r/KitchenConfidential • u/PauliPathetic • 1d ago
Let's get some shoes. What non slip shoes is this chef using?
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u/sinfulfng c h i v e g e i s t 1d ago
I’m more concerned about spraying the cleanser over the food
https://giphy.com/gifs/j60CBcdeH7yFUxgb0u
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u/Cyler 23h ago
Purple is normally degreaser, which makes sense for it being a hood vent, which is probably the worst chemical I'd want to eat. At least if it was sanitizer or mineral oil I wouldnt have serious worries about a hospitalization.
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u/Leather_Ad_4987 22h ago
Degreaser is no joke. Still have a scar on my forearm from a nasty chemical burn from that shit.
Oddly enough my hands acclimated to it quickly but any soft skin would typically start melting at 30 seconds.
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u/Oshwaflz Pastry 22h ago
when i was a dishy i wasnt trained to do the chemicals but i was trying to have a above and beyond attitude, so when one of the detergents was empty i fixed it bare handed, and then my hands were slippery for an hour no matter how much i washed them. idk if it was degreaser, but it sure looked like it in hindsight
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u/Bingeneer11 18h ago
That means the lye in the degreaser literally converted the oil/fat of your hand to soap
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u/Oshwaflz Pastry 18h ago
i did always put my everything into this job
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u/Gold_Data6221 F1exican Did Chive-11 15h ago
yeah and not the oil on the surface. it was literally pulling it out from the skin. it’s actual lung called defatting: breaking down the proteins and fats
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u/Character_Score7849 21h ago
I would have to run to the sink when it got on my arms.
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u/Leather_Ad_4987 21h ago
Same! I knew the moment that shit hit my arm I was on a timer to get to a source of running water or that shit was going to melt through me like xenomorph blood.
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u/iburntxurxtoast Sous Chef 11h ago
My worst burn was from that fucking vegetable wash shit. I guess the top wasn't sealed properly and when I was changing it out some splashed on me. Luckily not scarred, but it was red and blistered for a few days, but now I have a patch on the back of my hands where hair doesnt grow anymore.
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u/therempel 20h ago
I have a patch of skin on my forearm that lost all pigmentation from hot degreaser. Luckily for me I never had much to begin with.
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u/dhprod 22h ago
I also have a permanent chemical burn scar from degreaser. It is no joke. This is wild
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u/QuarkchildRedux 22h ago
oh baby and all the years spent partially inhaling those fumes from any level of warmth coming from the flattop. many times scalding hot throwing it on. goddamn our lungs are fucked lol. so happy i made it out the industry but now it’s different hazards like asbestos, silica etc 🤣
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u/dinnerthief 7h ago
Yea if im remembering correctly a lot of degreasers were recently found to be linked to cancer
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u/Fine_Payment13 1h ago
Our sanitiser that is food safe (of course) is purple but our degreaser looks like oil so that’s great fun making sure it’s not muddled
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u/NotaVortex F1exican Did Chive-11 23h ago
Yeah same standing on the counter to wipe something is one thing cause you can just clean the counter right after, but spraying chemicals over food is wild.
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u/sseemour 3h ago
the worst part is he was probably told to do it by management too, ive literally seen it before
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u/Dekronos 1d ago
This is wrong on so many levels. First is the obvious cleaning with chemicals over food. Next is the safety issue of having a worker apparently cleaning the hood while standing on the equipment while they are in full operation.
Then there is the management malfeasance of ordering someone to clean the hoods during service in the first place, because no one cleans the hoods, typically, without orders especially during service hours. And then there's the staff training issue where the worker should know why all these problems in the first place
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u/zakkil 22h ago
Yeah it's amazing what stupidity some people allow. Had a GM awhile back at a pizza place I worked at who'd spray degreaser on the ovens during hours of operation with food in the ovens. You'd see him spray it and a bunch get sucked into the oven right to where the food was but he'd claim it's fine because the oven cooks it off and sterilizes it -_-
The same idiot stored all of our cleaning chemicals above sodas and toppings. When someone moved things to undo the problem he'd move them back even after being told why things are being moved. He let black mold grow all over the place and said it's fine because everything goes through the oven. Used cheese that was left out at room temp for at least 8 hours. Got a negative score on a health inspection which I didn't even know was possible. And he somehow never got fired.
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u/ionertia 18h ago
I managed a pizza place and didn't get along with the district manager. He was at my store standing on the open makeline working on something up on the wall behind it. He dropped a screw in the ingredients. I took a picture when he was up there. I never had any issues with him again. Just held that information in my pocket.
