Disgusting

I don't think I've seen that happen in a restaurant but I've seen other disgusting things happen in restaurants before. I would have complained as well. That's nasty that they wiped the floor and then the table. The floor is dirty and then people eat from the table. It would have been okay if he would have wiped the table and finished with that and then wiped the floor.

I wonder if he was inexperienced. Even someone with common sense would know that you don't clean up the table after wiping the floor....yes I would have said something....it is disgusting!

Whenever I've gone anywhere, mops were used on floors and buckets with chlorine and water with wash clothes were used on tables and chairs and the two never, ever mixed. Something like you wrote would or at least could cause a restaurant to be closed in my state. When I cleaned at McDonald's, nothing could be mixed like that, absolutely nothing.

it hasnt happened to me yet, but if ever, i would surely let the waiter know and then i would complain to the manager. and i would never go back to that place ever again..

Hi there, well this has not ever happened to me, but I think I would be quite put off it did. I am sure that the floors of public restaurants are extremely dirty (on both a macroscopic and microscopic level). I am very surprised that he actually used the same towel and even more shocked that he did so right in front of you!! If this had happened to me, I think my reaction would have depended on where it was and what sort of place it was to dine in. I don't really like to offend waiters as they are the ones that bring you the food, and could potentially, do what they wish before they serve you it (I've heard some horrid stories) so I might be tempted what you did and just someone know on the way out so that it doesn't seem like a personal attack on my part, and so that they can make sure it doesn't happen again.

No it's never happened to me but I agree, that is so disgusting. My sister and I went to a restaurant at which she ordered steak. The meal came and it was so obviously off it wasn't funny. I told her to complain but she didn't. It smelled so awful. She should've taken the darned thing back but we did nothing. Silly eh? Anyway Happy New Year to you.

That is nasty. I would have complained also and probably asked for a new waiter and a new table or for it to be cleaned up properly. We have had someone clean our table and wipe the food right into the seats we were going to sit in. I left.

it happens a lot of times. i am still single, so i don't have kids. but in my family, i had always witnessed one. with my cousins, siblings, and maybe sometimes me.. hehe.. but that is what kids are always doing, a mess.. hehe..

You could have been poisoned, and you still ate... ...I would have walked out!! I also would have said a few things to the waiter. "We" use a mop on the floor and a sanitized towel for the tables then we clean the seats and re-sanitize the towel with bleach water. P.S. as a former food-service employee, I know that most employees do not even know the difference between sanitized and clean.

this hasn't happen to me. But what you should have done is told the waiter that you want either a new table or you would like him to get a clean washcloth with bleach to clean the table. And just explain to him way. That you shouldn't be using the same towel for the floor as the table or if you do clean the table first. I would be concerned about my kids touching the table and eating. I wouldn't care if the meal was going to be free because honestly you don't know how many germs on the floor that you really don't know about.

Hey Carol, Disgusting is right! As soon as he started wiping or looking like he was going to wipe the table with the same rag, I'd have stopped him immediately and said something like, You aren't going to wipe the table with the same rag you wiped the floor with are you? Nicely of course so he doesn't spit in your food or water. But just suggesting it not being sanitary should not upset him. As we all know, sometimes on a rare occasion, we will run into a waiter that may be unhappy with his or her job and decide to take it out on you, but still I would not eat from a table that was wipped with the same rag. At least you said something to some one. leenie

Hi carolbee, Happy New Year to you, yes I would complain and wouldn't use the table tha he had just wiped the floor with and usedit on the table as well, I would call the mamage over and complain to him. Tamara

hello carolbee that is disgusting to me as well. i think that i would have had to call the manager to the table to inform him or her of the waiter's nasty cleaning habits. i wouldn't have wanted that same waiter to have waited on me after that had happened. you do not wipe the floor, then the table. the waiter should have wiped up the table with his towel, and ran for the dish boy or busboy or whatever that you want to call them to clean up the water from the floor. well it was good to hear that you-all got a delicious free meal out of it thou, which wasn't your-all's intention when entering the restaurant. take care and have a beautiful day today!

I would have told this mistake to the waitress. As we all know- they don`t earn much, and by complaining to the frontdesk: be sure that Your complain maybe just FIRED that waitress from that job. No, this type of things has never happened to me. And no, I would not complain for such things. I would have a small speech directly to the waitress, saying that what she is doing is unacceptable for me, and that she might pay more attention to the towels that she uses, to change them, to use only clean towels, and not to use the same towel on both: floor and the table. Anyway: at the restaurant or steakhouse the most important thing is: food. And the kitchen. Although the waitress was a bit clumsy, I am sure that their kitchen is cleaner and more hygienic than the eating hall. Good luck.

eew..that is disgusting.if you must reuse a towel,table first,then floor. i hope he wasn't using the same towel for all tables after it was used on the floor.. i would have complained.when i was a server,i have no doubt they would have fired me for that.

