- Robert Irvine is a Food Network star and celebrity chef.
- While at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, she spoke to Insider about going out to dinner.
- Irvine told Insider that the first thing he notices in a restaurant is whether the bathroom is clean.
Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine has been helping struggling restaurants turn their businesses around for years on his Food Network show, “Restaurant: Impossible.” So it’s no surprise that when you go out to eat, there are certain things you’re always looking for to know if somewhere is worth dining out.
In an interview with Insider about her appearance on the South Beach Food and Wine FestivalIrvine shared the No. 1 marker she pays attention to that isn’t even directly related to food: bathrooms.
“Well, the first thing I look for is if the toilets are clean.” he said. Irvine said this is his main red flag “because if the bathrooms are clean, the kitchen is clean, everything else is clean.”
He told Insider that the restrooms are a great indicator of how the rest of the establishment is maintained and cared for. And if it’s a dirty bathroom, that could mean less than stellar cleanliness standards are being set for the restaurant as a whole.
Irvine in “Dinner: Impossible” in Atlantic City in 2012.
Bill McCay/Contributor/Getty Images
“We look at signs that are useful to us,” Irvine said, explaining that since she keeps her bathrooms, kitchen and the rest of her own home clean, it’s an easy thing to look at elsewhere. “So that’s what I look for when I go to a restaurant.”
The Food Network star and military philanthropist said he also tries to watch servers to see if they’re happy while they’re working.
But no matter what kitchen, type of eating establishment, or where on the map you’re visiting, the chef said the biggest favor you can do yourself if you’re wondering if you should eat somewhere is to go to the bathroom. first.