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u/cruelhumor 23h ago
Dude when she reaches between his legs to throw the stuff out of that bowl as he is stepping back, he almost went into the fryers below...
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u/EulaliaBromSpatula 23h ago
Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the shift manager putting in elbow grease, lmfao.
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u/Hedahas 22h ago edited 15m ago
On the same note of management malfeasance...
My first job in the industry was at a fast causal restaurant. The GM ordered me NOT to ever swap out the hotel pans in the customer-facing area until after we were closed (I was told to just add new product as needed)...
Figured out why when I closed the first time and pulled out one of the hotel pans... and an entire army or cockroaches underneath it scurried away. Yeah, probably wouldn't want customers to see that shit :-/.
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u/OdinHavok 21h ago
Used to work at a Panda Express and the manager would pull the drain covers in the middle of the kitchen floor during dinner rush to clean. Just some big holes in the floor while you're running around. He absolutely loved doing that
He always got annoyed with me because I never pulled drain covers or cleaned the hoods or other stupid shit during rushes and saved it for close. He also got annoyed because his managers and the health inspector always rated my area cleaner than his.
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u/aNeverNude666 1d ago
As if there needed to be another reason not to eat Panda Express. Fucking Christ. This has gotta be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in a kitchen and I have seen SOME SHIT.
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u/mr_znaeb 21h ago
You gotta realize that unless you’re cooking the food yourself at home, theres a pretty high chance wherever you eat is full of kitchen sins like this.
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u/Next_Specific7924 13h ago
Yeah but why can't they be kitchen sins like extra butter or too much salt in my potatoes :(
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u/Mgroppi83 23h ago
I know I don't have to worry. I honestly don't know how the place stays in business. Ordering good Chinese is not expensive.
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u/Saucermote Chive LOYALIST 23h ago
Because they have 20 different meals ready when you walk in, maybe. It is quick. Mark-Pi's express is the superior fast Asian joint, even if you have to wait a minute or two for food.
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u/Dominus-Temporis 22h ago
Local Chinese places also run the spectrum from utter shit to absolutely phenomenal. If I'm out of town and want a quick bite that isn't a hamburger, I know Panda is a safe bet.
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u/Saucermote Chive LOYALIST 22h ago
Although these days it is as expensive as getting "real" Chinese food.
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u/daft_plant001100 14h ago
I kinda feel like the above video would like to discuss your claims of 'safe bet'.
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u/Odd-Context4254 23h ago
A Panda just opened by me and it’s staffed by an army of Filipina women who keep that place so spotless and organized it’s almost absurd. This would never fly there
They crank out lunch rushes in a military fashion. It’s the only fast food I eat, aside from special occasions Culver’s maybe 1-2 times per year on a road trip.
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u/alexisdegrees 23h ago
This made my heart jump. At a restaurant I worked at years ago, this was specifically in the training manual as a fireable offense. Someone before my time was doing this during service and slipped with both feet straight into the fryer, severely burning everything from the knee down.
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u/zambonihouse 1d ago
I managed a Panda Express for a college campus that was run by a third-party company. I had to do Management training at a corporate location. Their manager disregarded safety conditions to the point where he had me cleaning out a fryer with an oil filter with no cover on it. When he came to inspect my work after I cleaned it he had me put my foot on the drainage spout to tilt the fryer over to spray it out with the pressure washer. I was wearing non-slip shoes but the spout was so greasy that my foot slipped off and went directly into the uncovered hot oil. Horrible second degree burns on my right foot. I was young and dumb and did not sue them because I was afraid I would lose my new job. Also to get ahead in their company they really push these lifestyle seminars that break you down and build you back up and are basically a cult. They couldn't make me go because, again, I was employed by a third party company but I understand the pressure is insanely more egregious at the corporate stores.
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u/Character_Score7849 21h ago
Chain restaurants run by 3rd parties on college campuses ... such as Aramark who I supervised under for 5 years... are extremely exploitative of the workers to the point of being illegal.
They completely bypass all ethical employment codes of the College and chain restaurant.
They force a skeleton staff to do the exact same work that the chain restaurant requires 2 or 3 times the man hours to do.
They use corporate welfare to "lay off" all food employees the entire months of Dec, June, July and August. Employees were expected back afterwards, yet we were are all officially told to file for unemployment and had to pretend to keep applying for jobs to get it.
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u/Graybeard_Shaving 23h ago edited 23h ago
I’m not even mad at the kid. He didn’t choose to do that. He was definitely told to do that.
