Some commentary from Texas Monthly BBQ guru: I Had Spoiled Meat at a BBQ Joint. Here’s What Happened Next.
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Good read. It seemed behind a paywall, but I hit the "Reader" button in my browser and was able to read the full article.
I for one am not shy about speaking up if I find something wrong. You can be assured if I take a bite of spoiled meat, more than just the server and the manager might end up knowing, if they don't make it right.
I have one brother in law who has the kind of luck that if food poisoning or food-borne parasites are gonna happen - it's gonna happen to him. Thankfully I've only had food poisoning once that I know of, but when it happened, it happened fast, from a gumbo that was "off" but which I blamed on seasonings at the start of a meal at a seafood place called Landry's. I was violently ill before my main meal came, and I never ate there again. -
I got a bad flat iron steak at a restaurant about a week after Covid restrictions were lifted in our area. The restaurant is one we frequent, and the server is one we’re on a first name basis with. It was swapped and comped, no questions asked.
About 6 months ago I got a bad burger at The Sugar Factory in the Hard Rock Casino, AC. I think we went there because we had a meal comp, and they were the only restaurant open that late. The burger was removed, and our comp returned. I didn’t replace it with anything, my appetite was put off. I think the waitress knew the food was bad there, she seemed pretty disgusted by it herself (not disgusted with us).Comment
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The worst food poisoning I've ever had I got from the local Chili's about twenty years ago. It was from their margarita grilled chicken (you've seen it, just chicken breasts atop black beans). I have never been that sick before or sense. I was out for nearly two weeks.
I remember eating it rather late...like 10 pm, which is fairly close to closing, so that may have had something to do with it. My memory is that something tasted not necessarily wrong, but slightly off, especially with the beans. I just chalked it up with choosing to order something 'healthy' at a place known for its ribs and burgers.
I have not had it since.
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The first paragraph is quite telling in that our reaction to bad/spoiled meat is almost involuntary and very intense.
One nice thing is that we know from archeological evidence that the ancestors of modern humans were cooking meat by at least 780,000 years ago, so we've had a decent amount of time to develop and pass on genes that -- often violently -- alert us to anything we're eating that might be poisonous. And our sense of smell has been developing nicely for about two million years.
It wasn't too long ago that I cut open a cryovac of pork ribs and OMG I could not get those things out of my life fast enough! (It is odd to consider that as awful as that smell was, our sense of smell is among the weakest of all mammals.)
It is difficult to put these sensations into words, but we always say, when in doubt, throw it out....and many a time.....there is often very little doubt!
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Another reason for me not to eat BBQ out at restaurants. Ugh!
I bet these situations are happening more and more around the country, honestly. As meat prices rise, restaurant profit margins get slimmer every day, and many workers these days seem to have little to no interest in quality or having pride in what you do - I have less and less interest in eating restaurant food someone else has cooked and prepared.
Sad, really, I know a lot of good folks out there are trying to provide good service and a good product, but my antipathy to much of the goings'-on in society these days just makes me that much more hesitant.
Lucky for me, I haven't experienced this.Comment
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My parents were not fond of eating at restaurants because they didn't know how clean the restaurant’s kitchen was. I guess they factored in the possibility of improper handling of the food. Any way we don’t eat out often. At our peak it was once a week. So far I haven’t had the experience of food poisoning. I hope I can stay 0 for however many.Comment
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Carolyn It was a weekly segment on Channel 13's six o'clock news, the local ABC affiliate. Most of the city watched it.
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Carolyn and Michael_in_TX He had bypass surgery at one of the medical center hospitals and the week after they released him he exposed the hospital’s cafeteria on camera. -
Michael_in_TX Oh, I see. I looked up that phrase and Zindler's bio popped up. OMG Rat and Roach report . Ha Ha.
LA Pork Butt That is hilarious.
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Been free since I've stayed away from church pot luck. Thankfully it was emetic and I was out deer hunting afterwards. Guy in college got it good from Arby's.Comment
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As a teen, I got food poisoning from oysters at the, (then), best seafood place in Richmond. I haven't been able to put one in my mouth since.Comment
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EDIT below :***I have never gotten food poisoning that I know of****but my husband got really sick in the middle of the night after eating at a Mexican place in Arlington. He called and talked with the manager who denied it could have happened.
I don't know how a restaurant manager can deny that it is possible their chicken enchilada could have made a person ill, like a worker couldn't have accidentally used some bad chicken.
I had to return a dish of crawfish au gratin that was awful. They melted a block of cheddar that separated and hardened on top of crawfish that tasted like dirt. I told the waitress the crawfish were off and asked to be comped. She looked really annoyed and asked if I wanted something else. I told her, "no." I couldn't eat anything after that. Then, I watched my husband enjoy his anniversary brunch. 🙄
****EDIT**** I did have a case of food poisoning one time on a flight from Mass to Dallas.Last edited by Carolyn; June 5, 2026, 01:21 PM.Comment
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Back in the early 90's there was a Chinese restaurant in a strip mall not far from my wife's house (when we were still dating). Stopped by there for some Almond Chicken. Then spent the next two days flat on my back at her house. Couldn't keep anything down. Probably should've went to the ER, but instead I just drank water like a fiend, which did the trick (after awhile). I figure it was Salmonella poisoning.
Went back to tell them about it, and lo' and behold, there was a sign on the front door from the health department. Closed for health violations. Tell me about it. They never opened up again, and even if they had, I'd never would've gone back.
Also had fun with a Pizza Hut buffet (back in the day, when they still had those). I never ate the pepperonis from the salad bar again.
Usually, if I feel queasy these days or get sick, it's probably due to lettuce, which I rarely trust in any fast food or Mexican restaurant, anymore. We had a good friend who was a county health inspector and he said that was the number one thing people have trouble with.Comment
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Took Environmental Microbiology in college. When we went over food borne illnesses, the takeaway was never, NEVER eat mayo or raw egg enriched foods from restaurants, food trucks or even your neighborhood BBQ parties. I’ve lived by that. It’s hard not to drink eggnog at a Christmas party. I love eggnog.
The other is don’t buy ground beef from a market, butcher or a Costco. Always grind your own beef.Comment
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Lots of food poisoning incidents from restaurants are from rice. Chinese and Mexican are both prone to it - of course, because there's a lot of rice there.
Carolyn this is what I thought of first when I read your story above - Mexican? Rice. Maybe not, but it's extremely common. My wife has gotten it twice from rice - I haven't, luckily, and after seeing what's happened to her, I hope I never do. Yikes.
I think it's Bacillus cereus that causes it, but it's pretty common. I'd have to go look it up, but it's nasty.Comment
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Hmmm...rice . I wonder about the incident I had in Louisiana awhile back (this wasn't on a Meat Up). I ate a sampler dish and later that night I was violently sick - vomiting only, no diarrhea. It affected me badly for a day or two but even weeks later I wasn't quite right. I blamed the oysters but was a little confused about not having diarrhea. A couple of weeks later I ran some blood work at my office and my ALT was a little high - 52 when normal was supposed to be 50 or less. -
Went to the doctor, more testing showed that my ferritin was pretty high. Also, A1C was up a little so I guess I'm diabetic - but still asymptomatic. I ended up being referred to several specialists and nothing was really found except mild cirrhosis. I'm fine now. The only other food poisoning that I've experienced was some bad scallops in New England. That was epic in a bad way, missed my flight home and learned to loathe the airlines and they way they screw people over.
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Over the years I had many restaurant customers that I wouldn’t eat at because I had been in their back of house and seen the conditions. If you have ever watched Kitchen Nightmares and thought those filthy kitchens are the exception you’re probably wrong.Comment
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