I heard that chinese restaurants are unsanitary, is it true?
By petebaja
@petebaja (516)
Mexico
February 11, 2008 2:45pm CST
I love eating chinese food. Wherever I go in the world, there is always a chinatown. But I heard, not from one source but from dozens, that chinese restaurants aren't sanitary.
Is this true? Is it a myth? Has anyone gotten food poisoning from eating in a Chinese restaurant? Has anyone actually seen rodents in one of these establishments?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
11 Feb 08
I think it depends where you are in the world and what the Health and Safety regulations are there (and how well they are enforced). Like any kind of restaurant, there is bound to be good and bad. I think that Chinese restaurants will be no more or less sanitary as a general rule than any other kind of restaurant.
1 person likes this
@petebaja (516)
• Mexico
12 Feb 08
Good point. I noticed that chinese restaurants in 3rd world countries tend to be dirtier than the ones in more modern societies. But for example, I don't feel safe eating at any of those restaurants in Chinatown of Los Angeles. They just don't look very sanitary. I would think that the Health and Safety regulations of L.A. or California would be stringent, right? But just from outside appearances, they look dirty, how much dirtier could it be in the back where the kitchen is?
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
12 Feb 08
I quite agree. The H&S in LA should be on the ball. I guess I would trust them to be, anyway. It's often hard to tell from the front what the kitchens are like. Sometimes, though, one's hunger overcomes all and you have to eat somewhere. At least in LA (or somewhere like that) you have redress if you get sick ... and, let's face it, those guys who run the restaurant probably eat their own food, so they do have a vested interest.
That is something that I always look for, by the way. If you see Chinese eating in a Chinese restaurant (or Indians in an Indian restaurant), then you know that it's authentic!
2 people like this
@emarie (5442)
• United States
12 Feb 08
I would guess where the restaurant is depends on how sanitary it is. i knew a lot of well kept ones and there are some restaurants in general that are really nasty. i like it here with the grades and rating systems. i don't know if other places have that but they should do it nationally giving dining places grade ratings.
1 person likes this
@qouniq (1966)
• Malaysia
20 Feb 08
I am not sure about this but one thing for me when the restaurant serve pork, frog, snake or anything such animals the restaurant will tend to be dirty. I think it is due to those animal meats' smell. You know, whenever I passed a chinese restaurant here, I can smell a different smell from inside which is unpleasant to my nose.
@qouniq (1966)
• Malaysia
20 Feb 08
In my city there are Chinese restaurant which serve frogs. These restaurants range from the cheap one to the expensive one. I remember passing one of the expensive Chinese restaurant back side and smell something different there and got to know that the workers is chopping a frog.
@sherrylovelibra (6)
• Singapore
5 Mar 08
I think the chinese restaurants could be neat in the big cities of China ,but you must go to the high-grade restaurants.some small restaurants,the price is very low and could be response ,but not every low-price restaurants are all response.If the shopkeeper is neat ,the restaurant could neat too.
@jbrooks (264)
• United States
18 Feb 08
it does depend on where you go. one of the places i used to go to but just stopped going when i saw one of the employees putting his hands in the noodles and he did not have on any gloves. maybe his hands were clean and maybe they were not. i do not know but i did not want to stay there and find out. that was a really bad experience
@bongkarpasang (1377)
• Indonesia
5 Mar 08
LOL. I have to admit that I also found many chinese restaurant that are not sanitary, but it actually depends on the restaurant, not all of them are like these. but true, if you are talking about certain restaurants at certain places (the 'you know what'), but if you are talking about the chinese restaurants at malls / hotels / luxury places, mostly they won't risk their reputation for becoming unsanitary.
well at least I never got poisoned from eating their foods, LOL, but I ever visited a china town in certain country where the restaurant's floor was ... yeah ... somekind like that one that makes you to not come back for the second time anymore. :P
@onesiobhan (1327)
• Canada
14 Feb 08
A lot of people say that about Chinese food, but I think they are just picking on it because it's appearance and smells are unfamiliar to them.
All places in Toronto that serve food have to pass inspections, and Chinese food restaurants don't fail any more often than any other kind of food.
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
15 Feb 08
I think as all restaurants of different types, so go Chinese restaurants! I'm sure there are some Chinese restaurants wherever in the world you go that are horribly unsanitary but there are also probably some that are immaculate; I'm sure the same can be said about pizzerias or Italian restaurants, Mexican, hamburger joints, steak houses or any other type of eatery. Sometimes when you're in a strange place you have to take your chances but when it's possible word-of-mouth is always the best recommendation or not.
Annie