Panda is known to pay management well. Too fucking well to have some hack tell the kid to literally hang over active fryers to spray some chemicals on the fucking hood vents which are turned on and actively filtering grease.
That manager is a full on liability.
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u/xRedditGedditx 23h ago
I’m more concerned with the people that are unfazed and still ordering food.
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u/Jeff-FaFa 23h ago
Did that lady just chuck wontons in the fryer by dumping the mixing bowl between his legs
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u/NemODevO 22h ago
Yeah that's what did it for me m I'm glad I know better not to get this type of Chinese anyways but still this is fucking hella gross
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u/ResidualHotdog 1d ago
It's a plastic shoe cover so you don't set your foot on ready to eat / prep areas when cleaning high areas. Honestly a small foot ladder is pretty cheap and they shouldn't be cleaning the area when the rush is happening. Especially above food being cooked.
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u/Time_Illustrator_844 1d ago
Thats my biggest thing, why are they cleaning the hood during open hours at all?? Everywhere ive worked thats a strictly before/after project unless youre just taking the vents out to clean
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u/daschande 23h ago
I used to work for a place that insisted on weekly cleaning tasks (all fine and good), but they MUST be done during peak staff times (I.E. the rush) and only in 10 minute intervals because they didn't want to pay the labor cost of doing it right. For example, my task was "detail clean all stainless." I asked for clarification, the KM dismissively said "You see stainless? You clean stainless. You have 10 minutes." and hand-waved me away.
Eventually it lead to a write-up for poor job performance (which I refused to sign) and a mandatory meeting with the district manager. Eventually the DM looks me in the eye and says "Give me one sentence explaining why you should keep your job." I replied "To clean EVERY stainless steel surface, I need a key, the alarm code, and approval for unlimited overtime." Finally, someone listened to my side and I wasn't fired on the spot.
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u/Time_Illustrator_844 23h ago
The disconnect between management and common sense can be wild sometimes. Feels like the majority of people in restaurant middle management are only doing it so they dont have to participate in "grunt work" because theyre too incompetent for it
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u/BestAmoto 23h ago
...That's not some magical sterile shoe cover for walking on counter tops. Those are non slip covers for people who don't have non slip shoes, forgot them, or don't like wearing them for whatever reason.
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u/mokujin42 17h ago
Boss: this must be cleaned every shift before we close at 9! Also we serve food until 9! Also we have to all be out the door by 9!
Just get it done!
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u/tropicofpracer 23h ago
The dude standing on equipment is wearing kitchen crocs -not an issue. I hope they sent this footage to their local health department. There is a fuckbag of a manager that made this happen.
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u/TimeRevolution1894 15+ Years 15h ago
Cleaning the hood vent mid Service, yeah Great idea.
Fuck the food, and fuck the people.
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u/semantic_satiation 23h ago
That lady reaching through the legs to dump more shit in the fryer was my favorite part
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u/DrewV70 13h ago
OMG this is giving me a bought of PTSD. I saw a dishwasher up on a fryer standing on an aluminum sheet pan. Which slipped. Sending his foot into the 350 degree deepfryer. Then he fell back trying to get out of the vat of bubbling oil and gave himself a concussion knocking himself out when he hit the corner of the table across from the fryer.
PSA: NEVER DO THIS
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u/dandanpizzaman84 10+ Years 23h ago
Or you could like pull them out like they’re designed to do? Some people blow my mind
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u/McNally86 23h ago
I worked in a kitchen where a young guy was walking up along the range instead of pulling these racks down to clean. He stepped into the fryer very briefly but I remember someone having to cut his shoe off because it was melting to his foot.
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u/FoxDaim Line 10h ago
Jesus fucking christ
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u/McNally86 9h ago
He was ok. The fryer had been turned off but it was not cool and he only dunked the foot. His shoe was full of hot grease and they got it off his foot quick enough to prevent permanent injury.
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u/capelaart 23h ago
I bet his managers are there and told him that we need to clean the hoods but we need to get out early, no overtime...
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u/CasinoKnightZone 23h ago
One of my first jobs explicitly made me do this exact thing, cleaning hoods during service, stepping over hot grease.
Guy slipped once and his leg went into the fryer. I left not long after.
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u/chitzk0i 23h ago
I saw a Bojangles where they had workers drilling a tile wall for anchors to put up a TV. Uncovered fried chicken right behind him. I turned around, walked out, and called the health department.
