I've eaten in several New Orleans restaurants and I don't think I'd want to be responsible for inspecting them. The food was great but I never felt like I needed or wanted to look in the kitchen. In fact, Louisiana, overall, gave me that impression.
I doubt if my kitchen would pass inspection but none of us have died from nastiness ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ yet.
We once went to a restaurant where they had peanut shells everywhere on the floor. I did not like it. I did not like walking across the floor deep in peanut shells crunching with every step to get to our table. I did not like looking at the floor covered with the peanut shells. I did not like watching adult people throw their peanut shells on the floor, while waiting on their food. I was taught as a child not to throw food or trash on the floor. If the restaurant wants a shiny floor then I suggest mop and wax it. We would have not stayed if we hadn’t been with other people. If I was in a bar atmosphere having a few drinks with peanut shells on the floor, my attitude might have been much different because…. it’s a bar!
I don't know. Some people have said that it keeps the wooden floors clean and shiny and keeps the dust down. I think it is a gimmick to attract attention to the restaurant. There is a restaurant in MO that throws dinner rolls at you, when you want one. I don't want food thrown at me neither!
Actually, Shirley, I could never figure that out myself. Now, I've sat at the bar, in a bar, and ate peanuts, but the shells went into the basket with the peanuts, not on the floor. Now, at the place I was at, where peanuts were served and the shells were put on the floor, the tables were large wooden cable holders turned into tables with bar stools around each one.
I've been to a couple of restaurants with peanut shells on the floor, both in Texas. One, I ate at often because it was in the service area we covered in EMS. Both were steakhouses. I don't know that the peanut shells added anything that I needed, but they didn't bother me.
I knew Logan’s Roadhouse and Texas Steakhouse chains both have the peanut thing going on but after looking up Logans, they have 135 sites in 22 states. To maintain that many restaurants, it takes a lot of guests so they must be doing something right. I think throwing the peanut shells or sawdust on the floor just makes most people feel a little more relaxed instead of being so tightly wound. It’s the opposite of “fine” dining where a person can let their hair down instead of hands on laps and no elbows on the tables. Actually, I think the psychology of it all is brilliant. Greats steaks and a devil may care atmosphere.
We go to the Texas Roadhouse occasionally; the kids give us gift cards and we aren't going to waste 'em. Their food is pretty good and I don't mind the peanut shells. They have a meat case where you can select the raw steak that you want cooked to order if you care to. As far as the topic of the thread, if I notice that a place appears unclean I simply turn around and leave. Not difficult to figure out if you have half a brain.
I was told that the peanut oil in the shells was good for the wood floors, but I'll believe anything. And as others have said, you get in touch with your inner slob (some don't have to dig as deep as others.) I agree with @Krystal Shay, it really feels scummy as you're doing it.
We have a Texas Roadhouse here, and they don't have peanut shells on the floor. I wonder if it's permitted in the bar area. I cannot recall the steak house in NOVA that permitted strewn shells...I only ate there a few times. Maybe it was Longhorn in Sterling...I think they outgrew it.