Is Your Favorite Restaurant Cutting Corners to Make Money?

Eating out is a dangerous business these days, even at your favorite restaurant. There have been numerous studies conducted by government officials, private institutions and even journalists to document the ways in which restaurants cut corners to generate profit. So is your favorite restaurant cutting corners to make money, and if so, how do they accomplish this?

1- Dangers of Germs

Your favorite restaurant might have passed its latest health-code inspection, but that doesn't mean that your patronage won't get you sick. Because many restaurants are cutting corners to make money, they often encourage their employees to come in-no matter what the circumstance. So even if the back of the house is spic-and-span, a waitress with the flu might be serving your meal.

Even if your favorite restaurant is cutting these types of corners to make money, it can be difficult to detect. I'd watch out for wait staff with runny noses and anyone with an exposed rash, but there are some types of diseases that simply aren't obvious through physical symptoms. This might just be another reason why you should be eating at home.

2- Comparative Pricing

Rather than lowering their prices to make money, your favorite restaurant might be duping you into opening your wallet and pulling out much larger bills than normal. In fact, this is considered a standard marketing practice. The restaurant will price items like fish, chicken and steak at $20 and $30 to get you to direct your attention to the comparatively inexpensive Cobb salad, which still costs a whopping $16.

This doesn't necessarily qualify as cutting corners, but if your favorite restaurant is using comparative pricing, it is certainly running a scam. Rather than just marking up all of their dishes, they mark up just a few of their more "exotic" meals to get you to go for those that are less expensive to prepare. However, this doesn't mean that you're saving money over the reasonably-priced restaurant down the street.

3- Accept No Substitutions