Be Aware of Chinese Restaurants

Be aware of Chinese restaurants. I really don't mean to be a racist. I am Taiwanese (and a lot of people consider that as Chinese, too). It's just from this story I heard. This story didn't come from a customer, but a Chinese person who used to work as a server at a Chinese restaurant. This Chinese woman told me some horrible things she and her coworkers used to do to their customers. The worst part is... she told me she never felt bad doing those things. Maybe that's one of the reason I never considered her a friend.

First, they eat your food before they bring it your table. They eat it with their hands, picking up a shrimp there, a piece of beef there. If they really like the food, they put some of it into their own "bowls" to eat more later. (Yes, they keep a bowl in the back to steal people's food.) Then they arrange the plate with fingers again so you'll never know someone already ate your food.

Then they cheat you with the bill. This woman said that they use the handwritten order pad. They scribble down the dishes you order, but will NEVER put the individual price for each dish. Then when they add up the total, they ALWAYS add some extra money to it. If it's a small order, they can only add $3 or $5. If it's a big order, they can add $15 or $20. If it's a big order and the customers also order alcohol, they can add $50 or even $100. Especially if it's one of those big banquet table that somebody is treating. She claimed that from her experience, people who treat will NEVER check the bill. They didn't want to look "cheap" or "stingy". So they usually just bust out their money and pay without even looking at the bill.


And where does the extra money go? Not the owner. The owner probably doesn't even know about the shady things his servers and manager are doing. It's a cash only restaurant. So they put the correct amount on another bill for the owner. The servers divide the extra cash to take http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com, DAILY. She said it was exciting and thrilling to see how far they can cheat the customers.

What if they get caught? She said that's simple. Just pretend it was a honest mistake, a simple miscalculation, apologize, then think "bummer, there goes another extra $20. Oh well, there will always be another sucker."

The following didn't come from this woman, but I read in the Chinese newspaper the other day. A lot of the Chinese restaurants in the SGV recycle their food. Some restaurants dump the uneaten rice right back to the rice pot. Some restaurants used customers half eaten leftover rice to make fried rice. Tea is often recycle from customer to customer. Do it yourself BBQ restaurants also recycle leftover meat to serve to the next customer. This was an undercover story from a Chinese reporter investigating Chinese restaurants!

I LOVE Chinese food. And I hate to be suspicious of all Chinese restaurants practice unethical business as the above mentioned. But I am going to be extra careful when I dine at Chinese restaurant from now on. And I probably will never order fried rice again.

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