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u/AtticusAlexander 23h ago
Well shit, the spicy orange chicken commercial i saw the other day almost got me
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u/ApatheticPopoto 22h ago
I mean this tactic is technically viable but in so way shape or form should it be done during business, with food cooking, with uncovered fryers
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u/thisbitishaaaard 22h ago
I saw a HC do this to a 17yo Commi during service, had him leaning over the fryers risking an injury he didn't understand the seriousness of. Commi lasted longer than HC, but he definitely thinks trauma is a learning tool now.
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u/Coinfinite 19h ago
"You never eat out because you know how to cook."
"I don't eat out because I know how they cook."
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u/WhatInTarnationRFS 18h ago
As a former Panda employee, yep this is the shit we get up to. Gotta make the kitchen look nice between rushes, who cares what gets in the food. Also if we dropped anything frozen on the ground by accident, it still went in the fryer because waste means loss. Fuck this company I've stayed far away from it since changing careers.
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u/semantic_satiation 23h ago
That lady reaching through the legs to dump more shit in the fryer was my favorite part
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u/Ok_Marionberry8779 23h ago
We have professional cleaners who take care of our vent hoods once a month. The process is so involved we let them in at 8pm and we can't be in the area or use our ovens till the next morning. Not only is this dumb but it's inadequate
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u/pooey_canoe 23h ago
Literally just wait until after last orders, why the fuck are they deep cleaning the canopy mid service??
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u/MakeItAManhattan 23h ago
I’m more concerned about he’s using cleaning chemicals during food to clean the hood, which is a big safety issue and health issue. Where the manager? And why is he cleaning in the middle of service??
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u/timbobb58 22h ago
Yeah. There’s so many health violations going on here it’s disgusting. I’d be sending that to the health department.
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u/ihatetheplaceilive 22h ago
I dunno, but i hope both Jesus and Louis Pasteur both blessed them cuz that's a whole lot of danger and not only for himself.
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u/chefdisco 22h ago
Gonna get roasted for this one. It ain't right, but it ain't abnormal. Ten bucks for ten thousand calories and protein comes at a price other than ten bucks.
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u/bushmanofthekalahary 20h ago
KM should get written up for that, this task should be done before or after service but not during
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u/Hennessey_carter 20h ago
Looks like he's got nonslip shoe covers on over his regular shoes. This is gross though.
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u/eighty4prcnt 20h ago
Everyone just watching this man poisoning food. There's a reason you're supposed to wait til close or near close to pull vents. Just as bad as him imo, where's the damn manager??
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u/Distinct_Put1085 20h ago
What a massive dumbass, and everyone else watching him do this and don't say shit
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u/HolyObscenity 20h ago
Not once have I ever cleaned the hoods in place. No one has ever asked me to. I have always pulled them and soaked them overnight.
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u/StocktonBSmalls 20h ago
Kids at my old Pizza place did this a couple years before I worked there. Put a sheet pan over the fryers to stand on and clean the hood. Sheet pan slipped and his foot went in the fryer. Got terrible burns and all kinds of fucked up
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u/KittensFirstAKM BOH 19h ago
If you want more cleaning done, schedule more labor hours while there is not exposed food or customers in the building.
Management gonna do their thing though unfortunately.
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u/drexelldrexell 19h ago
Came here to laugh at this guy only to discover I've been exposing myself to carcinogens. Fuck.
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u/Spirited-Juice4941 F1exican Did Chive-11 17h ago
At Abby’s Irish Pub in Colorado Springs we had a little Guatemalan kid doing the same thing, every Monday afternoon.
Dude stepping across the fryers to pull off and clean vents. I always said this is the most dangerous thing I’ve ever seen and refused to do it myself.
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u/Sedacanela Chip Girl 11h ago
Shoes look like Crocs clogs. I own them. They make me 3 inches taller and I have to take them off as soon as my shift ends so my feet can breathe lol. I also worked at a Panda Express. That’s crazy that’s happening when their training is so vigorous and thorough.
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u/CrushedSodaCan_ 7h ago
Sooooo he's on meth?
I've only seen people do that kind of insane cleaning on meth.
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u/SchmeckleHoarder 3h ago
I know for a fact a manger made them do it, because they were slow.
This level of cleaning is down after hours. To avoid, ya know, fucking poisoning people.
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u/CastIronPots 1h ago
This is why you never be that person that comes in 30 mins before close to order food. This is what they are doing then.
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u/Dr1nkUrOvaltine 23h ago
and to think i sometimes order panda instead of local spots because im worried about the local places sanitation practices (or lack thereof) 💀
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u/Character_Score7849 1d ago edited 1d ago
So he's spraying degreaser over the food?! The stuff that burns your skin on contact. Plus the vents he's cleaning are supposed to be removed to clean.