The Worst Things to Order at a Restaurant, According to Chefs

The worst offender according to the experts is Hollandaise sauce, with chefs calling it "a jacuzzi of aged bacterial growth." Why? It's a sauce of raw egg and butter kept warm, but not warm enough to cook the eggs. So yeah, bacteria central.

One chef claims the daily special is usually made up of ingredients that are the oldest in the kitchen, and it's worse when you've got a regular rotation of the same specials, for example, Monday soup night, etc. Avoid!

Sorry, but salads also makes the list of foods to avoid. Why? Anything that has been cooked is most likely ok, but "to maintain a bacteria-free salad station is very hard." Eeek.

Beer from the tap is a truly shocking addition to this list. It's not the beer that's the problem, it's the tap. One chef said, "No one cleans the fountain and it usually has mildew festering in it."

Not really a dish, but any beverage with lemon should be avoided. "I never order water or soda with a lemon in it because I know that the outside of the lemon is not cleaned," a waiter reported.

Goodbye piña coladas and white Russians. This little insight is going to change your cocktail order forever. "Having been a bartender, never order a drink with milk. There are hardly any drinks with milk, meaning hardly any milk is used. That partially-used quart they have behind the bar may have been sitting there for quite a while."

And, you better learn to love room temperature water. "Ice machines are rarely correctly maintained and are gross. Water, no ice." And no lemon, maybe something from a bottle from now on...