The public expects restaurants to be clean. Unfortunately, the truth is that most are loaded with bacteria that could make patrons sick and potentially even shut a restaurant down.
The cleanest stuff tends to be the dishes, silverware and glasses because they run through a hot dishwasher after each use. Still, one study found that the rims of glasses are often loaded with germs because waiters tend to grab the rim of the glass, as a result getting germs everywhere. With proper coaching this can easily be avoided.
Much worse are restaurant tables, booths, floors and bathrooms, which tend to be the dirtiest of all. This is where the need for regular professional cleaning services comes into play. Without proper cleaning these spaces become overwhelmingly polluted with germs and bacteria that can make customers and employees sick.
Dirtiest Surfaces Commonly Found In Restaurants
1. Toilets
Toilets need to be cleaned on a daily basis in public restaurants because they are germ magnets. One study uncovered 295 unique bacteria hanging out on every square inch of the toilet seat. Inside the actual toilet bowl lurk 3.2 million germs per square inch.
2. Bathroom Floors
The floors in public bathrooms are among the dirtiest and most contaminated spaces on the planet. The average public restroom floor is infested with around 2 million bacteria per square inch.
3. Ice
Ice goes in sodas, waters, and even certain cocktails. It’s pretty difficult to go to a restaurant and avoid ice. Yet, the frightening truth is that ice is FULL of bacteria. One investigation that looked into fast food restaurants around the US found that 70% of ice machines are swarming with more bacteria than toilet water—no one wants to cheers to that!
4. Seats
The seats people sit on to enjoy a good meal are full of icky things. An investigative study by ABC News’ Elisabeth Leamy found that 70% of restaurant chairs are covered in as many as 17 strains of bacteria, including E. coli—which can make you really sick. Customers come and go, sitting in these chairs and leaving all kinds of bacteria behind. Restaurants that do not employ an experienced cleaning team are at risk for improperly and irregularly cleaned seating.
5. Tables
Restaurant tables are crawling with germs. Many restaurants rely on dirty rags covered in invisible bacteria to wipe off tables after each guest. All this does is add more germs to the equation.
6. Salt & Pepper Shakers
Condiments that sit on the table, such as salt, pepper and ketchup, are covered in bacteria.
7. Menus
Restaurant menus should be laminated and cleaned on a daily basis. Paper menus are next to impossible to clean and as a result covered in countless germs. Good Morning America tested menus at 12 different restaurants to see how clean or dirty they were. Turns out, the average menu contains 185,000 bacteria.
While ABC News’ Elisabeth Leamy uncovered menus with bacteria that causes staph infections as well as germs that cause strep throat.
8. Doorknobs
Most restaurants clean bathroom doorknobs once daily, but by the end of the day these doorknobs are loaded with germs once again. The main door handle is even worse than the bathroom handle.
9. Salad Bar Tongs
Salad bar tongs might not be as bad as the chairs in a restaurant, but they are pretty dang bad. They are touched all day every day and never washed enough. Some restaurant tongs are just as dirty as the toilet flush handle—now that’s enough to make you lose your appetite.
10. The Sink Faucet
The sink faucet is one of the first things you touch after going to the bathroom. As a result, the faucet and soap dispenser tend to be loaded with germs. People often associate sinks and soap dispensers with cleanliness, meaning these items don’t get sanitized often enough.
Tidy Team Offers Restaurant Cleaning Services
You never know when ABC News or some other news outlet will enter your restaurant and start swabbing tables, floors, menus and other surfaces. Even worse, you don’t want to make your loyal patrons ill.
When you hire Tidy Team to clean your restaurant you automatically reduce potentially harmful germs from your establishment. We offer customized cleaning plans to keep your establishment sanitized to perfection on a daily or weekly basis. You tell us what you need and we provide it, paying close attention to the dirtiest spaces of all with the highest likelihood of infecting customers.