restaurant dinner

[boost]

just wondering how do you guys handle goin to a restaurant or basicly
eat somewhere else then home??? i´ve got that problem that i find it so
damn hard to eat somwhere else then at my home... i´ve done it i´ve
been to reastaurants etc... but i had to push me so damn hard just to
be able to swallow.. do you guy´s have any answers how to get over
that???? thanks

[icicledreamz]

I hardely ever can actually go in a resturant and eat there, i ususally have to take it home and eat there..because when im eatting in a resturant, i start getting panicy about getting food poisoning..etc..and just cant sit there and watch other people eatting..and i feel like i just have to get out of there..as of getting over that..i think.. just mind of matter..thinking to yourself you will be fine and nothing bad is going to happen would maybe help a bit..i know its really hard..i always try but it seems like i cant keep my mind off of it...just hang in there..there are good days and bad days, and the worst days, butyou will get through them..i always think im going to v* or be sick..but in the end im fine..it is just me thinking of it so much that it makes me like that..just keep telling yourself you will be ok!

[willow2]

I have the same problem, it's a nightmare!! We go out for dinner quite a lot, family celebrations or just getting to gether everyone thinks it would be nice to go out for something to eat. It's like a treat for everyone else and everyone enjoys it. On the other hand it is a nightmare for me, i spend the whole time panicing and trying to tell myself no it wont happen in the restaurant and blah blah. I don't enjoy my food, i don't know how or who cooked it and i don't know what's in it. But....over the last year or so I have been out for more dinners....my graduation, my boyfriends graduation, 21st birthday parties, family 50th birthdays, wedding anniversaries....it feels like all these celebrations have come along at once. I have never once gotten ill and I am slowly learning that it is a waste of time and energy having a freak out every time....I want to enjoy the experience like everyone else. I still hate but I am trying desperately to put it into perspective. Eating is such an improtant part of our lives - fine food and comfort food being two prime examples. I am damned if I'm going to miss out!

[nicki]

I very much enjoy going out to dinner but the whole food poisoning thing is worrying. Whenever I go out now I always get a steak - the chance of getting ill from that is so small since you can eat it almost raw. Thats my little way of dealing with eating out and not feeling silly for picking at my food

[tayda]

I don't like fast food restaurants, they can be sketchy. But I tend to trust nicer restaurants much more. I like going out to dinner, and it doesn't particularly bother me.

[nicki]

Also, places such as Mcdonalds, KFC, and pizza hut dont bother me too much as I know if there was a problem it would be over the news so fast and they have a reputation to keep up. When i got to restaurants I try to keep to chains that have places over the country as i think the standards are possibly higher such as beefeater and wetherspoons. Ive heard that in the UK most pubs now microwave nearly all their food (it gets to them precooked) to try to stop food poisoning outbreaks. However I try to avoid eating in dingy pubs as much as possible ...

[hollyjean]

hiya. i have workd at a number of different restaurants and pubs so know how things work. Nicki you are right about most pub food being microwaved, most of it is pre cooked and frozen. The pub i worked at had completely fresh roast dinners though, i used to cook them :P


I currently work part time at pizzahut and can tell you that the standards there are very high. Its pretty diffecult for something to be undercooked there because it goes on a conveyer belt through the oven so always cooks for the same amount of time. If you dont like the idea of things being frozen, i would avoid the pastas from pizzahut as they are pre cooked and reheated in the oven. The pizza is all fresh, the dough arives uncooked, but frozen and has to be rolled out by hand etc. The stuffed crust pizzas are all made fresh too.


Pizzahut is part of whitbread and pepsi. Other restaurants that belong to this are beefeater, brewers fayre, brewsters, costa, tgi fridays and these all have the same high standards. I have worked in a beefeater and can tell you that the hygiene is pretty strict there too.


i have also worked at a macdonalds. Although you hear bad things about it, there are some good things. The cookers and fryers are all timed so nothing is under cooked. An alarm goes off every 20 mins and when it does everyone must go wash thier hands one by one. The cloths are also changed every 20 mins. It takes approx 20 mins for a bacterium to replicate so washing hands every 20 mins reduces growth. Tbh though, i think hands should be washed more often.


I have alwayss worked in restaurants and kitchens and have a food hygiene certificate. If you want to ask anything about how things work in any of these restaurants, just let me know and i will give you and honest answer.

[stephiewephie05]

i can go to restraunts but i just order take-out.

[*mandi*]

Im the same way. I cannot eat at resteraunts. I tried once and it was horrible. I couldnt swallow my food. And I started to get nasueated. It s not that Im afraid of food poisoning or germs...its just that Im afraid that I might get a panic attacks and get sick right there.


If we do go to a resteraunt...its to get take out and bring it home! I cant even eat Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at my grandparents house! I get all panicky! I hate it!

[bexcelica]

I also have worked at restraunts, and you may not believe it, but
everything is pretty clean and fresh. no one i have ever known has
intentionally done something to someones food. and even my cheap boss
would use a new peice of meat or whatever if it fell on the floor. and
he worries about 10 cents.

[mjewell]

I don't know if you drink, but if I can drink a glass of wine or a vodka tonic before eating, it helps me relax and stimulates my appetite. That's why I almost alwats order a drink before dinner when we eat out

[nicki]

mjewell its funny you should say that, im the complete opposite, if i have an alcoholic drink it makes me 10 times worse!

[boost]

yeah im kinda like that if i have 1-2 beer´s then i´m much much better
then completly sober and it gets much more easy to eat out but then
agen i cant be on a car myself etc etc so it´s only good so far.... but
mjewell strangly i do drink pretty much beer and that is i guess my
number 1 helper on those things beer works really relaxing on me but
maybe it´s just me

[samara's on tv]

I used to work in a resturant. Well I've worked in 2 my whole life. The first one was a chinese resturant called "Pearl Of The Orient" and trust me you DON'T want to KNOW what went on back there. It's not a chain or anything...I don't know if they even run it anymore but after working in the kitchen there I most CERTAINLY wouldn't want to eat there.


The second place I worked at was Ruby Tuesday's (It's a chain in the US but I don't know how many of them there are or where) I didn't like it there either. I actually saw someone drop a peice of meat and then put it back on the plate. IF you ever see the movie "Waiting" you'll know about the 5/10 second rule.


I usually eat at McDonalds or Subway. I was only sick from McDonalds ONCE and I think that had to do with the medications I was on at the time. I trust McD's cause they flash fry their food at an IMPOSSIBLY high number of degrees and I've never heard of anyone getting sick from them (I mean like anyone I KNOW). Basically I won't eat at a resturant I've never eaten at before. There are only like 5 or 6 places I eat at and since I've never gotten sick from them I deam them "Safe". But I usually get Take Out instead of eating in...I don't know why but it's HARD for me to eat in a resturant so you definately AREN'T alone.


~Monica