local instead,” another wrote.
“I was a server for 10 years and that’s the same reason I’ll never get lemon in my tea,” a further user said. “No one is using the tongs, they’re using their hands.”
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