Oh lord have mercy, you were nice. Having worked in kitchens all over the United States, as a Chef, that waiter would not have a job anymore or at least an education on how germs can spread in such an enviornment. I know you appreciate honesty and I am honestly saying you handled that situation well, I am not sure I would have been so nice. Ainge

Carolbee, I'm so sorry! I didn't see that the waiter cleaned floor as well as the table with the same towel. I'm sorry I accused you of snobbery. But regardless, germs are germs. This society is becoming so paranoid of germs that one day soon we are going to see a large segment of our population wiped out by common germs--most people have no resistance to common germs and bacteria because we are so paranoid that we make sure we have no exposure to them whatsoever, and therefore we have no resistance. The human body is much stronger than you think. I'm sorry the waiter was not educated on germ control and in some circumstances this ignorance could even be dangerous. But for the normal person, no sweat if you don't compulsively use hand sanitizer. My apologies for misunderstanding your point. But I do think you are too paranoid. However, he deserves a reprimand in case one of your party had an immunity issue.

eeeewwww. Where has all the common sense gone? People in my family for 4 generations have worked in restaurants. This is totally unacceptable. You wouldn't do it at home, why would you do it in a public dining place! Maybe because it is such an old profession, if you want to call it that, in my family I find many of the things some staff do is completely unacceptable. I've never seen wait staff wipe the floor then wipe the table with the same towel, but any time I see them pick up used glasses by sticking their fingers in the glasses, I just hope they don't wait on me.

I have seen the bus boys come to clean the tables and wipe the tables with the same towels they wipe the seat with. I think there should be separate towels for cleaning the tables, seats and floor. When I am at a restaurant, I will never eat food that may fall off of my plate onto the table. I am really picky about things like that. I even have a problem using the utensils and plates. Yuck

OMGoodness, talk about pet peevs especially with service in the restaurants. I waited tables for a number of years. Honestly it could be because the waiter is new and I made that mistake a few times myself just starting out. But now I know better to spread germs from the disgusting floor where everyone's shoes have been onto the place where food goes. My wife would have complained on the spot to the manager I'm sure, but since I have that background. I would have asked for another table, pulled the waiter aside and explained to the the proper way to go about handling the situation. Brooms and mops are meant for the floor, and the towels are meant for the tables. How about my family and I went to IHOP on New Year's Eve. The waitress came to the table asked would we like something to drink, I still don't recall her introducing herself. Mind you I used to work for IHOP about a year ago, and I know all of their service guidelines still from memory. I said sure, you can bring us 5 waters with "NO" ice. How about she brought back 5 iced waters. So I politely put all 5 waters on an empty table next to us, while we were waiting for our meals. She came back and asked, so you guys don't want the waters? I started to get smart and say something like "well maybe if you had brought the waters without ice in them like I had originally asked, then we probably would have kept them." I didn't want to show out and be rude to her or seem ungrateful for her having brought the waters to the table in the first place (primarily because my kids were there), however; had it been my wife and I; I would have easily said something to her before accepting them to be even be put on the table. She failed to write down our order, so she had to come back to ask questions about it, and we had to remind her of all of the items we ordered on several occasions. My wife was ready to complain to the manager, because she thought the girl didn't put her food order in correctly. But after she tasted it; it had everything she asked for; so this particular time, she didn't complain. The last visit, she did complain; and it was at this particular same IHOP. I know how some waiters and managers in restaurants can be, if you complain a lot, you get labeled and a constant complainer and so at your next visit, they attempt to walk on egg shells around you, and over compensate for the prior visits you screwed up. When I waited on tables before, I was consistently asked to wait on certain guests, because they were considered problems. For me, though I would always get good tips and I even made a few consistent customers that only wanted me to wait on them every time they visited. I usually found that either the previous waiters/waitresses didn't listen to every detail that those "complainers" wanted, or they consistently received new or lazy waiters that just didn't care and was only there to earn a few extra dollars. Which was too my advantage. During our last visit to IHOP though, my wife said; I should be a restaurant manager or store owner, as I usually frown at poor service or particularly instances that a waiter/waitress has made a mistake. I see from both the consumer side of things and from the waiter side of things. I sometimes understand why certain waiters/waitresses don't receive a good tip. Although since I was once in their shoes, I completely understand altogether that some days, everyone has a bad day. It wasn't anyone's fault except the person who had not been taught to leave their home or personal life at home and not bring it to work with them. Sorry, I didn't mean to go on a rant about service at restaurants and my personal experience behind it. Have a happy new year!